The Christmas and New Year holiday programme in the Premier League finally ends tonight with Tottenham’s home match against West Ham. It all starts again tomorrow night when Liverpool are at home to Everton in the third round of the FA Cup. It might be traditional to play so many matches at this time of the year but the players must be exhausted. However, the London derby last night between Arsenal and Chelsea was one of the best games of the season to date so fans are still getting quality to go with the quantity. Those two words could describe Harry Kane’s goal scoring and he looks like starting against West Ham after recovering from flu. Kane is 16/1 with Betfair to be the top scorer in the 2018 World Cup.
When England are hopeless in the World Cup the issue of a mid-season break comes to the fore. The argument of giving players a rest is flawed because the Premier League is like a league of nations and most international teams have representatives. England’s poor efforts when it matters most are down to lack of motivation and organisation so it will be interesting to see how many goals KANE scores in Russia this summer. He is 1/2 with William Hill to score at anytime tonight in a match that Tottenham should be leading after 45 and 90 minutes. A win tonight would keep them right in the mix for Champions League qualification and they can pick up three points. The Tottenham half time/full time double is 13/15 with Ladbrokes.
There are four race meetings in Britain today and three of those are on All Weather surfaces. At this time of the year this type of racing serves its purpose of almost guaranteeing racing when it’s very cold. However, there is now too much ordinary fare on artificial surfaces. The one turf meeting is at Bangor where six races offer just £41,000 in prize money which is derisory. Jumps racing at the top end is in fine health, most notably with the orgy that is the Cheltenham Festival but the vast majority of horses will never race on the four days that matter most. At Bangor (2.15pm) UPPERTWON PRINCE could be an above average animal but the horse must win impressively at Evens to display decent form.
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