All Liverpool’s fans Christmas wishes have come true because their team have won both festive fixtures and Manchester City have lost theirs. Even Tottenham found a way to lose at home to Wolves from a goal in front yesterday. Liverpool have won five in a row while City have dropped nine points in five matches which means they are now third in a two-horse race.
The showdown at the Etihad on Thursday is now a must not lose fixture for the champions. MANCHESTER CITY are 8/11 with Ladbrokes to beat Southampton on the road by more than one goal. Southampton have dropped more points from winning positions than any team in the Premier League this season so they could score the first goal and still lose by at least two goals.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is not a better football manager than Jose Mourinho but Manchester United have a better football team than Bournemouth. Whether Bournemouth would beat United at Old Trafford once in 12 meetings is another matter. The fixtures have fallen kindly for United’s caretaker manager. The odds suggest a home win in today’s fixture but football is a sport of fine margins.
The most popular number of goals scored by any team in a Premier League fixture is one and the next most common tally is nought. Two is the third most scored number of goals by any one team. United have conceded one goal or more in all but two of 19 league matches this season and a correct score of TWO-ONE in today’s home meeting with Bournemouth is 8/1 with bet365.
The first televised match of the day is Crystal Palace’s home match against Chelsea. Palace have just won at Manchester City while Chelsea have been inconsistent in December. The hosts have kept seven clean sheets this season which is the most of any team outside the top four. Chelsea are the lowest scorers in the top six which means the bet of this match is UNDER 2.5 GOALS at Evens with Betfair.
The richest race of the day is the handicap chase over three miles and three and a half furlongs at Haydock (2.00). Stamina on the soft and heavy in places ground will be an important attribute as the race will be a slog. VERY FIRST TIME is potentially on a good mark and has won on soft going so is the tip at 8/1 with William Hill.
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