Saturday 2nd January 2021 Premier League Fixtures
Spurs vs Leeds United (12:30pm) - BT Sport
Crystal Palace vs Sheffield United (3pm) - Sky Sports
Brighton vs Wolves (5:30pm) - Sky Sports
West Brom vs Arsenal (8pm) - BT Sport
Spurs Win and Goals Galore against Leeds United
Tottenham Hotspur head into the Saturday lunchtime game against Leeds United having not played since the 1-1 draw with Wolves last Sunday. Leeds United are on the back of two wins to nil (Betfair offering 17/2 on Leeds win to nil against Spurs) after beating Burley and WBA.
The sides haven't met since January 2004 in the Premier League with the most recent games in the FA Cup. Leeds United have only beaten Spurs once in their last eight matches, which was in the last game between in the sides, a 2-1 win in the FA Cup in January 2013. You can get 14/1 on a repeat, 2-1 Leeds United win with Bet Victor!
It's an interesting battle against two of the most experienced top football managers in the world; Jose Mourinho vs Marcelo Bielsa. Mourinho has a dominant record against Bielsa with a 15-2 aggregate score record having won all four previous duals. In fact Mourinho won three of those matches by three goals and one by four goals. Backers can get 12/1 with Paddy Power for Tottenham to win by four goals or more!
The game makes you think goals, corners and cards! I can't see Leeds parking the bus and equally Jose's side should fancy their chances of putting a few past Leeds United! Over 2.5 goals are priced up at 4/9 with Betfred which emphasises the expectations for goals in this one!
Patrick Bamford is in good form and tends to either setup a goal or score in most games. You can get 6/4 with Paddy Power on Bamford scoring anytime in the match and 6/1 with bet365 for Bamford to score first! Harry Kane for Spurs is 16/5 with Unibet to score first and 4/5 with Betfred to score anytime. Kane is looking to score against another Premier League side having scored against 29 of the 30 Premier League sides he faced so far!
You just can't see this being a dull game giving the match ups. Spurs haven't got this long (four games) without a victory under Jose Mourinho so we should see a reaction. The style of Leeds will play into Spurs hands and we should see goals! I'm going for a Spurs victory and Over 2.5 goals, best odds at 5/4 with Betfred!
1st Bet:
Spurs vs Leeds United: Tottenham Win and Over 2/5 Goals @ 5/4 with Betfred
Crystal Palace to get back to Winning ways against Sheffield United
Crystal Palace face Sheffield United at Selhurst Park in the 3pm Saturday game of the weekend!
Both sides will be desperate for three points to start 2021 with a bang, with Chris Wilder's team in the greater need given they sit rock bottom of the Premier League with just two points. You can get 31/10 with Bet Victor on Sheffield United's first league win of the season. Palace haven't won in their last five Premier League games, but they have faced the likes of Liverpool, Aston Villa, Leicester City, Spurs and West Ham! Most bookies are evens for Palace to claim a victory in this one, Betfred at evens!
For the Eagles the only concern is Gary Cahill who will be a late doubt for the game. Sheffield United have bigger issues with several players potentially unavailable for injury, covid and suspension reasons for the away trip to south London.
Given Sheffield United have lost eleven league games by a single goal I'm pretty tempted by a wager on Crystal Palace to beat Sheffield Utd by a one goal margin, 5/2 with bet365! Also Sheffield United have lost seven games 1-0 this season so a Palace 1-0 win at 6/1 with bet365 looks very backable!
What might give Sheffield United fans and backers some hope is last seasons results between the sides, two 1-0 wins for Sheffield United. You can get 21/2 with Bet Victor on Sheffield United winning 1-0 in this game! I don't think you can read too much into last seasons game given how the drop off from Sheffield United this season. I'd still be confident Roy Hodgson's side should be too strong.
Crystal Palace are a difficult side to predict this season, but it's important to remember the quality of the opposition they were up against in their recent poor run. This game should be a good chance for the Eagles to pick up the win. Sheffield United are in all sorts of trouble and even money with Betfred looks a good bet to me for the Palace win! Get backing it!
2nd Bet:
Crystal Palace vs Sheffield United: Crystal Palace Win @ Evens with Betfred
Draw Half Time / Wolves Full Time at the Falmer Stadium
Wolves are away to Brighton and Hove Albion in the early evening match. Both sides lost one nil in their previous league matches. Wolves will feel particularly hard done by as they lost to a 93rd minute Marcus Rashford goal! Brighton deservedly went down to a one nil defeat against a resurgent Arsenal side.
On paper this looks like a low scoring tight affair (three of the four previous meetings have yielded no more than one goal) which could end 0-0 or 1-0 to either side. Bet365 are 13/2 for 0-0, and Bet Victor are 7/1 for Wolves to win 1-0 and 13/2 for Brighton to win 1-0.
Brighton have never lost to Wolves in the Premier League, one win and three draws so Wolves backers should be wary, you can 2/1 with Bet Victor for Wolves to win! If you think the run continues the 2/5 with bet365 on Double Chance: Brighton win and the draw may appeal.
For me Wolves have been better than their results suggest. Clearly the lack of a pivotal proven striker like Raul is going to hurt most teams, but I reckon Wolves are due a little run of victories. Wolves need Podence (10/3 with bet365), Neto (3/1 with bet365), Silva (14/5 with Unibet) or Traore (5/1 with Betfred) to step up and get on the scoresheet!
Wolves played well in recent weeks against Chelsea, Man Utd and Spurs, and against lesser opposition such as Brighton, should see this as good opportunity to get back to winning ways. Given Brighton could set an unwanted club record of 13 home games without a victory, the 8/5 on the Brighton win with Betfred doesn't appeal much! Also Brighton and Hove Albion have never won a 5:30pm kick off!
Wolves tend to score most of their goals in the second half, scoring nine out of their sixteen goals in the second half. Wolves haven't scored a first half goal since November! For those reasons I like the look of a bet on draw half time / Wolves full time, best with Betfair at 6/1!
3rd Bet:
Brighton & Hove Albion vs Wolves Draw Half Time / Wolves Full Time @ 6/1 with Betfair
Arsenal to Beat West Brom at the Hawthorns
Arsenal face West Brom at the Hawthorns in the late evening game on Saturday! Can Arsenal make it three Premier League wins in a row?
Sam Allardyce will have looked a this game a few weeks ago with a very different mindset. Arsenal were on a winless run, West Brom had confidence from a few positive results and one might wonder who the bookies would have down as favourites for the game! Since then Arsenal have picked up two good wins and West Brom have been hammered 5-0 at home! No wonder big Sam is calling for a Premier League circuit breaker!
WBA will be without Jake Livermore (suspended), and former Gunner, Kieron Gibbs is a doubt. Arsenal should be able to call upon the excellent Bukayo Saka who is likely to overcome a slight knock from the Brighton match. Brazilian duo Willian and David Luiz may figure this time out too.
West Brom don't have a bad record against Arsenal with two wins in their last three home matches between the sides. West Brom won 3-1 in March 2017 (50/1 with Betfred for a repeat) and 2-1 (18/1 with bet365) in November 2015. But Allardyce doesn't have a great record against Arsenal, losing 10 of his last 12 matches against the Gunners.
West Brom have conceded 13 goals in their last three home matches, therefore a bet on Arsenal scoring over 2.5 goals at 12/5 with bet365 looks tempting! Arsenal's most likely marksmen are Alexandre Lacazette (evens with Betfred to score), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (23/20 with Betfred to score) and Gabriel Martinelli (7/4 with bet365 to score). Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will be making his 100th Premier league appearance and it's funny how many times a striker seems to score on that anniversary!
After this trip to West Brom, Arteta's side face home games against Palace and Newcastle as well as a FA Cup tie against Newcastle so there is a real chance for Arsenal to build up some momentum now. I will go for the straight forward Arsenal win match result against the Baggies. Best odds with 8/13 with Betfred for the Arsenal win!
4th Bet:
West Brom vs Arsenal: Arsenal Win @ 8/13 with Betfred!
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