The annual Boxing Day extravaganza of football is upon us, with only a couple of alterations due to the planned London Tube strike. There are seven Premier League games on up and down the country, with some matches a lot easier to call than others.
1 – The bankers
Liverpool v Blackburn
Man Utd v Wigan
West Brom v Man City
The way the two Manchester teams are performing it’s hard to see either Wigan or West Brom pulling off a shock, while the way Blackburn are playing it would take a huge step up to take anything away from Anfield.
Manchester United blew Fulham away in midweek and, despite Wigan recording huge morale-boosting draws with Chelsea and Liverpool in the last week, Old Trafford remains a tough place to go (United 1/6, draw 6/1, Wigan 20/1).
City are also firing on all cylinders and look capable of blowing any side away, so it could be a long old Boxing Day for the West Brom defenders (West Brom 13/2, draw 10/3, City 4/9).
At Anfield, Liverpool may not be on top form but with morale at rock-bottom at Blackburn and the boss under intense scrutiny this is a chance for Dalglish’s team to re-ignite their form in front of goal (Liverpool 1/4, drive 5/1, Blackburn 11/1).
2 – The possible upsets
Chelsea v Fulham
Stoke v Aston Villa
Chelsea are also a team stuttering through the season and look like they need a resounding win to ignite some new-confidence in them. That opportunity could come on Boxing Day as Fulham showed in midweek defending is not their best trait.
Man Utd ripped them apart with ease and the Cottagers could again struggle against the pace of the likes of Juan Mata and Daniel Sturridge. The statistics don’t make good reading for travelling fans, as Fulham have beaten Chelsea only once in the last 30 league and cup meetings, but Chelsea do have a tendency to misfire (Chelsea 3/10, draw 4/1, Fulham 11/1).
Stoke currently occupy their best Christmas position for 37 years and face a Villa side who have taken only eight points from the last 30. The combination of Stoke’s set-piece power – which will be boosted by the return of Peter Crouch – and Villa’s struggles at the back point towards a home win and some Christmas cheer in the Potteries, but it will all depend on which Villa turns up (Stoke 10/11, draw 12/5, Villa 16/5).
3 – Too close to call
Bolton v Newcastle
Sunderland v Everton
It’s a case of a team looking up and a team on their way down at the Reebok Stadium and Bolton will be hoping their midweek win over Blackburn gives them a springboard over the festive period.
Newcastle are without a win in six games and travel to Bolton with a poor record in this fixture – indeed Bolton have won seven of the last eight home encounters with Newcastle. The visitors are a side in decline and desperately need to turn around their slipping fortunes (Bolton 6/4, draw 9/4, Newcastle 15/8).
Finally, at the Stadium of Light the dark clouds are turning brighter as Martin O’Neill has won two of his first three games in charge. There is a new-found confidence among the Black Cats but the head-to-head record against Everton makes dire reading – with the Toffees unbeaten in their last 13 league meetings with Sunderland.
Saying that, times are hard around Everton so this Boxing Day could be the time for the Black Cats to break the hoodoo (Sunderland 6/4, draw 9/4, Everton 15/8).
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Despite the adverse weather conditions which have ravaged the Scottish football fixtures in recent weeks, fans are set for some festive cheer as all six planned Premier League games are still going ahead. Here is the low down on the big games north of the border.
It’s the most wonderful day of the sporting year – the Boxing Day Premier League programme which is a nice way to ease ourselves into Bank Holiday Monday’s main fayre of Arsenal vs Chelsea (totesport match prices).
The weather may yet wreak havoc with the Boxing Day programme but just in case there is a let up, let us have a look at any potential shocks after the Christmas Turkey has been polished off.
There’s a full fixture list planned in the Championship on Boxing Day and, providing the weather is not the winner again, there are plenty of festive footy delights to keep you entertained in the second tier if that’s your betting bag and you’ve already had enough Turkey stew, leftover cake and old movies for Christmas.