Rob Eddy’s selections for Boxing Day’s Premier League matches include a bounce-back win for Man City and a home victory for Nottingham Forest.
Boxing Day is one of the most eagerly anticipated occasions in Britain’s sporting calendar, with a huge amount of top-level football and horse racing on the agenda.
In the Premier League there are eight games on Thursday, starting early at the Etihad as Manchester City welcome Everton and concluding on Merseyside when Christmas Day title-race leaders Liverpool welcome Leicester City.
There are five 3pm games, including a West London derby between Fulham and Chelsea, while Portuguese bosses Vitor Pereira and Ruben Amorim go head-to-head at Molineux when Wolves face Manchester United in the teatime offering.
Here we have picked out our three best bets for the Premier League on Boxing Day, with a treble that pays just under 17/2 if successful.
Selections
Man City -1 v Everton
10/11
Bournemouth to beat Crystal Palace
19/20
Nottingham Forest to beat Tottenham
11/8
City unlikely to find Toffees sticky
Manchester City are on a fairly rudderless run right now but if any team are welcome shipmates as Pep Guardiola tries to steer his crew out of troubled waters, then surely it is Everton.
The Toffees have lost 13 of the last 14 meetings between these two, including each of the last three by more than one goal.
Sean Dyche’s impotent side arrive in Manchester having failed to trouble the scoreboard in six of their last seven Premier League games and with only 14 goals in 16 games all season.
City will hardly see a better chance to get some momentum going.
Cherries to pick off another win
Bournemouth are fresh from beating Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford on Sunday – just the second time in their history the Red Devils have lost successive home games against the same opposition by a three-goal margin.
Andoni Iraola and the Cherries spent Christmas on the heels of the top four, ahead of the likes of Aston Villa, Man City, Newcastle, Brighton, Tottenham and United.
They are there on merit, with wins over Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham at the Vitality Stadium to go with that Old Trafford success.
Bournemouth did the league double over the Eagles last season without conceding and should be fancied to oblige here against a Palace side which was hit for five by Arsenal at the weekend.
Spurs to get cut down again
Spurs travel to Nottingham Forest fresh off being ripped apart by Liverpool on Sunday. The league leaders scored six and it could have been a few more.
Ange Postecoglou has some mitigation with a host of his rearguard out injured, that has to be conceded, but the cavalry isn’t going to arrive in time for this test and Spurs look vulnerable.
Forest are inside the top four with almost half of the season gone and only the three title contenders above them have lost fewer games than Nuno Espirito Santo’s men. Only Liverpool and Arsenal have been breached on fewer occasions. This is fourth vs 11th on merit and the Tricky Trees look overpriced.
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