PREMIER LEAGUE NEW YEAR’S DAY: The Striker previews LIVERPOOL v LEEDS and SUNDERLAND v MAN CITY both with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
LIVERPOOL V LEEDS
5.30pm A new year kicks off in the Premier League on Betdaq Betting Exchange! The hectic schedule continues and we have four fixtures to enjoy on Thursday night with a full fixture list squeezed in either side of New Year’s Eve before heading straight into another full fixture list at the weekend. We kick off the evening with Liverpool hosting Leeds – this should be a good game and Leeds have been on a good run recently. They have gone five Premier League without a loss, scored plenty of goals and moved away from the relegation zone. Wolves and Burnley look nailed on to go down; then it looked like the last relegation spot would be taken by West Ham or Leeds – in recent weeks hat’s increasingly looked like West Ham; Leeds now have a seven point cushion over the Hammers and perhaps Nottingham Forest are coming back into the mix. Liverpool have seemingly got over their crisis – they have put together three Premier League wins in a row and also beat Inter Milan away from home in the Champions League since the Mo Salah drama. It’s definitely got to back of fans minds’ with him away at the AFCON for the time being.
It’s no surprise that Liverpool come into the game as the odds on favourites given they have home advantage – Arne Slot’s men are trading 1.56 with Leeds 6.6 and the draw is 4.6 at the time of writing. Although Liverpool have steadied the ship, I wouldn’t be rushing to take the 1.56 on them here – they have still leaked goals at the back; even conceding against Wolves here at the weekend. Obviously one of their wins came against Spurs who have been poor this season, and then Brighton haven’t been at their best either – I wouldn’t be fully back to trusting Liverpool just yet. I’m happy to stay out of the match odds market here though because this game screams goals. Leeds have had some high scoring games recently and will be full of confidence given their run. Over 2.5 goals is trading 1.69 and Both Teams To Score is 1.81 – I couldn’t put anyone off either bet but I feel Over 2.5 goals jumps off the page here. Liverpool have been sloppy at the back this season and we all know Leeds have been very entertaining. I feel we’ll see an end-to-end game here with loads of chances, and we’re getting enough value at 1.69 to have a Five Star NAP on Overs!
The Striker Says:
Five points win Over 2.5 goals at 1.69 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/PLLiLe
SUNDERLAND V MANCHESTER CITY
8pm We finish Thursday night with Sunderland hosting Manchester City. At the start of the season, not many Premier League fans would have had Sunderland sitting in seventh place coming into the New Year! Their fans have been having a dream season; obviously there are a lot of major worries when you look at their under-lining performance levels, but for the time being they won’t care! Perhaps the money earned from staying in the Premier League can improve things for next season – you’d still have to be worried about them only having an average xG created of 1.11 which is the third worst attacking figure in the Premier League. Only Wolves and Burnley have created less, and they are already nailed on to go down. Sunderland have been performing in-line with their attacking figure, but where they have really had luck go their way is at the back. They’ve conceded an average xG of 1.7, which is the third worst defensive figure – they’ve massively got away with things because their actual goals conceded average is only a goal a game. That’s a huge amount of points there. Sunderland fans will fight you on this, but you couldn’t argue if they were in the bottom three.
They are in the bottom three on attacking and defensive figures. Despite all the points earned – and they do deserve massive credit for grinding out so many results of course – alarm bells should be ringing with a view to next season and staying up. How many seasons have we highlighted how poor West Ham have been at the back, and now their performance level has finally caught up with them. It’s no surprise that Manchester City are the odds on favourites here at 1.48 with Sunderland 8.2 and the draw is 4.9 at the time of writing. City have some excellent momentum at the moment as they try to chase down Arsenal; it almost like they have clicked into gear when they saw Arsenal dropping points. You have to respect Sunderland getting so many results, but I do feel a big loss is almost due and City can cover the handicap here. Sunderland are conceding so many chances and with City in form, the 2.25 on City -1.5 goals looks very nice value.
The Striker Says:
Two points win Manchester City -1.5 goals to beat Sunderland at 2.25 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/PLSuMc
