BOXING DAY PREMIER LEAGUE: The Striker previews the Premier League fixture list on Boxing Day Sunday – all matches previewed with a recommended BETDAQ bet and extended match stats.

MANCHESTER CITY V LEICESTER

3pm all football bets are 0% Commission on BETDAQ Betting Exchange Leicester have had a lot of issues with Covid19, and they haven’t played since the 12th of December with a 4-0 win over Newcastle. Manchester City have had no issues, and they also beat Newcastle 4-0 in their last game too – although that took place last weekend. Obviously we know Leicester will have some fitness issues here, and Manchester City are trading as short as 1.22 to win here. City have been in superb form all season, and with Liverpool dropping points at the weekend against Spurs, they start the day with a three point lead. It’s going to be very hard to stop them winning another title – Liverpool look like the only side that will get close with Chelsea falling away in recent weeks. It’s hard to know what to expect from Leicester here to be honest, and I feel this situation is definitely a situation that needs small stakes.

Leicester closed their training centre for 48 hours after their outbreak, but then when they re-opened they had a number of players back in training who actually tested positive earlier when they played Napoli. With the new Premier League rules, it seems very likely that Leicester can field a team here. What that teams looks like is tough to know, but with City in excellent form and scoring goals for fun, this should be a very big score line if Leicester aren’t at their best. Even without the Covid19 drama, Leicester haven’t been at their best this season and they have been conceding too many goals. That’s always going to be a major issue playing a side like City, and City can cover the handicap here. The 1.6 -1.5 goals looks very appealing in what should be a smooth home win.

The Striker Says:
Two points win Manchester City -1.5 goals to beat Leicester at 1.6 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.

You can view all markets here -> https://bit.ly/BDQMcilei

MATCH STATS

● Manchester City have won eight of their last 10 Premier League games against Leicester (L2), including a 1-0 victory in the reverse fixture earlier this season.
● Leicester City won this exact fixture 5-2 last season, with Jamie Vardy netting a hat-trick. They won three league games in a row away against Man City between 1995 and 2003, but they’ve never won away against them in consecutive league seasons before.
● Man City are unbeaten in eight home league games on Boxing Day (W6 D2), winning each of the last six in a row. Their last such defeat came in 1996-97 against Port Vale in the second tier (0-1).
● Leicester have won just one of their last 11 Premier League games on Boxing Day (D2 L8), though that victory did come against reigning champions Manchester City in 2018-19.
● Leicester have lost three of their eight away league games this season (W2 D3), as many as they did in the whole of last season (W11 D5 L3). Both of the Foxes’ wins on the road this term have come against promoted sides (2-1 vs both Norwich and Brentford).
● Man City’s Riyad Mahrez has been on the losing side in all five of his Premier League appearances on Boxing Day – the worst 100% loss record on the day in the competition’s history. His only previous such game with Manchester City was in 2018-19, which ended in defeat to former club Leicester.
● Leicester’s Jamie Vardy has never scored in six Premier League appearances on Boxing Day – he’s one of just three players to score over 100 goals in the competition but never on Boxing Day, along with Sergio Agüero and Les Ferdinand.
● Leicester striker Jamie Vardy has scored eight Premier League goals against Manchester City, including two hat-tricks. Only Alan Shearer (11) and Wayne Rooney (9) have ever netted more Premier League goals against the Citizens than Vardy.
● Man City’s Raheem Sterling has scored in each of his last three Premier League games – he last scored in four in a row in the competition in August/September 2017.
● Leicester’s James Maddison has been directly involved in six goals in his last four Premier League games (3 goals, 3 assists), as many as he had in his previous 26 for the Foxes before this (3 goals, 3 assists).

NORWICH V ARSENAL

3pm Norwich are another club who had an outbreak of Covid19, and possibly that was linked to their 2-0 loss to Aston Villa on Tuesday the 14th, who also had an outbreak after that. This game will likely go ahead as planned, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw this one postponed. Arsenal will want to fulfil the fixture as they arrive into the game in great form. I know the teams around them have a couple of games in hand, but it must be a big confidence boost for Arsenal to get back into the Top Four – for the moment anyway! Backing Arsenal at odds on away from home should always come with a wealth warning, but this seems a good time to get on Arsenal and the 1.47 is worth backing. Even leaving aside the Covid19 issues for Norwich, they have been very poor this season and they are the hype of side that Arsenal do very well against. They won’t have the talent to put the type of pressure on Arsenal that they struggle with, and that usually means a smooth 2-0 or 3-0 Arsenal win.

It’s shrewd to keep stakes limited given its Arsenal away from home, and three points feels like the right stake here. It’s been a while since they have played obviously, but the last two home performances from Norwich have been very poor. They conceded an xG of 2.18 against Manchester United but then the Aston Villa performance was poor. They basically got outclassed and Villa haven’t been playing amazing football. I know Steven Gerrard has given the club a big boost, but they haven’t turned into Brazil! Arsenal come into the game on a high with their winning run and they have been putting the smaller sides to the sword on this run – they will likely come up short when they bump into a top team soon, but Arsenal will continue their winning ways here.

The Striker Says:
Three points win Arsenal to beat Norwich at 1.47 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.

You can view all markets here -> https://bit.ly/BDQNorars

MATCH STATS

● Having been unbeaten in their first five Premier League games against Arsenal between 1992 and 1994 (W1 D4), Norwich have lost 10 of their last 14 against the Gunners in the competition (W1 D3).
● Arsenal earned their first Premier League win of the season in the reverse fixture against Norwich – only twice previously have they done the Premier League double against them (2004-05 and 2013-14).
● Norwich have played more Premier League games on Boxing Day without ever winning than any other side in the competition (7 – D1 L6). The Canaries have also scored just one goal in their seven such games, with Gary Hooper netting against Fulham in 2013-14.
● Arsenal have lost just two of their 23 Premier League games on Boxing Day (W14 D7), going down 3-2 at Coventry in 1999-00 and 4-0 at Southampton in 2015-16.
● Norwich are at the foot of the table with 10 points – only three teams bottom of the Premier League table at the start of Boxing Day have avoided relegation: West Bromwich Albion in 2004-05, Sunderland 2013-14 and Leicester in 2014-15.
● Norwich have failed to score in a league-high 11 different Premier League games this season. Meanwhile, in top-flight history, no side has ever scored fewer goals before Christmas than the eight the Canaries have netted this term.
● 52% of Arsenal’s Premier League goals this season have been netted by players aged 21 or under (14/27), with only Leeds in 1999-00 (65%) having a higher such ratio within a single Premier League campaign (excluding own goals).
● Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored on both of his Boxing Day games in the Premier League, netting against Brighton in 2018-19 and Bournemouth in 2019-20. The only Arsenal player to score in three consecutive Boxing Day appearances is Thierry Henry (between 2002-03 and 2004-05).
● Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been directly involved in six goals in three Premier League appearances against Norwich (5 goals, 1 assist), and has never failed to score against the Canaries in the competition.
● Gabriel Martinelli has been directly involved in six goals in his last six Premier League games for Arsenal (4 goals, 2 assists), as many as he had in his first 33 appearances in the competition before this (5 goals, 1 assist).

WEST HAM V SOUTHAMPTON

3pm We finish the 3pm fixtures with West Ham hosting Southampton, and this should be an interesting game. West Ham were scheduled to meet Norwich last weekend but that fixture couldn’t go ahead, while Southampton’s game was postponed against Brentford. It’s obviously hard to tell where the clubs stand fully with Covid19, but I feel these two clubs should be fine. This is the type of game to get a bit loss today with so much on Boxing Day, but it’s a big game for both sides. Southampton aren’t too far away from the danger zone should other results go against them over the New Year period, and West Ham need a win to stay in touch for the Top Four race. With Spurs and Manchester United having games in hand on them now, they really can’t afford to drop many more points. Let’s be realistically, a Top Four finish would be an immense achievement for West Ham and they will likely fall short, but the main should be to stay in the mix for as long as possible.

Southampton have gone a while now without a win. It’s been six games, and their performances haven’t been good. I felt they were playing much better than their position in the table suggested towards the start of the season, but they have been a little average lately. Their performance against Leicester was decent, but then again we know Leicester haven’t been playing well in general this season. They’ve had to play Arsenal and Liverpool, but losing to Norwich is obviously very disappointing. That loss came away from home, and perhaps home advantage can be the difference here. West Ham have been fantastic this season, but they have been struggling lately. Apart from their win against Chelsea, which was massive obviously, they have lost to Wolves, Man City and Arsenal as well as drawing with Burnley. The losses to Arsenal and Man City can be forgive, but overall they just haven’t performed. I feel that they are a little short here at 1.81 given the form they come into the game in, and they are worth having a small lay on.

The Striker Says:
One point lay (liability) West Ham to beat Southampton at 1.81 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.

You can view all markets here -> https://bit.ly/BDQWhusou

MATCH STATS

● West Ham are unbeaten in their last eight Premier League games against Southampton (W6 D2) since a 3-2 away loss in August 2017.
● After drawing their first ever Premier League away game against West Ham in May 1994 (3-3), none of Southampton’s last 18 visits to the Hammers in the competition has finished level. Saints have won just four of these 18 games (L14), losing the last four in a row while conceding exactly three goals each time.
● West Ham have won more games (19) and more home games (14) against Southampton in the Premier League than they have versus any other side in the competition.
● West Ham have won just one of their last seven league games on Boxing Day (D3 L3), winning 4-1 at Swansea in 2016-17. This is the Hammers’ first Boxing Day home game since 2013-14, a 3-1 defeat against Arsenal.
● This is the 12th time Southampton have played away from home on Boxing Day in the Premier League (W3 D5 L3), and it will be the 11th such game to be against a London side. Indeed, Saints have played more Boxing Day Premier League games in London than they have at home (7).
● After a run of four straight Premier League victories in October/November, West Ham have won just one of their last six in the competition (D2 L3). The Hammers have lost as many games in this run as they had in their previous 16 league games combined beforehand.
● West Ham have failed to score in their last two Premier League games, having failed to find the net in just two of their previous 18 in the competition prior to this. They last went three league matches without a goal in June 2020.
● West Ham boss David Moyes has lost just two of his 17 Premier League meetings with Southampton (W7 D8), going down 1-0 with Everton in September 2002 and 4-0 with Sunderland in February 2017.
● West Ham’s Michail Antonio has failed to score in any of his last eight Premier League appearances since netting the winner against Tottenham in October. The Jamaican international last had a longer run without a goal in the competition between November 2019 and February 2020 (9).
● Armando Broja has scored four goals in six Premier League starts, making him Southampton’s top league goal scorer this season. All four of the Albanian’s goals have given Saints the lead in the game, and have been worth five points overall.

ASTON VILLA V CHELSEA

5.30pm We have a very interesting game kicking off at 5-30pm as Aston Villa host Chelsea. Both these sides have had Covid19 issues, so we can’t say for certain that the fixture will actually go ahead as I type! I have to say, Chelsea have been the most unlucky club from this Covid situation in the Premier League. They have had to play through and have had requests for games to be postponed cancelled, and they have lost valuable ground in the title race while not being at full strength. Not only that, but as Thomas Tuchel said he can’t rely on the likes of Kante to cover everyone and start five games in two weeks – he will break down under the strain too, so it’s just a bad situation all around. Unfortunately for Chelsea, and without sounding too dramatic, they are probably out of the title race now – or at least very close to being out of it. When they played Liverpool and Manchester City they just didn’t look up to their level and they were outclassed in both games. What they had going for them was they were putting the smaller sides to the sword, but now they are six points behind Manchester City and three behind Liverpool.

Steven Gerrard and Aston Villa will be hoping to make that gap bigger here! Villa have had Covid19 issues since beating Norwich 2-0, at the moment it looks like their outbreak came from that game and they haven’t played since. It’s hard to fully know what the situation is with regards to fitness levels etc, and I do strongly feel that in that regard it’s wise to keep stakes low in games like this over the New Year period. This is a game where we could see some big swings on the team news, and that’s definitely something to look for when trading. Chelsea have really struggled to get through this period, and they have especially struggled away from home. I feel they are too short at 1.74 here and are worth a small lay – Villa have hugely benefited from the momentum Gerrard brought and they have been on a good run even when losing to Liverpool and Man City by one goal. I feel they can get a result here; home advantage is a nice factor to have with Chelsea struggling.

The Striker Says:
One point lay (liability) Chelsea to beat Aston Villa at 1.74 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.

You can view all markets here -> https://bit.ly/BDQAstche

MATCH STATS

● Aston Villa won this exact fixture 2-1 last season, last winning back-to-back home league games against Chelsea back in April 2004.
● Chelsea won the reverse fixture 3-0 earlier this season, and are looking to complete the Premier League double over Aston Villa for the seventh time – only Manchester United (15) and Manchester City (8) have done so against the Villans more often in the competition.
● This is the sixth time Aston Villa and Chelsea have met in a league match on Boxing Day (fourth in the Premier League), with Chelsea remaining unbeaten in the five games so far (W3 D2). The last such match came in the 2007-08 season, a 4-4 draw at Stamford Bridge.
● In Premier League history, there have been 38 red cards in games played on Boxing Day. 8% of these came in one match – Aston Villa’s 4-4 draw away to Chelsea in 2007-08, with Zat Knight being sent off for Villa, and Ricardo Carvalho and Ashley Cole seeing red for the Blues.
● Aston Villa have won their last three Boxing Day league games, their longest winning run on this day since a run of five between 1908 and 1913.
● Chelsea have lost their last two Boxing Day league games, going down 2-0 against Southampton in 2019-20 and 3-1 at Arsenal last term. Only once have the Blues ever lost three such games in a row, doing so between 1912 and 1914.
● Chelsea’s last two Premier League games have finished level, with the Blues last drawing three consecutive league games back in February 2012. Meanwhile, they’ve never gone three league games without a win so far under Thomas Tuchel.
● Chelsea have only failed to score in two of their 18 Premier League away games under Thomas Tuchel – a 0-0 draw with Leeds in March, and another 0-0 draw with Wolves in their last match.
● Aston Villa have only failed to score in one of their last 14 Premier League home games, and have found the net in each of their last nine at Villa Park since a 0-0 draw with Everton in May.
● None of Aston Villa’s last 14 Premier League games have ended level (W6 L8), with four of those victories coming in their six games under Steven Gerrard. It’s the Villans’ longest run without a draw in league football since a run of 16 between January and May 1998.

BRIGHTON V BRENTFORD

8pm We finish a fantastic day with Brighton hosting Brentford in the battle of the xG teams! Both of these sides put a huge importance on performance levels, xG figures and underlining numbers in general. It’s wise they haven’t overreacted in the past with sacking managers, and it’s nice to see them having some success now. Brentford have adjusted to life in the Premier League quite well now, and while Brighton had a fast start to the season they have slipped back down the table – however they are going to finish mid table which is an improvement on last season when they were in the relegation battle for a large part of the season. Both sides have played 16 games, have the same amount of points and are right beside each other in the table. They both haven’t played for a while too because of Covid19. Brentford broke a run without a win with a win over Watford on the 10th of December, while Brighton have played since losing to Wolves on the 15th. Obviously it’s wise to worry about the fitness situation here too, and definitely have that in the back of your mind when looking at the odds.

I’m a big fan of both sides, especially their outlook on how they want to play football. Perhaps because of that, I wasn’t expecting to see Brighton such heavy favourites for this game. They are trading 2.0 and I feel that’s just too short – I fully expect a closer game than those odds suggest, however I am happy to keep stakes limited as I’m sure both sides will be missing some players, and it’s hard to fully make a commitment to the betting market without seeing the teams given the situation. Brighton haven’t been playing too badly, but it has been a while since they won, on the plus side Brentford seem a much better side in front of their own fans. Nevertheless, the 2.0 on Brighton is too short to ignore here, and I’m happy to have a small lay on the home side. Best of luck to everyone on a great day of sport, and enjoy the 0% Commission on BETDAQ!

The Striker Says:
One point lay (liability) Brighton to beat Brentford at 2.0 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.

You can view all markets here -> https://bit.ly/BDQBribre

MATCH STATS

● Brighton won the reverse fixture against Brentford 1-0, but have done the league double over the Bees in just one of the last 23 campaigns in which they’ve met, doing so in 2010-11 in League One.
● Brentford have won two of their last three away league games against Brighton (L1), more than they had in their previous 12 visits (W1 D4 L7). This is their first league game at the Amex since a 2-0 win in September 2016.
● Brighton have lost just one of their last 12 Premier League games against promoted sides (W5 D6), going down 1-0 at West Brom in February. The Seagulls have conceded just four goals in these games, keeping a clean sheet in seven of their last eight.
● Brighton are winless in their last 11 Boxing Day league games (D4 L7) since beating QPR 1-0 in 2005-06. It’s the longest ongoing run without a Boxing Day league win of any side in the top four tiers of English football.
● Brentford have lost just one of their last 12 Boxing Day league games (W7 D4), losing 4-2 at home to Ipswich in 2014-15. The Bees have never lost on this day in the top-flight (W2 D1), with this their first such game since a 2-1 win over Sheffield United in 1946.
● Excluding 1992-93, just three teams have won a Premier League game on Boxing Day in their maiden campaign in the competition (D7 L11) – Sunderland in 1996-97, Portsmouth in 2003-04 and Wigan Athletic in 2005-06.
● Brighton are winless in their last 11 Premier League games (D8 L3), with the Seagulls last having a longer run without a victory in league competition between August and October 2002 (13).
● Two of Brentford’s five Premier League victories this season have been courtesy of 90th minute winners, including their win against Watford last time out. The only side to have had more wins thanks to 90th minute goals in their maiden campaign in the competition were Wigan Athletic (3 in 2005-06).
● Brentford were unbeaten in their first four Premier League away games (W2 D2), conceding just two goals in this run (0.5 per game). However, the Bees are now winless in four on the road (D2 L2), conceding 10 goals in these games (2.5 per game).
● Neal Maupay is Brighton’s highest scorer in the Premier League this season with six goals. He’s had three occasions where he’s scored in consecutive appearances this term, last scoring in three games in a row in October 2020.