As we head into the festive period, the Premier League fixtures are beginning to pile up.
Game week 14 kicks off on Wednesday morning (AEST) when we are treated to the battle of the cellar dwellers, Newcastle vs Norwich.
Elsewhere, Liverpool looks to continue their scoring dominance when they meet Everton in the Merseyside Derby, and Man United attempt to remain undefeated since Ole’s departure when they play host to the Gunners.
We’ve previewed all 10 mid-week Premier League fixtures and provided our best betting plays below!
Winless and anchored to the bottom of the ladder, Newcastle will be looking to open their season account against the 19th placed Norwich.
The Toons’ defence, or lack thereof, has been their Achilles heel this season, they remain one of two sides who are yet to keep a clean sheet, conceding 2+ goals in all but four games.
Although Newcastle are a pile of steaming trash, I still can’t trust the Canaries here, instead, I’ll be backing the goals to flow as both outfits attempt to escape the drop zone.
While we’re on the subject of underperforming teams, Leeds United has won just one of their last six games, a result which came relegation favourites, Norwich.
Alternatively, Crystal Palace has been the surprise package over the first third of the season, losing just once across their last eight games and remaining within touching distance of the top 6.
The Eagles have only lost to Chelsea and Liverpool on the road this season, while the Whites have won just once at Elland rd.
Crystal’s current form is streets ahead of Leeds and they are clear overs at $3.00 in the H2H market.
The unwatchable fixture list continues to pile up as the Wolves play host to the Clarets on Thursday morning.
Wolverhampton are looking to secure four straight home league wins for the first time at Molineux, following victories against West Ham, Everton, and Newcastle.
Since losing their opening three fixtures, Bruno Lage has led his side to six victories, with only Chelsea, Man City, and Arsenal managing more (7).
Although Burnley has seen an uptick in form of late, they are still shipping goals like it’s going out of fashion.
I think Dyche’s side is going to find it tough to break down this well-organised Wolves outfit, as such I’ll be backing the home side to secure all three points on offer.
Chelsea head to Vicarage Road with three points on their mind.
The Blues are the only side yet to taste defeat on the road this season (5W,1D), outscoring their opponents 13 goals to one across the trip!
Watford has thrown caution to the wind under Ranieri, with four of their last six matches seeing at least five goals scored (2W,4L).
After dropping points to United over the weekend, Tuchel will be eager to get on the front foot early against the Hornets and restore his side’s cushion on top of the league.
The Saints will be baiting their traps in anticipation of a Foxe’s onslaught.
Leicester comes into this fixture off the back of a 4-2 victory over the Hornets, with Vardy and Maddison combining for three goals.
The Foxes are undefeated across their last three league away games (1W,2D), while also going undefeated over their previous four trips to Saint Mary’s (3W,1D) including the infamous 9-0 victory in 2019.
After injury struggles earlier in the season, the Foxes are finally starting to find some rhythm, $2.90 at their favourite away ground seems an absolute steal.
The Hammers risk dropping out of the top four should they fall to their third straight league defeat here.
They will be hosting a Brighton side who are also struggling for results, with their last win coming back in Game Week 5 (6D,2L)!
Amazingly, the Seagulls have never suffered defeat against the Irons in the Premier League era (3W,5D), with the last five league meetings between the pair resulting in a scoring draw.
This will be the fourth fixture for the Hammers in 10 days, and with their confidence beginning to wave, I can easily see this match-up crawling to another underwhelming draw.
Stevie G has led the Villans to back-to-back victories since arriving from the Rangers, though a meeting with the reigning will prove his toughest managerial test to date.
The Citizens have strolled to three straight league victories, elevating themselves to 2nd place, just one point behind leaders, Chelsea.
Pep’s side is undefeated over their last 11 meetings with Villa across all comps (10W,1D), outscoring their opponents 32-5!
Four of the last five PL fixtures between this pair have seen over 2.5 goals scored, I’m backing that trend to continue here, with City taking home all three points.
Everton and Liverpool may be neighbours geographically, but they are worlds apart when it comes to quality on the pitch!
The Reds flying into the Mersyside Derby off the pack of three straight victories across all comps, outscoring their opponents 10-0.
Meanwhile, the Toffees have been nothing short of disgraceful, failing to secure a league win since September (2D,5L).
Everton has failed to score in three of their last four Mersysides, with their last home win in this fixture coming back in 2010!
I’m backing the Alison to have a quiet night at the office as the Reds cruise to another victory.
Tottenham return home after their match at Turf Moor was abandoned due to severe weather over the weekend.
Extra rest could give the Spurs an edge here as the Bees prepare to tackle a stacked schedule.
Brentford snapped a five-game league winless streak over the weekend, defeated a seriously undermanned Toffees squad 1-0.
Tottenham remains undefeated in the PL under Antonio Conte (1W,1D), with a rest advantage I’m expecting him to add to the record here.
Game Week 14 comes to a close on Friday morning (AEST), as Manchester United begins life under the critical eye of Ralf Rangnick.
The Red Devils will be taking on one of the competition’s form sides, in Arsenal, the Gunners have won seven of their last 10 games and sit outside the top four on goals difference alone.
Arsenal’s recent success has come off the back of stern defensive performances, keeping six clean sheets over their last 10 league fixtures, while eight of their 12 games this season have seen less than 2.5 goals scored.
I’m not expecting any attacking brilliance to be produced by either side here, United seems to have pushed returned to their counter-attacking blueprint, and will happily struggle the life out of this contest.
This game has “first goal wins” written all over it, as it stands the Unders offers sensation value.