Premier League: Gameweek 18 Tips: Man City should not expect presents from Everton
The Premier League has the perfect Christmas gift for fans on Gameweek 18, presenting a packed schedule of top-flight football on Boxing Day.
It kicks off with the reigning champions Manchester City trying to reverse their disastrous run of form, when they host Everton at the Etihad.
The 3pm matches include Nuno Espirito Santo’s Nottingham Forest taking on his former club Tottenham and a West London derby between Chelsea and Fulham, with Newcastle hosting Aston Villa and Manchester United also in action.
It is rounded off with the Premier League leaders Liverpool hosting struggling Leicester at Anfield, in a game that promises plenty of goals.
Tip 1 - Under 2.5 goals between Manchester City and Everton @ 31/20
Manchester City’s 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa last weekend means that they have only won one of their last 12 games across all competitions, drawing two and losing nine.
It is the biggest crisis in the career of Pep Guardiola and at the moment, the legendary manager shows no signs of being able to turn things around.
Everton promise to be a tricky opponent, with the Merseysiders having held both Arsenal and Chelsea to goalless draws in their last two games.
After a poor start to the season, Sean Dyche has tightened things up and the Toffees have also drawn 0-0 with Brentford, West Ham and Newcastle this season.
With Manchester City struggling to find the net right now, a low scoring game could be unwrapped on Boxing Day.
Tip 2 - Nottingham Forest to beat Tottenham and both teams to score @ 23/10
Nottingham Forest’s 2-0 win at Brentford means that they go into this Boxing Day in fourth position in the Premier League.
It was the third win on the bounce for the Tricky Trees, who have also beaten Aston Villa and Manchester United over recent weeks.
Forest will fancy their chances against a Tottenham side that are without several key defenders and were torn apart in Sunday’s 6-3 home defeat by Liverpool.
The visitors have a poor record on the road and have lost Premier League away days to Newcastle, Brighton, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth this season.
Nuno is a former manager at the Londoners and everything points to his new team being capable of ramping up the pressure on current Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou.
Tip 3 - Chelsea vs Fulham - Nicolas Jackson anytime goalscorer @ 11/8
There is a West London derby taking place at Stamford Bridge, with both Chelsea and Fulham coming into this game off the back of 0-0 draws.
Fulham were frustrated at home by Southampton, but they have been the ones doing the frustrating in recent weeks, holding the likes of Tottenham, Arsenal and Liverpool to draws.
Chelsea could not find a way through stubborn Everton, with Nicolas Jackson missing some good chances for the Blues and hitting the woodwork.
The draw denied Enzo Marescas’s team the chance to move temporarily top of the table, but they are still sitting pretty in second place.
Chelsea can put a smile back on the fans faces with a win against their local rivals and Jackson could be the man to redeem himself, having scored in three of his last four Premier League games at the Bridge.
Tip 4 - Liverpool vs Leicester - Mohammed Salah to assist @ 17/10
Liverpool were rampant on Sunday as they won 6-3 away at Tottenham, with Luis Diaz and Mohammed Salah in particularly fine form.
Both forwards scored a brace, with the Egyptian also assisting twice in a match when the Reds could have easily broken into double figures, as they fired in 24 shots on goal.
Salah is now the Premier League’s top scorer with 15 goals and also leads the assists charts with 11, which is bad news for a Leicester side that lost 3-0 at home to struggling Wolves at the weekend.
The Foxes are 17th in the table going into this round of fixtures and conceded four goals at both Newcastle and Brentford in their two most recent away games.
This looks like another fixture in which the Premier League leaders could notch up a big win and with Salah proving to be just as reliable a provider as he is a finisher, there is more value in backing him to assist, than score.