GOLDEN GOALS MD17: SPURS-LIVERPOOL BARNSTORMER IN STORE
We’ve just about caught our breath from the end of last week’s Manchester Derby and the Premier League is rolling round once more.
There’s no let-up in the fixtures as the festive period approaches and Tottenham vs Liverpool is the undoubted headline grabber on Golden Goals Matchday 17.
Elsewhere, Ipswich and Newcastle will both be hoping to build on impressive wins last weekend as they face each other at Portman Road while Brentford’s sublime home record is tested by a Nottingham Forest side who are strong away from home.
Crystal Palace are unbeaten in five league games and welcome Arsenal to Selhurst Park, West Ham take on Brighton and Manchester United have a chance to ride the crest of the wave after their late derby win when Bouremouth visit Old Trafford.
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To help you make your selections, this is how we see it going on Golden Goals Matchday 17…
Ipswich 1-3 Newcastle
Ipswich were on the right side of a relegation six-pointer last weekend when Jack Taylor nodded home in the 94th minute at Molineux, earning the Tractor Boys their second win of the campaign and putting them within touching distance of 17th.
Saturday provided an air of positivity around Portman Road but Kieran McKenna’s side still need to improve offensively if they are going to mount a realistic resistance against relegation.
Ipswich are the third-lowest scorers in the division with 16 and they have only netted two or more goals on one occasion — a 4-3 loss to Brentford in October.
Liam Delap has provided a spark in the attack, with six goals in 16 league matches, but he’s on a barren spell in front of goal which stretches back over a month.
Newcastle are having no such problems in attack after a 4-0 win over Leicester City last weekend courtesy of a brace from Jacob Murphy and goals from both Bruno Guimaraes and Alexander Isak. The latter has now scored 10 goals in his last 11 league matches.
The Swedish forward has also fared well against newly-promoted sides since joining the Premier League in August 2022. In nine appearances he’s scored nine goals and he’s currently 49/50 to improve his record and score anytime this weekend.
Eddie Howe’s men are still searching for consistency this season and back-to-back wins could point them in the right direction.
Fortunately, Ipswich are winless at home with four draws and four losses so the Magpies should come out on top in a one-sided win.
Brentford 2-2 Nottingham Forest
Brentford are night and day when it comes to their home and away form.
Unbeaten at home, the 11th-placed Bees have seven wins and one draw at the Brentford Community Stadium and the polar opposite record on the road — one draw and seven defeats. Fortunately for Thomas Frank’s side, they return to west London this weekend.
Their opponents here at Nottingham Forest, with last Saturday’s late turnaround against Aston Villa taking the Tricky Trees to fourth. This one pits a formidable home record against a team that are impressive on the road, with Nuno Espirito Santo’s side suffering just two league defeats away from the City Ground this season — at Arsenal and champions Manchester City.
U̶s̶y̶k̶ ̶v̶s̶ ̶F̶u̶r̶y̶ Isak vs Mbeumo 🥊
— BetMGM UK (@BetMGMUK) December 18, 2024
The 𝙍𝙀𝘼𝙇 blockbuster H2H this week is at St. James' Park 🍿
Alexander Isak and Bryan Mbeumo 𝘽𝙊𝙏𝙃 scored in the league game less than two weeks ago 🔙
𝙒𝙝𝙤 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙆𝙊'𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩? 🤔#NEWBRE #NUFC pic.twitter.com/sOe0U7NFpK
In Bryan Mbeumo and Chris Wood we have two of the Premier League’s most prolific marksmen. Indeed, both having scored 10 goals in 16 games so far this season with almost identical goal conversion stats of 37% and 36% respectively.
Wood scored for the visitors here last campaign and it’s an appealing 8/1 for the Forest striker and Mbeumo to get their names on the scoresheet here.
Brentford have scored 32 goals, the third most in the league, but have also shipped 30, the fourth worst. Forest are more modest in front of goal, scoring just 21 from their 16 games but only Liverpool and Arsenal have conceded less than their 19.
Both teams have scored in the last six meetings and we’re predicting the same here despite Forest’s tight backline. A draw is on the cards in London — we can’t separate them.
Crystal Palace 0-2 Arsenal
Arsenal take a short trip to Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace for the second time in four days off the back of two consecutive draws in the league.
The Gunners have lost ground on leaders Liverpool as a result, while Chelsea have leapfrogged them into second place. A win here is imperative – and likely. Mikel Arteta’s men have won their last four in the league over the Eagles.
The midweek EFL Cup meeting at the Emirates provided five goals with Arsenal coming out 3-2 winners, though it took the introduction of Martin Odegaard from the bench to turn the game around for the home side.
After 𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗧𝗘𝗘𝗡 years at Old Trafford, Marcus Rashford has admitted he needs a "new challenge" 👋
— BetMGM UK (@BetMGMUK) December 19, 2024
Can you see him staying in England or should he move abroad? 🛫
Find the market for his next club on 01/09/25 👉 https://t.co/dkWhxFCFGG
*Odds subject to change#MUFC pic.twitter.com/3ZLxGbRdaH
Gabriel Jesus scored a hat-trick in the game – which will be a much-needed confidence boost for the Brazilian. He’s 2/1 to break his Premier League duck for the season in this one.
Palace, meanwhile, have just three league wins all season and only one of them came at Selhurst Park. Scoring goals at home has been a huge issue – the Eagles have 17 Premier League goals but a risible six in their eight home games.
Oliver Glasner’s men are, however, unbeaten in five league games. That comes to an end here. Arsenal can’t afford any slip-ups and, although they were pushed all the way four days ago by these same opponents, Arteta will revert back to his strongest 11 and take the victory.
West Ham 1-1 Brighton
Every game feels like it could be Julen Lopetegui’s last in charge of West Ham. Alas, the Spaniard remains in the dugout after four points from a possible six in their last two matches, including a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth on Monday night.
The last two performances have demonstrated the Hammers’ much-improved defensive rigidity. They have conceded the fifth-most goals and allow 1.78 xG against per 90 minutes — the fourth-highest in the league — but Lopetegui’s defence held Wolves and Bournemouth to a goal apiece.
That aforementioned defence will have to be on top form against a familiar foe in Danny Welbeck.
Brighton’s number 18 has scored more goals against West Ham than any other opponent (six) and he’s netted three in his last six against this weekend’s opponents. Will the former Manchester United man strike again at 12/5 with BetMGM this weekend?
Newcastle... sorry, Premier League Team of the Week for MD16 is here 👀
— BetMGM UK (@BetMGMUK) December 17, 2024
The Magpies dominate after that comfortable 4-0 win against Leicester at St. James' Park 🔥
Anyone we're missing? 🤔 #NUFC #EPL pic.twitter.com/SCRXCny3JB
There’s a festive season slump occurring on the south coast. With last Sunday’s derby defeat to Crystal Palace, Fabian Hurzeler’s men are now four games without a win in the Premier League, drawing with both Southampton and Leicester in that span.
However, Brighton will see this weekend as the perfect get-right opportunity. The Seagulls are unbeaten in all seven of their away games against West Ham and they have only lost once in the last 14 meetings between the two sides.
Of those 14 meetings, seven of them have ended in a stalemate. Same again this weekend?
Manchester United 2-1 Bournemouth
For 85 minutes, it looked like three Premier League defeats on the bounce for Manchester United.
The decision to drop Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho from the squad was about to be picked apart and Ruben Amorim’s start to life in Manchester was getting rockier.
That was until Amad Diallo turned it on, won a penalty, which was subsequently scored by Bruno, and scored a sensational winning goal 115 seconds after the penalty was converted.
Now the question is can the Red Devils put a run together? Their form may rely on the continued excellence of their diminutive Ivorian winger. In each of his previous five Premier League starts, Diallo has either scored or assisted a goal. You can back him at odds of 14/5 to find the net again against the Cherries.
Bournemouth are not to be underestimated, however. The Cherries are marching towards potential European football and look good while doing it.
Despite dropping points at home to West Ham on Monday, they managed a whopping 29 shots on goal. Only once before have they managed more attempts in a Premier League game (32 vs Sheffield United last season).
They also keep going right to the end of matches — their 90th minute equaliser by Enes Unal was the ninth time they have scored on or after the 86th minute.
After winning 3-0 at Old Trafford last season, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them pick up another result.
However, we are predicting a narrow win for the hosts, who will use the derby win as the catalyst for a positive festive period.
Tottenham 2-4 Liverpool
It feels like Tottenham are never far away from a crisis but last weekend’s 5-0 win away to Southampton could prove just the tonic for Ange Postecoglou and his band of free-scoring men.
Indeed, only Chelsea (37) have scored more goals than Tottenham’s 36 this season yet, somehow, they find themselves 11 points and eight places behind their great London rivals.
This isn’t typically a fixture in which they fare well.
Liverpool have lost just two of their previous 23 meetings with Spurs. What's more, the Reds have scored at least one goal in each of their previous 17 games against them.
🎯 𝙈𝙊𝙎𝙏 Premier League goals (13)
— BetMGM UK (@BetMGMUK) December 16, 2024
🅰️ 𝙎𝙀𝘾𝙊𝙉𝘿-𝙃𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙀𝙎𝙏 assists (9)
Is Mohamed Salah the most valuable player in the #EPL this season? 🤔
𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜... 👀 #LiverpoolFC #LFC pic.twitter.com/SsiOnfANsY
Meanwhile, Tottenham have kept just one clean sheet in their previous 23 home games. There could be goals in this game but, unfortunately for the hosts, it’s perfectly plausible they get outgunned by the title favourites.
Liverpool are starting to get leakier in defence, though. After conceding just three goals in their opening eight games of the campaign they have since let in 10 in their previous seven.
However, they are being propelled by one of the great individual seasons of their great talisman Mohamed Salah. The Egyptian has 13 goals and nine assists, totalling 71% of the team’s goal involvements.
We can see him getting involved again, here. You can back him at odds of 4/7 to score anytime or 5/2 to score first with BetMGM.
This will be a high-scoring affair that will go the way of the visiting side.
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Odds correct at time of publication but subject to change. Please note: This week's Golden Goals deadline is Saturday 21st December 15:00. Opt-in is required and you can find out more here.
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