Sports Blog 24/12/2014: Match Preview – Premier League, 26th December 2014

With Christmas Day tomorrow, many football fans will be more eager to get to Boxing Day, which promises an interesting set of fixtures for the Premier League.

The first televised game kicks off at 12:45pm on Sky Sports 1, and sees a surprisingly strong West Ham travel to Stamford Bridge to try and topple the league leaders. After a solid win at Stoke on Monday, Chelsea are looking to continue their home winning streak, which has seen 8 out of 8 league wins, against a West Ham side that are over-performing to sit in fourth.



The Hammers are in fine form, and have only failed to score in 2 games this season; however they have failed to win in their last four match-ups at Stamford Bridge. Yet this is a renewed West Ham side, and Sam Allardyce’s men should go into the game confident they can get something off of the Blues. Despite West Ham’s current form, our Spreadex clients still fancy a Chelsea side aiming for a quadruple, and we have seen lots of bets on a Chelsea/West Ham Goal Supremacy spread betting quote of 1.5-1.7, with a Total Goals spread of 3-3.2.

After this London derby we see an inconsistent Newcastle travel to Old Trafford to face a Manchester United side that seems to have finally found their form. This game kicks off at 3.00pm on BT Sport 1, with Newcastle hoping to continue their trend of scoring at Old Trafford.



Manchester United have seen similar home form to Chelsea, winning 7 of the last 8 at the Theatre of Dreams. Yet Newcastle managed a shock victory against the Red Devils in the same fixture last season, and will be hoping to put their 3 game losing streak behind them win another surprise win on Friday. Unsurprisingly, we have seen plenty of movement on a Man United/Newcastle Goal Supremacy spread betting quote of 1.35-1.55. And with van Persie finding his feet recently, he is favourite to score first at 15/4 fixed odds betting; similarly, Newcastle’s top scorer Papiss Demba Cisse is at 17/2 to score first with 7 goals for the Toon.

Finally, we have another London derby as a struggling QPR visit Arsenal at the Emirates, in at 17.30pm kick-off on BT Sport 1. After a last minute equaliser denied them the win at Liverpool, the Gunners will be looking to release some frustration on a QPR side that have conceded 2 or more goals in 12 of their 17 league games.



Arsenal will need a win to maintain their perpetual push for fourth place, as they sit in 6th behind Southampton and level on points with rivals Tottenham; QPR, on the other hand, will have one eye over their shoulder as they try to avoid slipping back into the relegation zone. As we have seen, our Spreadex clients have been fancying the bigger sides on Boxing Day, with a flurry of bets on an Arsenal/QPR Goal Supremacy spread betting quote of 1.8-2. And with Arsenal’s diminutive Chilean striker Alexis Sanchez favourite to score first at 10/3, QPR’s workhorse Charlie Austin is at slightly longer odds of 17/2, despite scoring 11 goals this season.