After losing 2-1 to Aston Villa in Matchweek 17, Manchester City are seventh in the table. They have won just one of their last 12 matches since October 30th.
The Sky Blues problems are two-fold. One, they are not scoring enough. Two, they are giving away too many goals, especially to teams who go at them. Against Everton, City will only have to worry about the first problem.
Everton are one of the worst attacking teams in the EPL. They have scored in just one of their last five matches. Sean Dyche’s side do not know how to go at anyone, let alone a team like City.
The Toffees’ only chance here is if they keep Man City from scoring, which could happen. After all, Everton have the joint-most clean sheets in the league (7) and just shut out Arsenal and Chelsea in consecutive weeks. We’re not willing to bet on it though.
Man City should score and win this Boxing Day match.
| Bookmaker | Tip | Odds |
 | UNDER 3.5 Goals | $1.55 |
 | Both Teams To Score - NO | $1.91 |
 | Man City To WIN & OVER 1.5 Goals | $1.50 |
Man City: Ortega; Lewis, Akanji, Stones, Gvardiol; Gundogan, Kovacic; Silva, Foden, Grealish; Haaland
Everton: Pickford; Patterson, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Gueye, Mangala; Harrison, Doucoure, Ndiaye; Calvert-Lewin
Bournemouth are fifth in the table following their 0-3 demolition of Manchester United at Old Trafford. Crystal Palace, meanwhile, suffered a disappointing 1-5 defeat at home to Arsenal. The Eagles also lost to the Gunners 3-2 midweek in the EFL Cup.
Before those losses to Arsenal, Oliver Glasner’s side were on a good run, with just one loss in their last nine matches before taking on the Gunners.
Bournemouth are on a run like that at the moment. The Cherries have won four of their last five and look to be one of the most surprising teams of this EPL season. They also have a good record against Palace, with two wins in their last two fixtures against the Eagles.
As good as Palace looked recently, the results against Arsenal shows that they are very much still a work in progress, so we are taking Bournemouth to win here.
Bournemouth vs. Crystal Palace Prediction: Bournemouth 3-1 Palace
Bournemouth: Arrizabalaga; Smith, Zabarnyi, Huijsen, Kerkez; Adams, Christie; Semenyo, Kluivert, Ouattara; Evanilson
Crystal Palace: Henderson; Chalobah, Lacroix, Guehi; Munoz, Hughes, Lerma, Mitchell; Sarr, Mateta, Eze
Chelsea’s strong run of form came to a screeching halt last week with a 0-0 draw to Everton. Fulham also fell back down to Earth a bit in Matchweek 17 with a 0-0 draw of their own to lowly Southampton.
Despite the identical scoreless results last weekend, this match should be chock-full of goals. Chelsea have the second-best attack in the EPL with 37 goals scored. Enzo Maresca’s side have also conceded in five of their last six matches across all competitions.
Fulham know how to score too. The Cottagers have been shut out just twice this season. They also are not afraid to really go at bigger teams, like they did in their 2-2 draw with Liverpool in Matchweek 16.
Chelsea’s home and talent advantages probably mean they should win this. But, whatever happens, it should be an exciting match.
Chelsea vs. Fulham Prediction: Chelsea 3-1 Fulham
| Bookmaker | Tip | Odds |
| OVER 3.5 Goals | $2.15 |
| Chelsea to Score in Both Halves - YES | $1.98 |
| Both Teams To Score - YES | $1.55 |
Chelsea: Sanchez; Gusto, Tosin, Colwill, Cucurella; Fernandez, Caicedo; Madueke, Palmer, Sancho; Jackson
Fulham: Leno; Castagne, Diop, Bassey, Robinson; Lukic, Berge; Wilson, Smith Rowe, Iwobi; Jimenez
Newcastle and Aston Villa both come into this Boxing Day looking to build off impressive wins last week and to start their push for European soccer next year.
In the Magpies case, they enter Matchweek 18 off the back of a 4-0 drubbing of Ipswich Town. Aston Villa, meanwhile, took down reigning champions Manchester City 2-1 at Villa Park.
Newcastle are undefeated in their last 17 home matches against Aston Villa. With away form a problem for Unai Emery’s side again this season, we can see this streak growing to 18 matches this weekend.
The Villain’s are averaging 0.75 points per match less away from home than at Villa Park this season. Their -5 goal difference in away matches is also in the bottom third of the league.
Newcastle vs. Aston Villa Prediction: Newcastle 2-1 Villa
| Bookmaker | Tip | Odds |
| Newcastle To WIN | $1.91 |
| Newcastle To Score 2+ Goals - YES | $1.68 |
| BTTS - YES & OVER 2.5 Goals | $1.82 |
Newcastle: Dubravka; Livramento, Schar, Burn, Hall; Tonali, Guimaraes, Willock; Murphy, Isak, Gordon
Aston Villa: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Kamara, Onana; McGinn, Tielemans, Rogers; Duran
Nottingham Forest gave Brentford their first home loss of the season with a convincing 0-2 win at the Gtech Community Stadium last week.
Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur continued their chaotic recent run with a 3-6 defeat to Arne Slot and Liverpool on Sunday.
Despite their recent form, Spurs’ form against Forest has been very consistent. The Lilywhites have won all four of their meetings against the Reds in the Premier League since 2022 and five of their six overall meetings during that stretch.
Spurs have also scored twice as many goals in their last five matches than Forest have. However, they have also conceded 3+ goals three times during that stretch. The Reds have scored 2+ goals in each of their last two games.
This should be a very entertaining, back and forth game with lots of chances to score for both teams. It’s too close for us to pick either team to win though, so we’re taking a draw.
Nottingham Forest vs. Tottenham Prediction: Forest 2-2 Spurs
| Bookmaker | Tip | Odds |
| Draw No Bet - Forest | $1.72 |
| Forest To Score OVER 1.5 Goals | $1.75 |
| BTTS - YES & OVER 2.5 Goals | $1.63 |
Forest: Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Yates, Anderson; Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood
Tottenham: Forster; Porro, Dragusin, Gray, Udogie; Sarr, Bissouma; Kulusevski, Maddison, Son; Solanke
Southampton ended their horrible run of conceding goals with a 0-0 draw away at Fulham last week. The bad news is that Saints are still almost certain to be relegated this season.
New manager Ivan Juric has promised “death metal football”, but his club are currently eight points away from safety with just one win so far. They have scored just two goals in their last five matches and a shocking -25 goal differential.
West Ham have been disappointing in their own right this year, but they aren’t as bad as Southampton. The Hammers are 14th, but trending upwards after a win against Wolves and two draws against Bournemouth and Brighton, respectively.
A new manager bounce is always possible, but it’s really hard to not see West Ham winning this game on Boxing Day.
Southampton vs. West Ham Prediction: Southampton 1-2 West Ham
Southampton: Ramsdale; Sugawara, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Wood; Walker-Peters, Downes, Aribo, Fernandes; Armstrong, Dibling
West Ham: Fabianski; Wan-Bissaka, Mavrapanos, Kilman, Emerson; Alvarez; Kudus, Paqueta, Soucek, Summerville; Bowen
After yet another 3-0 loss to Bournemouth, Manchester United find themselves in 13th place heading into Boxing Day. To make matters worse, the Red Devils don’t look any better under Ruben Amorim than they did under Erik ten Hag earlier this season.
Wolves, meanwhile, got off to a strong start last weekend under new manager Vitor Pereira with an emphatic 3-0 win against Leicester.
This fixture last season was a thrilling match, where Kobbie Mainoo scored a 97th-minute winner for Man Utd. In the fixture before that, the Red Devils needed a lucky break from the referee to win 1-0 at Molineux.
All this to say, Wolves know how to cause Man Utd problems and are good money to do so again this weekend. Our EPL predictions have Wolves getting at least a point here.
Wolves vs. Man Utd prediction: Wolves 2-2 Man Utd
Wolves: Sa; Doherty, Bueno, Toti; Semedo, Andre, J. Gomes, Ait-Nouri; Guedes, Strand Larsen, Cunha
Man Utd: Onana; Mazraoui, Maguire, Martinez; Dalot, Fernandes, Mainoo, Malacia; Diallo, Hojlund, Garnacho
Leicester’s new manager bump appears to be over. The Foxes have been outscored 7-0 in their last two games and are now just two points above the relegation zone.
Liverpool, meanwhile, are back to their best after beating Tottenham in a thrilling 3-6 win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Following those results, the soccer betting sites have predicted this match to be the most lopsided EPL Boxing Day fixture. PlayUp has the Foxes chances of winning at $26, while Liverpool is listed at $1.07.
As much as we would like to disagree with the bookmakers here, we can’t. Leicester have scored just six goals in their last five matches and Liverpool have kept the most clean sheets in the EPL this season (7).
This should be a convincing win for Arne Slot’s side.
Liverpool vs. Leicester Prediction: Liverpool 3-0 Leicester
Liverpool: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Szoboszlai, Gakpo; Diaz
Leicester: Ward; Justin, Coady, Vestergaard; Kristiansen, Skipp, Soumare; Buonanotte, El Khannouss, Mavididi; Vardy
Both Brentford and Brighton’s owners come from the sports betting world. They used their expertise with advanced data to become two of the most well-run scouting networks in the Premier League. On the field though, Brighton have clearly been the better side.
Brentford have won just one of their six meetings against Brighton in the EPL. The Bees have never beaten the Seagulls at the Amex. Based on the trends this season, they probably won’t win this weekend either.
Thomas Frank’s side have the worst away record in the league, with just one point from eight road matches so far. Brighton are on a five-match winless run and aren’t exactly stellar at home, but this should be a match they win.
We also expect a lot of goals here. While Brentford have not been scoring loads on the road, five of their last six matches have had over 2.5 goals. Brighton’s record is even stronger, with eight of their last 10 matches featuring more than 2.5 goals.
Brighton vs. Brentford Prediction: Brighton 3-1 Brentford
Brighton: Verbruggen; Veltman, van Hecke, Dunk; Estupinan; Baleba, Ayari; Rutter, Pedro, Mitoma; Ferguson
Brentford: Flekken; Roerslev, Mee, Collins, Lewis-Potter; Norgaard, Janelt, Damsgaard; Mbeumo, Wissa, Schade
Most betting sites have Arsenal as distant third-favourites to win the Premier League title this season, but their 5-1 win over Palace last weekend means the Gunners are still in the race.
Ipswich Town’s fight for survival, meanwhile, got a whole lot tougher after losing 0-4 to Newcastle. The Tractor Boys have now lost four of their last five and have conceded in 13 straight matches.
Arsenal have the third-best home record in the league this season. They also have a remarkable record against newly promoted teams. The Gunners are unbeaten in their last 41 home matches in the EPL against freshly promoted sides.
Mikel Arteta’s team should extend that streak this weekend with a win over Ipswich. Our only concern is that Bukayo Saka will miss this match with injury.
Arsenal struggled without Martin Odegaard earlier this season and could do the same without Saka. Even without him though, the Gunners should have enough to get by Ipswich.
Arsenal vs. Ipswich prediction: Arsenal 2-0 Ipswich
Arsenal: Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Trossard, Havertz, Martinelli
Ipswich: Muric; H.Clarke, O’Shea, Burgess, Davis; Phillips, Cajuste; Hutchinson, Chaplin, Szmodics; Delap
Star winger Bukayo Saka is set to miss “many weeks” of Premier League action after tearing his hamstring in the Gunners’ 5-1 win at Crystal Palace.
Manchester United are 13th heading into Boxing Day and it appears Bruno Fernandes is starting to lose confidence in the club’s new owner.
Our Boxing Day multibet has picks from Man City vs. Everton, Bournemouth vs. Crystal Palace & Wolves vs. Man Utd to help you get ready for MW18.
American billionaire Dan Friedkin has officially purchased Premier League club Everton from British-Iranian businessman Farhad Moshiri.
