*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widget, while in-copy odds are accurate at time of publication but subject to change
You don’t know pain until you’re missing Premier League action when you’ve become accustomed to it. Cup competitions don’t mean anything to anyone in the football league bar maybe Jose Mourinho because they’ve kept him in a job for so long – and now Man United because they’ve beaten Liverpool to qualify for the next round.
No, the real action we’re all craving truly belongs in Selhurst Park and Mike Ashley’s 50,000-seater storage unit up north on a bitter Tuesday evening.
We might be sadists, but we’re sadists who know what we like.
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Crystal Palace, for all their emphasis on just surviving, are probably one of just three teams in the entire league that already have nothing to play for deep down. They’re 11 points clear of the drop but absolutely nowhere near good enough to finish any higher than bottom half.
They’re conveniently joined by Leeds who also feature in tonight’s entertainment – but their opponents in West Ham and Newcastle are fighting for very different goals. Sometimes these make for cagey affairs when ambitions are so different but given how passive Newcastle are and how ferocious the Hammers seem to be this year, it should stay true to form.
Praise the Lord for stubborn footballing identities. Here’s your Tuesday double.
6.00pm: Crystal Palace v West Ham United – West Ham to Win and Both Teams to Score
Maybe the most impressive element of West Ham’s form is that they’re not reliant on any one player nor are they particularly stronger at home or on their travels.
They grind out results, but maybe not in the condescending way we’re used to crediting them for. This unit do manage to ship stupid goals, but they’ve got so much going forward that they’re generally capable of overcoming it.
Tuesday, 6.00pm: Crystal Palace v West Ham United
BT Sport 2
And that’s not due to clever passages or anything – they’re just structured and maximise goalscoring opportunities.
Perhaps they’re benefitting from the spread of goals, too. Haller may have flown the nest, but Antonio is hitting a purple patch and Tomas Soucek remains that one player in the Premier League that you feel he’d perform just as well anywhere he went.
They’ve got stable pillars for the first time in a long time and with goals coming from everywhere, they should have enough to take three points.
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6.00pm: Newcastle United v Leeds United – Under 1.5 Goals
Newcastle haven’t scored in their last three. Leeds haven’t scored in either of their last two. The need for a result, even for morale, is high.
That generally means that there’ll be a lull in intensity, but I’m not sure Leeds have that in them unless they’re fatigued.
What is hard to shake though, is inefficiency in front of goal and even with Leeds providing chances, banking on the prowess of Patrick Bamford throughout the course of a season was always going to be problematic.
Tuesday, 6.00pm: Newcastle United v Leeds United
BT Sport 1/BT Sport Ultimate
Conveniently, his last goal from open play did come against Newcastle though. That game was a seven-goal thriller, so you’d like to think Newcastle will have learned a thing or two about how not to embarrass themselves since then.
A result for Newcastle would be huge here, and as we’ve seen – they don’t do well under pressure. Leeds, for all their troubles, should rob this, but I’m happier to side with it being a fine exhibition of poor finishing instead.
*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widget, while in-copy odds are accurate at time of publication but subject to change
Premier League bet summary – Tuesday, January 26
6.00pm: Crystal Palace v West Ham United – West Ham to Win and Both Teams to Score
6.00pm: Newcastle United v Leeds United – Under 1.5 Goals
Both these selections in a Double will pay out at approximately 22/1 with Paddy Power
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