Southampton v Crystal Palace: Back Crystal Palace and a draw @ 4/5
He’s handsome and he charmed at first but Mauriccio Pellegrino has simply failed to impress on the pitch. Saints fans go into the new year on the back of a respectable draw at Old Trafford but also shitting themselves as they hover two points above the relegation zone.
Goals are a big problem and after losing Van Dijk now half way through the season, they’ve just added more uncertainty to their cause at the other end.
Palace have turned things around under Hodgson. Woy has steadied the ship and they’re playing with energy and belief, with Zaha’s performances at the heart of their revival.
They were unlucky against Man City. They ended their 18-game winning streak, which was a feat in itself but they really should have come away with the three points – probably one of the worst penos I’ve ever seen. Weak, low, down the middle – pretty much everything you don’t do for a peno. Let me give you some advice here Luka Milivojevic (if you’re reading this) because I’m getting worked up thinking about it. No. 1 rule: if you’re going down the middle, you f*ckin blast it. High. End of. When you’re f*uckin Andrea Pirlo, you can contemplate a dink, but until then, keep it f*ckin simple.
Sorry about that. Anyway, don’t even consider Southampton at 19/20. Palace at 3/1 is very appealing but Palace and a draw at 4/5 is a no brainer.
Swansea v Tottenham: Back Spurs to win to nil, Harry Kane to score and over 8.5 corners @ 18/5
Fair play to Carlos Carvalhal. Three points in your first game against a decent side away from home deserves some praise. Jordan Ayew even redeemed himself for that embarrassing dive against Liverpool which led to Countinho’s opener after only six minutes in.
But the reality is the fun starts now. Swansea have a shocker of a record at home with just eight points from 10 games and deserve to sit bottom of the league. We’ll dismiss all of the other dismal stats for the Swans because they weren’t amassed under Carvalhal and instead we’ll focus on Spurs.
Poch’s army are a tough outfit to contain at the moment. 10 goals in eight games for the Hurrikane has defences shitting their pants these days. Not only that, but Dele Alli has decided he likes to play football again. They’ve won three on the bounce away to lower half opposition and we just can’t see anything but a win for Poch.
We like the look of a WhatOddsPaddy bet here. Swansea had a weirdly ridiculous amount of corners against Watford – 8 in fact – against only 1 for Watford. And while Spurs thrashed Southampton 5-2 in their last match at Wembley, they conceded 8 corners as well over the 90mins. The bet for us is Tottenham to win to nil, Harry Kane to score and over 8.5 corners at 18/5.
The Double pays 7/1:
Crystal Palace and a draw @ 4/5
Tottenham to win to nil, Harry Kane to score and over 8.5 corners @ 18/5.