Premier League Boxing Day Tips: Foden, Isak, Duran and Palmer can be our Christmas crackers | OneFootball

English Premier League

It could get worse still before it gets better for Pep

Ste Tudor predicts a lack of festive cheer for both Manchester clubs while a Christmas cracker awaits at the City Ground.

Betfair's Boxing Day Football Superboost!

Aleksandar Isak (v Aston Villa) and Cole Palmer (v Fulham) form our Saturday Superboost with both players in red hot form.

Aleksandar Isak (21) and Cole Palmer (25) both sit in the top seven for shots on target this season.

We just need both men to have a single shot on target for the Superboost to land and the selection has been boosted from 1/2 to 1/1.

Man City v Everton (12:30) - Foden fancied

The majority view insists it's here where Manchester City's turnaround begins.It is their first of several 'winnable' games and furthermore it's against an opponent who last won at the Etihad during the days of Moyes and Cahill.

If you share this view then City most corners each half, City most SOT each half, and Everton most fouls each half is a great shout as an odds boost at 5/1.

Yet you do wonder if the majority have grossly under-estimated just how bad City have been of late. Aston Villa's opener last weekend rightly saw Youri Tielemans praised for a terrific through-ball but the ease in which the ball travelled from back to front astounded. The Belgian's pass went right through where City's heart used to be.

Pep Guardiola is expected to ring the changes for this one but Phil Foden's starting spot should be safe, the midfielder improving incrementally week on week. He's the only one that can be said of in sky-blue right now.The Toffees have found scoring an elusive feat throughout November and December and yet it still feels unlikely that the hosts can keep a clean sheet, so decimated are they by injuries at the back, and so consistently porous have they been.

Bournemouth v Crystal Palace (15:00) - A 13/2 shot

A thumping loss at home to Arsenal put an end to a much-needed upturn in fortunes for the Eagles but they remain unbeaten in four on the road and still pose a threat to Bournemouth's fine run, most notably via Mateta and Sarr up front. Palace are hopeful too that Eberechi Eze will be fit and available after suffering a knock.

Of the trio it's Ismaila Sarr presently grabbing most of the acclaim, the Senegalese international posting three goal involvements in two. Against Brighton a fortnight back he was simply sensational.Elsewhere, Marc Guehi has been cautioned in three of his last five outings and the centre-back will be properly tested on the south coast against a Cherries side in pristine form.

Sitting proudly in fifth, Bournemouth's lofty shot-count this term partly explains their rise, a tally of 280 - 16.4 per 90 - second only to Manchester City.

Andoni Iraola's men have accrued 17 shots on target in their last two home games alone.

Chelsea v Fulham (15:00) - Blues frustrated again?

Chelsea threw the proverbial kitchen sink at Everton in the first half of their goalless encounter at the weekend but notably faded thereafter, all their creative energy used up prior to the break. Could Fulham similarly frustrate Cole Palmer and co?

After all, they've done so at Tottenham and Anfield in recent weeks, as well as against Arsenal. Indeed the Cottagers have drawn four of their last five.

Whatever the outcome, history suggests a low-scoring affair, with only 1.8 goals per 90 from their last 15 meetings.

Palmer and Noni Madueke are third and fifth respectively for shots on target this season, a combined 47. The pair to each have 1 SOT or more therefore is a shout at 4/5

Palmer is also of interest when it comes to infringements, with three or more foul involvements in seven of his last 10 league outings.

Newcastle v Aston Villa (15:00) - Two lethal hit-men

Back-to-back 4-0 victories have put the Magpies in a much happier place, just two points adrift of Villa and with top four again feeling attainable.

In both wins Alexander Isak was instrumental and magnificent, his combined output amounting to four goals, one assist, six key passes, eight shots on target and seven successful dribbles. At some stage, Eddie Howe will be looking to rest his prized striker. It won't be here.

That's because Villa represent a serious threat to the hosts' new-found equilibrium and this despite last winning at St James Park way back in 2005.

Against Manchester City at the weekend the Villans had a plan and stuck to it ruthlessly, with Morgan Rogers the stand-out performer, executing five successful - and impactful - dribbles.

It was however Jhon Duran who stole the headlines, the forward bagging his seventh of the season. Remarkably the Colombian has fired 1.13 goals per 90 in 2024/25.

Results-wise, the hosts are fancied to prevail in this top-8 clash, largely based on Villa being iffy on their travels. The smart money though goes on two strikers in lethal form.

Nottingham Forest v Tottenham (15:00) - Oddness equals goals

With four of their back-line out and a quartet of attacking talent combining to often devastating effect up front, Tottenham have become the oddest of teams.Out of possession they're League Two. But going forward, with the bit between their teeth, they remain one of the best sides in the country.

This extreme disparity is producing an avalanche of goals at either end. Fifteen for and 13 against in their last four across all comps (talking goals, Lewis Jones is predicting all eight Premier League games to go over 2.5 at 25/1 on the Sportsbook).

Focusing on the positives, Son Heung-min has created more big chances this term than even Mo Salah (12) while so much emphasis on creating down the flanks has won them the second most corners in the division.

Forest go into this on the back of three consecutive victories and in Chris Wood possess a forward who is scoring every 133 minutes. The Kiwi notched a hat-trick last Boxing Day.

Nuno Espirito Santo's high-flyers will thrive in the vast spaces afforded them but similarly struggle in dealing with Maddison, Solanke, Kulusevski and Son. Just like Chelsea, Manchester United and - to a lesser extent - Liverpool before them.

Southampton v West Ham (15:00) - Midfield fireworks

Boring their way to a goalless stalemate at Craven Cottage was a hugely encouraging start for the Saints under new gaffer Ivan Juric. Now, in front of home fans full of festive spirits, comes the trickier part of actually troubling the opposition.

For context, Southampton have scored just nine goals in 2024/25 from an open play xG of 14.52. They have a chance conversion rate of just 6.2%. Their meagre 11 in the for column amounts to a goal every two hours and 19 minutes. All of which will be music to Julen Lopetegui's ears, under pressure as he is, while Tomas Soucek - never a man to shy from a physical duel - will be equally delighted to hear that Juric is demanding more aggression from his players.

Southampton have already accrued 49 cards, the second highest in the Premier League. Flynn Downes meanwhile has picked up the most yellows in the top-flight.

A feisty midfield clash awaits on the south coast.

Wolves v Man United (17:30) - 11/4 shout on further Reds woes

A forest's worth of newsprint has been allocated to Ruben Amorim and his struggle to get players fully attuned to his system. The Portuguese coach clearly needs time and new personnel, that's the upshot. In the meantime, don't discount several more performances and results, such as we saw at Old Trafford against Bournemouth last weekend.

The more interesting story here lies with the hosts, whose incoming gaffer refrained from making too many changes to the line-up and furthermore retained the same set-up that ultimately led to Gary O'Neil getting the boot.

The transformation under Vitor Pereira at the King Power last Sunday was immediate and dramatic.

Can that carry over to a packed and tumultuous Molineux this Boxing day? Certainly set pieces will feature, with United conceding from 17 of them this season and Wolves 16.

It's also worth noting that United have conceded the first goal in each of their last six games.

Liverpool v Leicester (20:00) - Measured brilliance

The honeymoon period for Ruud Van Nistelrooy at Leicester consisted of a couple of weekends away. Already reality has bitten - and hard - in the form of two subsequent comprehensive losses, both without reply.

They're desperately missing Mads Hermansen in nets and Wilfred Ndidi in their engine-room. That's part of it. An altogether more impactful reason is they have defenders who cannot defend. The Foxes have kept just one clean sheet all season.

Can the visitors spring an almighty surprise and get something from Anfield? That depends if you believe in Christmas miracles but those with a more sceptical mind should consider an odd quirk that has accompanied Liverpool's rise to the top this term.

In nine of their 16 outings - six out of their eight at home - the Reds have scored twice, an example maybe of Arne Slot's pragmatism over a side that used to have serious intent to rip sides limb from limb under Klopp.

Recommended bets

Back Cole Palmer to have 4 or more foul involvements @ 3/1

Back Wolves to be ahead at the break @ 11/4

Back Liverpool to win by exactly two goals @ 3/1