While many sports take time off for the holidays, that’s not the case for the English Premier League. Instead, it’s always a wild time of year in the EPL as evidenced by this Friday’s schedule with the top three teams all in action.
Don’t forget a mouth-watering slate on Sunday games as the holiday action heats up. Manchester United head to Tottenham while Southampton hosts Chelsea and Arsenal travels to West Ham. For now, here’s a look at the best Friday games in the EPL.
West Ham at Chelsea – Friday, 7:45 AM ET
West Ham is fourth in the league after a 2-0 win over Leicester, and they’ve now won four and drawn one of their last five games to build some momentum. They do have three wins and three draws in eight away matches, but West Ham will have their hands full going to Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea have won all eight matches by a score of 20-3. They strolled to a 2-0 win at Stoke to restore their three-point lead over Manchester City, and Chelsea have now won four straight in all competitions.
Chelsea is a massive home favorite at -359 while West Ham comes in at +935 and the odds for a draw are at +424. West Ham did manage to hold Chelsea to a 0-0 draw last year at the Bridge but they last won there back in 2002, which means they’ve gone winless there over a span of 10 games.
Newcastle at Manchester United – Friday, 10:00 AM ET
Newcastle sits in ninth after falling 1-0 at home to Sunderland in the Tyneside derby. Since beating Chelsea on December 6th, they’ve gone in the wrong direction. Instead of that win spring-boarding them to greater accomplishments, it’s in fact been the high water mark as they’ve rolled back. They’ve lost three in a row by a combined score of 9-1, which makes that win look more and more like an aberration. As for United, they were held to a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa in their latest outing this past Saturday to remain in third place. The good news is that they still have momentum on their side as they’re still unbeaten in seven straight matches. On the season, they are 7-1-1 at Old Trafford, so that’s why they’re the chalk here.
Man U is posted as -324 favorites at home while Newcastle is rated at +827 and the draw is listed at +407. Newcastle’s 1-0 win at United last season was their first win at Old Trafford in the league since 1972.
Manchester City at West Brom – Friday, 10:00 AM ET
City cruised to a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace to temporarily go level with Chelsea at the top of the table. Chelsea eventually regained their three-point buffer after they took care of business themselves but City’s win was impressive considering they were missing three strikers due to injury.
Even though City is still banged up, they shouldn’t have many problems with West Brom, who is 15th in the table, just two points above the relegation zone. They took another loss in their latest outing, dropping a 3-2 result at QPR. At least at home, West Brom might have a chance at scoring as 12 of their 17 goals have come at the Hawthorns, but City has six wins and two draws in nine away matches, so West Brom are going to be well up against it.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that City is favored on the road at -207 while West Brom is +549 and a draw is rated at +314. City has seven wins and a draw in their last eight meetings with West Brom, who beat City in the Carling Cup in September 2010. In the league, West Brom hasn’t beaten the blue team from Manchester since February 2003. It’ll take a massive effort to get all three points at home for West Brom on Wednesday. Even though City is shorthanded, this should be another three-point gathering for them.
