The action is about to get fast and furious in the English Premier League as most leagues around Europe take a break for the holidays. The EPL actually plays more games and from December 22nd to January 4th, many teams will play up to four games. Throw in some EFL Cup matches and the rest of the league will be hoping that Manchester City stumbles to come back to the field. City continue to lead by a wide margin as they hold an 11-point lead at this point. They still have yet to lose a single game this season. We’ll have to see if anything changes in the calendar year.
1. Manchester City
EPL Title Odds: -3300
Manchester City rolled to a 4-0 win at Swansea City thanks to two goals from David Silva, along with singles from Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero. Then they romped to a 4-1 win over Tottenham at home with De Bruyne scoring again, along with two goals from Raheem Sterling and one from Ilkay Gundogan. They also reached the semifinals of the EFL Cup after a Bernardo Silva goal in regulation gave Manchester City the lead, but they needed to beat Leicester City on penalties. This week, Manchester City will host Bournemouth on Saturday in the EPL, and then Newcastle next Wednesday. This holiday period will be a real test of Manchester City’s depth.
2. Manchester United
EPL Title Odds: +2000
Manchester United remains 11 points back of their city rivals after a 1-0 win over Bournemouth at home as Romelu Lukaku scored. Lukaku found the back of the net again in a 2-1 win at West Brom, along with Jesse Lingard. They’ll play in the EPL Cup at Bristol City on Wednesday, and then at Leicester City in the EPL on Saturday, followed by a Boxing Day game at home with Burnley on Boxing Day, which is Tuesday. Manchester United will also get Paul Pogba back after his suspension.
3. Chelsea
EPL Title Odds: +6600
Chelsea is three points behind Manchester United after a 3-1 win at Huddersfield Town as Tuemoue Bakayoko, Willian and Pedro all scored, and then a Marcos Alonso free kick gave them a 1-0 home win over Southampton. Chelsea will host Bournemouth in the EFL Cup on Wednesday, then it is off to Everton on Saturday and then back home for Brighton and Hove Albion on Tuesday. Chelsea is still hanging in there despite not playing their best for most of the season.
4. Liverpool
EPL Title Odds: +15000
Liverpool sits four points behind Chelsea after a 0-0 home draw with West Brom, then they blasted Bournemouth 4-0 on the road as Philippe Coutinho, Dejan Lovren, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino all found the back of the net. Liverpool isn’t in the EFL Cup, so they’ll visit Arsenal on Friday and then host Swansea City on Tuesday. Salah has been one of the top two or three players in the PL this season, and not being in the EFL Cup actually helps Liverpool in regards to how many games they’re playing.
5. Arsenal
EPL Title Odds: +20000
Arsenal is a point behind Liverpool after a 0-0 draw at West Ham, and then they eked out a 1-0 home win over Newcastle in the league as Mesut Ozil scored. They also won 1-0 in the EFL Cup at home over West Ham as Danny Welbeck sent them to the semifinals. Arsenal will host Liverpool on Friday and then head to Crystal Palace next Thursday.
6. Tottenham
EPL Title Odds: +20000
Spurs are now seventh in the table after a 2-0 win at home over Brighton and Hove Albion as Serge Aurier and Son Heung-Min scored, but they were outclassed at Manchester City as Christian Eriksen got a late consolation goal. They’ll travel to Burnley on Saturday and then host Southampton on Tuesday, and Tottenham needs to win both games to keep up in the race for European spots. They especially need to beat Burnley, who are ahead of them in the table.
7. Leicester City
EPL Title Odds: +150000
Leicester is five points behind Tottenham after a 4-1 win at Southampton in which Shinji Okazaki scored a pair, along with Riyad Mahrez and Andy King. Then they were trounced 3-0 at home by Crystal Palace and while Jamie Vardy sent them to extra time with a late goal against Manchester City in the EFL Cup, Leicester were eliminated via penalties. Next, Leicester will host Manchester United on Saturday and then head to Watford on Saturday. You never know which team is going to show up for Leicester, and that could be their downfall.
8. Everton
EPL Title Odds: +150000
Everton is a point behind Leicester City after a 1-0 win at Newcastle as Wayne Rooney scored, and he scored again in a 3-1 win at home over Swansea City from the penalty spot (Rooney also missed an earlier penalty). Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Gylfi Sigurdsson also scored for Everton, who host Chelsea and head to West Brom in the league on Saturday and Tuesday, respectively. Out of all the teams outside of the top four, Everton might be playing the best of all.
9. Burnley
EPL Title Odds: +200000
Burnley sits sixth in the table after a 1-0 win at home over Stoke City as Ashley Barnes scored, and then they drew 0-0 at Brighton and Hove Albion. Next, Burnley will host Tottenham on Saturday in the league, and then head to Manchester United on Tuesday. These are huge games for Burnley, who have to be considered the biggest surprises in the league right now, and they haven’t allowed a goal in three games.
10. Southampton
EPL Title Odds: +200000
Southampton is 12th in the table after they were thumped at home by Leicester City as Maya Yoshida pulled one back for them, but they put up a decent fight in the loss at Chelsea. They’ll host Huddersfield Town on Saturday and then head to Tottenham on Tuesday. Southampton hasn’t scored more than one goal in a game in their last five matches, and if they can manage move into the top half of the table by the end of this period, it might be a small miracle.
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