A look at how the Premier League would look if only Boxing Day games counted!
With the Boxing Day fixtures fast-approaching, we’ve analysed the historical Premier league results on this day to see who performs best. In terms of points per game, Man Utd sit top of the table having collected an average of 2.59 points in their 22 games played. The Red Devils also head the charts when it comes to goals scored, having found the back of the net on 57 occasions.
Looking forward to the football on Boxing Day?
— Oddschecker (@Oddschecker) December 21, 2016
If you're a Leicester fan it's probably worth planning an alternative... pic.twitter.com/LxG4mF9ywq
United’s opponents this time around are Sunderland, whose record on Boxing Day’s gone by does not make for pretty reading. Unfortunately for David Moyes’ side, United average 2.8 points per game at Old Trafford over this period, scoring three goals a game. Out of the 20 current Premier League teams, the Black Cats sit 11th in terms of points gained. The stats suggest that the visitors could be in for a long day in Manchester, as they’ve historically conceded two goals per away game. Man Utd are best-price 1/4 to win on Sunday with Sunderland as long as 16/1 to take all three points.
Arsenal are the only other team currently in the Premier league to average more than two points per game on the 26th December. The Gunners have been particularly good at home, only conceding 0.4 goals per game. Their opponents West Brom have found it very difficult to find the net on Boxing Day’s gone by, having only managed five goals in their ten games. Arsenal are 5/4 best odds to win-to-nil and 7/20 to beat the Baggies.
Swansea may be struggling of late but their record is surprisingly impressive. The Swans have won both of their home EPL Boxing Day games without conceding. It’s West Ham that visit the Liberty Stadium this year and their record suggests they prefer playing at home on the 26th. They’ve picked up 15 points from nine home games, whilst away from home they’ve collected just nine points from seven fixtures. Bob Bradley’s men are 19/11 to carry on their Boxing Day form and beat the Hammers.
The current Premier League Champions sit bottom of the table managing only four points from their 10 boxing day fixtures to date, with only one of those points coming at home. The Foxes take on Everton who’ve played 22 games on Boxing Day, conceding the most out of the current Premier League teams (20). Leicester are 6/4 to beat the Toffees on Sunday.
Burnley are still relatively new to the Premier League but are yet to win a Boxing Day game. They welcome Middlesbrough to Turf Moor with the visitors finding it difficult to find the net on the road in the festive period. They’ve only scored four goals in their eight Premier League fixtures on this day. The bookmakers have the Clarets at 21/10 to break their duck.
The late kick-off on the 26th sees Hull play host to Man City. The Tigers have been surprisingly productive in front of goal historically, scoring six goals in their three PL games on this day. Despite City only becoming a real force in recent seasons, they’ve got the 5th best record on Boxing Day from the current clubs. On this day, City average 1.94 goals per game and they’re heavily fancied at 6/17 to win the game.
(1/2) Boxing Day Premier League Table https://t.co/BnitwZXeGD pic.twitter.com/QImq6HbYZJ
— Oddschecker Media (@OddscheckerNews) December 21, 2016
Coventry are the standout team from the number of ex-Premier League teams, they sit third on the table of average Premier League points recorded on Boxing Day. They averaged more goals per game across these matches than Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea. Goals appear hard to come by for the rest of the Midlands based clubs with Derby, Nottingham Forest, Wolves and West Brom all averaging below 0.5 goals per game.
From the teams that have played at least one Boxing Day games since the start of the Premier League era, only four have yet to register a point. Norwich have had six bites at the cherry but remain on no points, having scored just once along the way.The bragging rights in the North-east belong to Sunderland, averaging 1.46 points per game compared to Middlesbrough’s 0.86 and Newcastle’s 0.80. The Magpies have conceded the most goals on Boxing Day in Premier League history with 34 - two more than Aston Villa.
(2/2) Boxing Day Premier League tablehttps://t.co/BnitwZXeGD pic.twitter.com/gNzvbguBmK
— Oddschecker Media (@OddscheckerNews) December 21, 2016
