The Acca Scout from oddschecker finds value bets for the Boxing Day football fixtures, featuring key stats, tactics and best of the boosts.
Numbers View – Key Stats
Omens against Premier League basement boys
Only Nottingham Forest have scored fewer away league goals than Wolves going into the Premier League restart after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Three goals on the road for Julen Lopetegui's newly adopted side have yielded just two points from seven matches. The omens aren’t good for them, either, as just three of the 31 clubs to be bottom of the league on Christmas Day have avoided relegation.
Ironically, only Wolves (five) have scored fewer home goals than their Boxing Day opponents Everton (six), so under 2.5 goals looks the smart play at a best price 5/7.
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Vieira’s Eagles soaring at Selhurst Park
Liverpool are the only team outside the current top four (Arsenal, Manchester City, Newcastle & Spurs) to have collected more points at home than Patrick Vieira's Crystal Palace.
The Eagles' only defeats at Selhurst Park came against Chelsea and Mikel Arteta's table-topping Gunners on the opening night of the season.
Outside of those two defeats, Palace have only conceded four times in their other five home matches, which includes wins against Aston Villa, Leeds, Wolves and Southampton.
11/10 looks good value for a home win.
Well rested Salah ready for Villa test
Liverpool have won four in a row against Aston Villa since a 7-2 hammering by the Midlands side in October 2020, scoring nine times in the process.
Jurgen Klopp's side finally recorded their first away league win of the season in their most recent away day at Spurs, where Mo Salah netted a brace.
The Egyptian King has five goals in his last five matches against Aston Villa, and comes into the game fresh after a World Cup break.
Salah is a safer Boxing Day anytime scorer bet than Harry Kane, who failed to score in Spurs' two league games vs Brentford last season. Out of all the current teams in the Premier League, Brentford are the only team he hasn't scored against in a Premier League game.
17/10 for Salah to score anytime at Villa is a value bet.
Pitch View – Analysis from Sam McGuire
McGuire on Maguire - Centre back's World Cup redemption
Statistically, Maguire was one of the best centre-backs at the World Cup.
InfoGol, for example, named him in their Team of the Tournament, one that was decided by data. His rating of 7.25 was the highest of any centre-back in Qatar.
However, Twitter favourite Sam McGuire suggests you have to caveat his performances by talking about the system used by the Three Lions in Qatar.
Southgate opted for a 4-3-3 shape on paper, but in possession it was very much a 2-3-5 formation, with both full-backs and Declan Rice protecting John Stones and Maguire at centre-back.
England attacked with five and defended with five. It allowed the 6ft 4 defender to concentrate on doing what he is best at and play his natural game.
With both Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane likely to miss Manchester United's first match or two after their World Cup exploits, is Maguire ready to step in and reclaim his place?
Bookie View – Best of the Boosts
The Best of the Boosts through oddschecker is a dynamic page updating automatically with the best offers from our bookmakers. At the time of writing, have a look at these three.
- Tottenham to score at Brentford @ Evens (Was 1/5)
- Liverpool, Newcastle & Crystal Palace to Win @ 8/1
- Palace, Everton, Brighton, Newcastle & Liverpool @ 45/1
