Sports

The Scout: EPL Matchday 20

Leicester vs Cardiff City

29th December, 11pm WST

Leicester have surged to 7th on the Premier League table courtesy of wins over Chelsea and Manchester City in the past week. Despite the good run of form, their room for error remains slim with just two points separating them and the 11th placed Bournemouth.

Cardiff (17th) ground out a nil all draw with Crystal Palace on Boxing Day, which would have provided some solace given their 5-1 drubbing just days earlier at the hands of a rejuvenated Manchester United.

Cardiff have struggled to score all season, with just 18 goals coming from their 19 Premier League games. They’ve been held goalless nine times and their leading goal scorer, Callum Paterson, has just four goals from his 16 appearances this season.

The goal scoring prowess of the Leicester hasn’t been spectacular either, with the Foxes netting just 22 goals for season – that’s 13 less than the 6th placed Manchester United and seven less than the 8th placed Everton. Leicester have scored just four goals in their past five games, and have scored more than two goals just once this season.

Suggested Bet: Match Result Leicester And Under 3.5 Goals @ $2.15*


Liverpool vs Arsenal

30th December, 1.30am WST

The match of the round takes place at Anfield on Sunday morning with league leaders Liverpool taking on the 5thplaced Arsenal. With a six point lead over 2ndplaced Tottenham,all eyes from this point on will be on Liverpool and how they deal with the expectation and pressure of being title favourites. (Nobody mention 2014!)

Mo Salah has been scintillating all season, carrying on from the form that saw him named 2017/18 Premier League Player of the Year. The Egyptian star has scored 12 times in his 19 matches including five goals in his lastfive matches.

More impressive has been Salah’s tendency to score first in games this year, having already been the opening goal scorer on eight separate occasions. Expect things to be tight from the outset, but when the time comes forsomeone to break the game open, it shouldn’t surprise for that person be the Reds’ number 11 yet again.

Suggested Bet: Mohamed Salah First Goalscorer @ $4


Crystal Palace vs Chelsea

30th December, 8pm WST

Chelsea returned to the winner’s list and the Premier League top four following a 2-1 win over Watford on Boxing Day. Both goals coming from the boot of Eden Hazard, who now has now scored 10 from his 18 appearances this season.

Crystal Palace feel like a better team than their position (14th) suggests. In the past fortnight alone they’ve beaten both Manchester City and Leicester, but as with a lot of bottom half teams, goals have been hard to come by with the Eagles scoring just 17 for the season.

These two teams faced off at the start of November with Chelsea coasting to a 3-1 victory. There was however a notable absentee in this clash, Eden Hazard. The Belgian superstar was the difference last week and should factor heavily again as the Blues look to consolidate their top four spot.

Suggested Bet: Eden Hazard Anytime Goalscorer @ $2.15

*Odds correct as at 8.30am WST 28th December 2018.

Market Market