Sports Blog 15/12/2017: Football Preview – Premier League, Saturday 16th & Sunday 17th December 2017

Can Manchester City maintain their record-breaking winning streak against Tottenham on Saturday, at 5.30pm on BT Sport 1?

It’s hard to disagree with the claim that City already have the title sewn up. They’re 11 points clear at the top of the table, are yet to lose a domestic fixture this season and have won their last 15 Premier League games in a row. They put 5 past Liverpool, beat Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge, won 3-1 against Arsenal and, last weekend, went to Old Trafford and came away with a 2-1 victory – that’s 11 goals scored and just 2 conceded against their ostensible title rivals. Put it simply, Man City are monsters.



Tottenham are the last of 2016/17’s top 6 City are yet to face, and in their current state don’t look like they’ll be up to the challenge. While Spurs have won their last 2 games – in rather convincing fashion – against Stoke and Brighton, those results were preceded by losses against Arsenal and Leicester and draws against West Brom and Watford.

Spurs do, however, have one of the few players to have scored more goals than City’s front 3. At a Super Mega PGM of 32-38, Harry Kane has 18 goals in all competitions, broken down as 12 in the league and 6 in Europe. In comparison Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling – at Super Mega PGMs of 53-61 and 25-30 – have 13 goals apiece, with Gabriel Jesus, at 42-29, on 10.

Between now and mid-January Spurs are the only real side that look able to stop the Man City steam train. And even then their chances are slim, with Spreadex offering a Man City/Tottenham Goal Supremacy spread of 1.-1.2 alongside a Total Goals spread of 3.1-3.3.

None of the weekend’s other televised games have quite the oomph of that headliner. Saturday lunchtime sees a pretty impressive Leicester host a rebounding Crystal Palace at 12.30pm on Sky Sports. The Foxes are on a tasty little run of form; since the end of November they’ve beaten Tottenham, 6th place Burnley, Newcastle and, most recently, put 4 past Southampton. And while Jamie Vardy hasn’t exactly reached his former heights, with 7 league goals he has a Super Mega PGM of 41-48.



As for Palace, though they are still stuck in the relegation zone, there are signs that Roy Hodgson might actually be able to save them. In their last 10 games they’ve lost 2, won 3 – including Tuesday’s 2-1 victory over Watford – and drawn 5. Now that may not sound great, but compared to their 7 consecutive defeats over August and September it’s quite the turnaround. It might not be enough to hold off the Foxes, however, with Spreadex offering a Leicester/Crystal Palace Goal Supremacy spread of 0.55-0.75 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.6-2.8.

Sunday then kicks off with a trip to West Brom for Manchester United, at 2.15pm on Sky Sports. While United are relatively comfortable in 2nd place, sitting 3 points ahead of Chelsea, that’ll provide little solace for Jose Mourinho given the size of the deficit between them and City. They just about bounced back from last weekend’s City loss on Wednesday, with an increasingly rare goal from Romelu Lukaku giving them a 1-0 win over Bournemouth.



The Baggies, meanwhile, are in 17th place, but on the same 14 points as the relegation-zoned Crystal Palace. They actually haven’t won a game since mid-August, with back-to-back victories at the start of the season followed by 7 losses and 8 draws. At the back they haven’t been too bad – they held Liverpool to a 0-0 draw mid-week – but up front they’ve been woeful, scoring just 12 goals total. It’s hard to see the Baggies holding off their visitors, at a Man United/West Brom (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 0.9-1.1 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.4-2.6.

Finally Bournemouth host Liverpool on late Sunday afternoon, at 4.30pm on Sky Sports. After a few decent results between mid-September and mid-November the Cherries are in another sticky patch, losing to Burnley and Man United, and drawing against Swansea, Southampton and Crystal Palace in their last 5 games. That leaves them perilously close to the relegation zone; despite being in 14th their only 2 points above the likes of West Ham and Palace.



There seems to be no middle ground with Liverpool at the moment. They either score loads, like their 3-0 and 5-1 wins over Stoke and Brighton, or they struggle, as they have done against Everton and West Brom in their last 2 fixtures. Still, they do have the Premier League’s top scorer in Mohamed Salah, something that should be enough to breeze past their hosts, at a Liverpool/Bournemouth (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 1.1-1.3 alongside a Total Goals spread of 3.1-3.3.