One of this festive season’s greatest gifts is a slate of top-flight English Premier League matches taking place. While this week’s Tottenham Hotspur-Liverpool match features the top two teams in the EPL Standings, it isn’t the only gem nestled in this unique time of year. There are actually several top soccer betting opportunities worth taking a look at.
With a bottleneck at the top of the standings, this holiday season may help shake things up and allow some teams to distance themselves … or maybe it will muddy the soccer waters further. Who knows?
Here’s a look at the festive slate
Ranking The Top Five Matches
No. 1 - Tottenham Hotspur (No. 1 in EPL standings) vs. Leicester City (No. 3), Dec. 20
The Pitch: Spurs have been at top form this EPL season, winning seven with four draws while conceding only 10 goals. After a midweek clash with EPL No. 2 Liverpool, Spurs gets little time to catch its breath as it faces another challenge with No. 3 Leicester City, a high-powered opponent. How will these two sides settle things? And who might sit atop the EPL standings as a result?
No. 2 - Southampton (No. 4) vs. West Ham United (No. 7), Dec. 29
The Pitch: Southampton is coming off a smothering performance this past weekend, and Jannik Vestergaard has been a true highlight for the defense, leading a backline that didn’t even allow one shot on goal this past weekend. West Ham United has been relatively hot of late, capturing three points in four of its past five matches. Still two weeks away, this match already is looming large on the calendar.
No. 3 - Wolverhampton (No. 10) vs. Tottenham Hotspur (No. 1), Dec. 27
The Pitch: Tottenham Hotspur is sitting atop the EPL mountain, and everybody else covets that seat. With only five points in the standings separating Wolverhampton’s No. 9 position from Spurs’ top spot, this is a grand opportunity for the Wanderers to climb and improve their soccer odds. They’ll need to perform better than they have in recent weeks, as they’ve only won two of their last six matches.
No. 4 - Leicester City (No. 3) vs. Manchester United (No. 9), Dec. 26
The Pitch: Manchester United fans were incredibly disappointed with the club’s early exit from Champions League last week at the hands of RB Leipzig, and the scoreless draw in the Manchester Derby this past weekend against City didn’t exactly fix it. This is a chance for Man U. to redeem itself just one day removed from Christmas.
No. 5 Chelsea (No. 5) vs. West Ham United (No. 7), Dec. 21
The Pitch: Will German international Timo Werner break his goal-scoring drought for Chelsea? He hasn’t posted one since Nov. 7 against hapless Sheffield United, certainly not what was expected when he came over from RB Leipzig (78 goals in 127 matches from 2016-2020). Chelsea could use the firepower, as it has tallied only one goal in its past two EPL matches. Standing in the way is a West Ham United side that has only dropped only one EPL match since the beginning of November.
The Next Best Five
This batch of matches involves clubs currently in the Top 10 in the EPL standings. This will also play prominently into the order coming into the New Year. Manchester City is the side that seems to have the most to gain (or lose) during the holidays. They will be the visitor in all three of their key matchups.
Southampton (No. 4) vs. Manchester City (No. 6), Dec. 19
Everton (No. 8) vs. Manchester City (No. 6), Dec. 28
Manchester United (No. 9) vs. Wolverhampton (No. 10), Dec. 29
Everton (No. 8) vs. West Ham United (No. 7), Jan. 1
Chelsea (No. 5) vs. Manchester City (No. 6), Jan. 3
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Brian McLaughlin is a writer for BetMGM and co-host of BMac and Herd’s FCS Podcast. He has written for The Sporting News, headed up the PARADE Magazine High School All American teams, covered the FCS for HERO Sports and wrote for so many newspapers he lost count. Follow BMac on Twitter @BrianMacWriter.
