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Match Preview : Liverpool vs Stoke

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Liverpool left it late to beat Everton in the Merseyside Derby on Monday and will be high on confidence for the reception of Stoke on Boxing Day. Jurgen Klopp’s side are unbeaten in seven home league games this season and have scored an average of 2.6 goals in those matches.

Stoke will be kicking themselves after they let a 2-0 lead against the 10 men of Leicester slip to only come away with a point from their last match. The Potters are now winless in three matches, although they have only lost one of their last five on the road.

Liverpool are unbeaten in their last four home league matches against Stoke and have kept a clean sheet in three of those matches. They should have no problems in dispatching Stoke on Boxing Day to keep pace with league leaders Chelsea. Naija and Bet

Team News

Liverpool – Daniel Sturridge returned to first-team action in the Merseyside Derby and made a positive impact from the bench to help Liverpool steal a late 1-0 win. He is in line to start his first league game since the 0-0 draw against Manchester United back in October.

Match Preview : Hull vs Manchester City

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Hull are bottom of the Premier League after losing 10 of their last 13. They were unfortunate to lose 1-0 to West Ham last time out and now have the task of hosting Manchester City on Boxing Day.

Despite the fact Pep Guardiola’s side are not in the best of shape, this will be a massive challenge for Mike Phelan’s side. The Tigers are unbeaten in three matches on home soil, which they will need to use to get confidence from ahead of this match.

City have won two on the spin having failed to win three in a row before that. They are seven points behind league leaders Chelsea and cannot afford to drop any more points if they want to win the league this season.

They have the perfect team to keep their resurgence going but must cut out the defensive errors that are undermining any serious progress under Guardiola. Naijabet.com

Team News

Hull – Ryan Mason missed the 1-0 defeat against West Ham with a knock but is back in the squad for the reception of Manchester City on Boxing Day. Mike Phelan is still expected to be without his usual absences.

Match Preview : Manchester United vs Sunderland

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Manchester United finally look to be clicking into gear under Jose Mourinho and should now be looking to finish 2016 on a high.

They have won three consecutive matches in the Premier League for the first time since August, but haven’t managed four straight wins in the same campaign since April 2015.

Sunderland picked up a valuable 1-0 win over Watford at the weekend but have been dire on the road this season.

They have lost six of their eight Premier League away matches this season and have failed to score in each of their last two away from home, shipping seven in the process. In fact, they have only managed to score in one of their last six away league matches. Naija and Bet

In order to keep on the tails of their rivals, United should expect nothing else other than six points from their next two matches at home to Sunderland and Middlesbrough. Given Sunderland’s abysmal away form, it may not be a happy return to Old Trafford for David Moyes.

Match Preview : Leicester vs Everton

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Leicester did remarkably well to fight back from 2-0 down to drew 2-2 with Stoke despite being reduced to 10 men for more than an hour.

Claudio Ranieri will want to use that fighting spirit shown to kickstart their league campaign and a return to the King Power Stadium should help them with that having only lost one game there all season in the league.

The manner of Everton’s 1-0 defeat Monday’s Merseyside Derby would have been a bitter pill to swallow for Ronald Koeman’s side. It was their first league defeat at Goodison Park since March (vs Arsenal) and now they must quickly turn their attentions to Monday’s clash with Leicester as they bid to get back on track. In truth, the January transfer window cannot come soon enough for Koeman. Naijabet.com

Everton have lost five of their last six on the road in the Premier League and could be set for further misery this festive period with another defeat away to Leicester.

Match Preview : Chelsea vs Bournemouth

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Chelsea made it a club record 11 straight wins with a third 1-0 victory in a row this time at the expense of Crystal Palace.

They now have Arsenal’s record of 14 wins in a row in their sights but must overcome Bournemouth without key players N’Golo Kante.

Bournemouth have only won one of eight away games this season although they will be happy with their first half of the season. The Cherries are midtable but 16 of their 21 points have come on home soil so little is expected of them here.

Team News

Chelsea – N’Golo Kante and Diego Costa are suspended for Monday’s game against Bournemouth after both picking up their fifth yellow cards of the season. Cesc Fabregas and Michy Batshuayi should profit as a result of their absences. Naija and Bet

Eden Hazard has spent the first part of the week at Cobham to recieve treatment on a minor knee injury and is a doubt for the Boxing Day match at home to Bournemouth.

Match Preview : Arsenal vs West Bromwich Albion

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Arsenal’s title challenge has taken a real hit following two straight defeats which has left them nine points behind league leaders Chelsea. The Gunners will hope a return to home soil will bring renewed confidence, as they haven’t lost at the Emirates since a 4-3 defeat to Liverpool in August.

West Brom turned in a disappointing performance in a 2-0 defeat at home to Manchester United on Saturday and Tony Pulis will be demanding a response on Boxing Day. They will, however, have to sort out their mixed away form, which has only yielded two wins all season.

Arsenal have won all of their last six home league meetings with West Brom and have kept a clean sheet in four of the last five. Even though their form has dipped in recent weeks they should have enough to overcome the Baggies on Monday. Naija and Bet

Team News

Arsenal – Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is ruled out for Arsenal’s Boxing Day match against West Brom after lasting just 12 minutes as a substitute before being forced off in the second half of their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City because of injury.

Match Preview : Watford vs Crystal Palace

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Watford have lost four of their last six in the Premier League but are sit five points adrift of the bottom three as it stands.

Crystal Palace have also lost four of their last six in the Premier League but they are only one-point above the bottom three and Alan Pardew desperately needs a win to relive some of the pressure hanging over his job.

Pardew’s side are set up to perform better on the road and the Eagles could get three valuable points here to move away from the bottom three for now. Register on Naijabet.com,make payment in to your account and enjoy Yafun Yafun Bonus.

Team News

Watford – Sebastian Prödl lasted 31 minutes in Watford’s 1-0 defeat to Sunderland at the weekend through injury and isn’t expected to recover in time for their Boxing Day clash with Crystal Palace.

Younes Kaboul could be pulled back into the heart of the back four, although Craig Cathcart is another option after making the matchday squad for the first time in almost three months on Saturday.

Match Preview : Juventus vs AC Milan

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Juventus victory over Roma ensured that they will be “Winter champions”, the virtual title for the club at at the half way stage in the season. The Bianconeri are now 7 points ahead of Roma, and this makes them the only candidates to win the Scudetto once again.

Milan have dropped 5 points in their last two games, but their campaign has still be full of positives. They are only one point adrift of third place, which was their aim for the season.

While the Lega Calcio should surely be blamed for the scheduling of this game (meaning two Serie A games were postponed just to make room for it), AC Milan also haven’t covered themselves in glory after failing to turn up in Doha on time. Not only they have put the match in doubt of being played, they will, if the match goes ahead, have little time to prepare for the game. Place your on bet on Naijabet.com

Juve are in a better form and will already be accustomed to the climate of Doha, and they are simply a better team than Milan at the moment.

Match Preview : Torino vs Genoa

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Torino clearly did not approach the game at Napoli in the best way, but then tried to come back and their reaction was enough to avoid humiliation.

Genoa suffered a surprise upset against Palermo in the final few minutes of the match and Ivan Juric will now have to act quickly to ensure his players forget about that result.

The Granata will have to use that second half against Napoli as a way to forget they are actually on a three-game losing streak. Genoa might feel some tiredness since they also played 62 minutes against Fiorentina in their re-arranged fixture last week. Naijabet.com

Team News

Torino – After applying a little rotation against Napoli, Sinisa Mihajlovic should go back to his favourite XI.

Match Preview : Sampdoria vs Udinese

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Sampdoria are on a two-game losing streak which has put an end to a good streak they had that allowed them to enter the top half of the table. They will be content with how things have gone in the first half of the season but may want to achieve more in the remainder of the season.

Udinese are just two points ahead but they have won three consecutive games. They more or less have the same targets as their rivals, so this is one of those games that can shape the middle of the table.

Expect a balanced match, possibly with some tactical changes in order to experiment for the second half of the season. Playing at home could help Sampdoria find their best form back and stop Udinese’s run.

Team News

Sampdoria – Patrik Schick keeps scoring and should be rewarded with a starting spot alongside Luis Muriel.

Fabio Quagliarella will be the one making room for the young Czech forward. Naijabet.com

Udinese – Danilo will be back available after serving his one-game suspension, so no doubt he will play here.

Emmanuel Badu seems to have lost the starting spot he had at the beginning of the season, but he might start in order to help with the rotation.

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Match Facts

Udinese have won their last 3 matches in Serie A.

Sampdoria are undefeated in 12 of their last 13 home matches against Udinese in all competitions.

Sampdoria have scored at least 2 goals in 5 of their last 6 matches against Udinese in all competitions.

NaijaBet Odds

As at this post Sampdoria has 2.04 odd to win the match on NaijaBet  while Udinese has 3.81 odd to win the match also, while the odd to draw the match is 3.18.