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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.

Match Preview : Fiorentina vs Napoli

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After losing both two trips to Genova and Rome, Fiorentina are now 7 points away from 5th position. A bad finish to 2016 could put Paulo Sousa’s job at serious risk as they are now a long way from their pre-season target.

Napoli should have humilated Torino when they entered half-time 3-0 up on Sunday. However, while defeat was never in question, they did allow Torino back in the game and they will need to cut out those defensive mistakes to maintain their pursuit of Juventus at the top of the league.

The visitors are favourite here since they are in better form and have better morale, but Fiorentina gave a good reaction in the last minutes against Lazio and Paulo Sousa could try to use it as a lesson for his players. You can now credit your Naijabet.com account with *737*50*Amount*46# direct from your Gtbank account

Team News

Fiorentina – Paulo Sousa should have most of his roster available since Carlos Salcedo served his suspension on Sunday.

Match Preview : Manchester City vs Arsenal

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Manchester City recorded their first win in four matches with a comfortable 2-0 win against Watford in midweek. They now have the chance to close some ground on a title rival when they welcome Arsenal to the Etihad on Sunday.

They are only one point behind second place Arsenal ahead of the last round of matches before Christmas.

Arsenal slipped to a surprise 2-1 defeat away to Everton on Tuesday, but they haven’t lost consecutive away matches in the Premier League since April 2014.

They are also unbeaten in their last six matches against City, which should give Arsene Wenger’s side a huge amount of confidence. Naijabet.com

Team News

Manchester City – Ilkay Gündogan suffered knee ligament damage in Manchester City’s 2-0 win over Watford in midweek and is expected to be sidelined for a few months. With Fernandinho also suspended, it leaves Pep Guardiola short of genuine central midfielders, with Fernando and Yaya Toure expected to fill in.

Match Preview : Tottenham vs Burnley

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Tottenham bounced back from the 1-0 loss at Manchester United with a routine home win over Hull and will look to make it back-to-back league wins for first time since October.

They have a strong home record against Burnley, however, having won their last four home meetings with the Clarets, scoring 15 in the process.

Burnley have picked up just one point from their seven away games in the Premier League this season and have netted just once on their travels this term. 16 goals conceded on the road is a poor return for Sean Dyche’s side and the trip to Tottenham could see their away day woes continue.

Spurs should secure another comfortable home win here.

Team News

Tottenham – Mousa Dembele missed the 3-0 midweek loss against Burnley with a foot problem and is a doubt here. He will be assessed closer to Sunday. Naijabet.com

Match Preview : Bournemouth vs Southampton

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Bournemouth have only lost one of their last seven home matches, while Southampton have only won one away league matche in the Premier League all season.

Goals have proved a problem for Southampton this season – only Middlesbrough have scored fewer in the Premier League this season – and they are now without their main striker, Charlie Austin, for the next three months.

The Cherries beat Southampton 2-0 at home last season and they should be confident of consolidating their place in the top 10 before Christmas with another win here. Place your bet on Naijabet.com

Team News

Bournemouth – Eddie Howe may see no reason to change the team after they secured a 1-0 win over Leicester on Tuesday, although the fitness of his players may change that. He is expected to be without Lewis Cook, Andrew Surman and Junior Stanislas here, however.

Callum Wilson was forced off in stoppage time in their win over the reigning Premier League champions after suffering a head injury but has been cleared of concussion since. He is available, although Benik Afobe may continue up front.

Marc Pugh scored the winner and finished as the WhoScored man of the match against Leicester, which may have earned him a second start in under a week here.

Ryan Fraser had a scan on an ankle injury and Bournemouth are waiting on the results.

Southampton – Charlie Austin is sidelined for the next three months, at the very least, due to a shoulder injury sustained in the Europa League last week.

Oriol Romeu is a suspended after picking up his fifth booking of the season, which leaves Southampton with a big hole to fill when they face Bournemouth this weekend.

Cedric Soares missed the 0-0 draw with Stoke through illness and may not recover in time to face the Cherries.

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Match Facts

Bournemouth have seen under 2.5 goals in 5 of their last 6 matches against Southampton in all competitions.

Southampton have failed to win their last 5 away matches in Premier League.

NaijaBet Odds

As at this post Bournemouth has 2.90 odd to win the match on NaijaBet  while Southamptom has 2.64 odd to win the match also, while the odd to draw the match is 3.17.

Match Preview : West Bromwich Albion vs Manchester United

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West Brom’s 3-1 win over Swansea on Wednesday has lifted them up to seventh in the league and just four points behind Saturday’s opponents Manchester United.

They are flying at the moment and have scored 10 goals in their last three home games. In fact, since the start of November only Chelsea (18) have won more points than the Baggies (13).

Manchester United secured back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time since August with a dramatic 2-1 win over Crystal Palace on Wednesday night and they must now turn their attentions to recording their win in three away to West Brom. Place your bet on Naijabet.com

Jose Mourinho’s side are better equipped to deal with the festive period and the quick run of games could work in their favour ahead of this very tough match.

West Bromwich Albion – Jonny Evans missed their 3-1 win over Swansea in midweek through injury and he is a doubt to face off against his former side here. Craig Dawson has served his one-match ban but may not get back into the side with Nyom and Chris Brunt options at full-back.