"The Hammers' last three away performances have all been creditable, narrowly losing at the death to Tottenham before drawing with Manchester United and Liverpool."
Arsenal 1.36 v West Brom 11.00; The Draw 5.60
Second in the table, and second favourites for the title, the Gunners opened the scoring against both Everton and Manchester City but went on to lose both games. In the same rounds of fixtures Arsenal's main five rivals - Chelsea, City, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Spurs - all took six points from a possible six.
It means that Arsene Wenger's men go into the post Christmas triple header nine points behind league leaders Chelsea, and they simply can't afford to slip up at home to West Brom on Boxing Day.
The Baggies have enjoyed a very successful season to date though their current position of eighth is owed much to the fact that they've performed well against the bottom half teams - as recent wins over Burnley, Leicester, Swansea, and Watford testify. Their record against the big sides isn't anywhere near as impressive.
Tony Pulis' men lost at home to Man United last Saturday, and that defeat came hot on the heels of losses to Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool. It's a typical Pulis set of resuls; target and win against the clubs likely to compete against West Brom for those mid-table positions, but struggle against the big boys.
On that basis then, and as the odds suggest, Arsenal should win this game comfortably. Wenger's men have an excellent record at home to the Baggies, winning the last five Premier League meetings at the Emirates and conceding just one goal in the process.
I fancy the Gunners to come out of the blocks firing here, put those recent defeats behind them, and lead at the interval before taking all three points. Pulis will already have his sights set on his club's home game against Hull next week.
Recommended Bet
Back Arsenal HT/Arsenal FT @ 2.00
Chelsea 1.40 v Bournemouth 10.00; The Draw 5.20
The reason they're not shorter of course is because of the suspensions to N'Golo Kante and Diego Costa, who have both been instrumental in Chelsea's recent brilliance.
But this is a Blues side that don't lack strength in depth. Cesc Fabregas should come in for Kante while Antonio Conte isn't short off attacking options in the absence of Costa. Michy Batshuayi is the obvious choice should the Chelsea boss stick with his recent formation, but you feel whatever the starting XI on Monday the home side ought to be good enough to take another three points.
The Cherries are impossible to predict at present. In the last two months they've lost to lowly Sunderland, Middlesbrough, and Burnley, but in the same period they've defeated an in-form Stoke side away from home as well as recording that memorable 4-3 win over Liverpool.
But it's the defeats that I believe give the best assessment of Eddie Howe's men; they're a mid-table side at best, capable of producing the odd shock - like when they beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge 12 months ago - but in the main a team that will struggle away to the top clubs.
Even without Kante and Costa I don't envisage Chelsea not taking all three points from this game, and I'd wager that once again they achieve the win while keeping a clean sheet.
Recommended Bet
Back Chelsea Win to Nil @ 2.40
Manchester United 1.25 v Sunderland 16.50; The Draw 6.80
Confidence should be high at Old Trafford; Jose Mourinho's men are unbeaten in eight Premier League games, and in all competitions they are now on a four-game winning streak. They've conceded just a single goal in that time.
Wayne Rooney is playing well and appears to be key to every meaningful United attack, Paul Pogba is looking like the player he was in Italy, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic is scoring regularly. What's more, Mourinho is smiling.
Sunderland remain in the relegation zone but they've actually won four of their last seven, which is more points collected in that amount of games than any of the bottom 12 clubs. Or put slightly differently, if looking at a seven-game form guide the Black Cats would be in the top eight in the Premier League.
The concern is that all of those four victories for David Moyes' men came against clubs in the bottom half of the table, and that in their last away game they were thrashed 3-0 by a very poor Swansea side.
The general consensus is that United will have to be patient here, that Sunderland will park the proverbial bus and probably wheel clamp it at the same time. But my big worry about backing Under 2.5 Goals - if Sunderland do set out to kill the game - is that it only takes one early (or first half) goal from Mourinho's men and Moyes will have to change his game plan.
My gut feeling is that United are in good enough form to get an early goal, and hopefully that will mean the floodgates open. Backing the home side to win by scoring at least four goals seems worth a punt at a decent price.
Recommended Bet
Back Any Other Home Win @ 4.20
Swansea 2.70 v West Ham 2.90; The Draw 3.50
The likes of Burnley, Hull, and Leicester are all good examples, but perhaps no better example in recent weeks has been Swansea.
Bob Bradley's men have won their last two games at the Liberty Stadium, scoring a hugely impressive eight goals in the process. However, away from home they've lost their last three, being thrashed each time in conceding 11 goals in total.
But I'm going to contradict matters here by backing Swansea to lose on home soil, and the reason for that is because those two recent victories I mention at the Liberty Stadium came against a Crystal Palace side that were bang out of form - and Swansea actually conceded four in that game - and a Sunderland team that would finish the day bottom of the table.
I'm much more inclined to judge Swansea on their away form. They were hammered 5-0 at Tottenham recently in one of the worst away performances you'll ever seem before being soundly beaten by West Brom and Middlesbrough, conceding three goals each time.
West Ham haven't exactly been brilliant of late, in fact some will argue that they were extremely fortunate to beat Hull last week, but the history books show they've just won back-to-back games at the London Stadium without conceding a goal.
Slaven Bilic's men have generally struggled on home soil whereas they've performed much better on their travels. The Hammers' last three away performances have all been creditable, narrowly losing at the death to Tottenham before drawing with Manchester United and Liverpool.
A reproduction of that form at the Liberty Stadium on Boxing Day and West Ham should make it three league wins on the spin.
Recommended Bet
Back West Ham to Win @ 2.90 (best bet)
Second in the table, and second favourites for the title, the Gunners opened the scoring against both Everton and Manchester City but went on to lose both games. In the same rounds of fixtures Arsenal's main five rivals - Chelsea, City, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Spurs - all took six points from a possible six.
It means that Arsene Wenger's men go into the post Christmas triple header nine points behind league leaders Chelsea, and they simply can't afford to slip up at home to West Brom on Boxing Day.
The Baggies have enjoyed a very successful season to date though their current position of eighth is owed much to the fact that they've performed well against the bottom half teams - as recent wins over Burnley, Leicester, Swansea, and Watford testify. Their record against the big sides isn't anywhere near as impressive.
Tony Pulis' men lost at home to Man United last Saturday, and that defeat came hot on the heels of losses to Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool. It's a typical Pulis set of resuls; target and win against the clubs likely to compete against West Brom for those mid-table positions, but struggle against the big boys.
On that basis then, and as the odds suggest, Arsenal should win this game comfortably. Wenger's men have an excellent record at home to the Baggies, winning the last five Premier League meetings at the Emirates and conceding just one goal in the process.
I fancy the Gunners to come out of the blocks firing here, put those recent defeats behind them, and lead at the interval before taking all three points. Pulis will already have his sights set on his club's home game against Hull next week.
Recommended Bet
Back Arsenal HT/Arsenal FT @ 2.00
Chelsea 1.40 v Bournemouth 10.00; The Draw 5.20
The reason they're not shorter of course is because of the suspensions to N'Golo Kante and Diego Costa, who have both been instrumental in Chelsea's recent brilliance.
But this is a Blues side that don't lack strength in depth. Cesc Fabregas should come in for Kante while Antonio Conte isn't short off attacking options in the absence of Costa. Michy Batshuayi is the obvious choice should the Chelsea boss stick with his recent formation, but you feel whatever the starting XI on Monday the home side ought to be good enough to take another three points.
The Cherries are impossible to predict at present. In the last two months they've lost to lowly Sunderland, Middlesbrough, and Burnley, but in the same period they've defeated an in-form Stoke side away from home as well as recording that memorable 4-3 win over Liverpool.
But it's the defeats that I believe give the best assessment of Eddie Howe's men; they're a mid-table side at best, capable of producing the odd shock - like when they beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge 12 months ago - but in the main a team that will struggle away to the top clubs.
Even without Kante and Costa I don't envisage Chelsea not taking all three points from this game, and I'd wager that once again they achieve the win while keeping a clean sheet.
Recommended Bet
Back Chelsea Win to Nil @ 2.40
Manchester United 1.25 v Sunderland 16.50; The Draw 6.80
Confidence should be high at Old Trafford; Jose Mourinho's men are unbeaten in eight Premier League games, and in all competitions they are now on a four-game winning streak. They've conceded just a single goal in that time.
Wayne Rooney is playing well and appears to be key to every meaningful United attack, Paul Pogba is looking like the player he was in Italy, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic is scoring regularly. What's more, Mourinho is smiling.
Sunderland remain in the relegation zone but they've actually won four of their last seven, which is more points collected in that amount of games than any of the bottom 12 clubs. Or put slightly differently, if looking at a seven-game form guide the Black Cats would be in the top eight in the Premier League.
The concern is that all of those four victories for David Moyes' men came against clubs in the bottom half of the table, and that in their last away game they were thrashed 3-0 by a very poor Swansea side.
The general consensus is that United will have to be patient here, that Sunderland will park the proverbial bus and probably wheel clamp it at the same time. But my big worry about backing Under 2.5 Goals - if Sunderland do set out to kill the game - is that it only takes one early (or first half) goal from Mourinho's men and Moyes will have to change his game plan.
My gut feeling is that United are in good enough form to get an early goal, and hopefully that will mean the floodgates open. Backing the home side to win by scoring at least four goals seems worth a punt at a decent price.
Recommended Bet
Back Any Other Home Win @ 4.20
Swansea 2.70 v West Ham 2.90; The Draw 3.50
The likes of Burnley, Hull, and Leicester are all good examples, but perhaps no better example in recent weeks has been Swansea.
Bob Bradley's men have won their last two games at the Liberty Stadium, scoring a hugely impressive eight goals in the process. However, away from home they've lost their last three, being thrashed each time in conceding 11 goals in total.
But I'm going to contradict matters here by backing Swansea to lose on home soil, and the reason for that is because those two recent victories I mention at the Liberty Stadium came against a Crystal Palace side that were bang out of form - and Swansea actually conceded four in that game - and a Sunderland team that would finish the day bottom of the table.
I'm much more inclined to judge Swansea on their away form. They were hammered 5-0 at Tottenham recently in one of the worst away performances you'll ever seem before being soundly beaten by West Brom and Middlesbrough, conceding three goals each time.
West Ham haven't exactly been brilliant of late, in fact some will argue that they were extremely fortunate to beat Hull last week, but the history books show they've just won back-to-back games at the London Stadium without conceding a goal.
Slaven Bilic's men have generally struggled on home soil whereas they've performed much better on their travels. The Hammers' last three away performances have all been creditable, narrowly losing at the death to Tottenham before drawing with Manchester United and Liverpool.
A reproduction of that form at the Liberty Stadium on Boxing Day and West Ham should make it three league wins on the spin.
Recommended Bet
Back West Ham to Win @ 2.90 (best bet)
From a footballing point of view, the week before Christmas couldn't have been more disastrous for Arsenal.
After recording 11 straight league victories, nine of them without conceding a goal, you would have been forgiven for expecting to see Chelsea trading at shorter than 1.40 at home to an inconsistent Bournemouth side.
Manchester United are starting to find their full stride and look one of Boxing Day's banker selections at home to lowly Sunderland.
One of the most noticeable aspects of the bottom half of the Premier League table is the number of clubs that are performing dreadfully away from home and can't buy a win on their travels, yet are picking up enough points in front of their own fans to ensure they're not getting cut adrift from safety.
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