Paddy Says – Gameweek 18

Weighed down by a fuzz of alcohol and mincemeat, we rouse ourselves ahead of another Gameweek deadline to stagger before Paddy Power’s door and assess their Boxing Day reckoning.

Before we assess their thinking on where goals or will and won’t be scored, here’s news of a couple of Boxing Day offers available for new Paddy customers.

They’ve prepared a twin set of enhanced bets, with new accounts qualifying for huge odds in this weekend’s acca. This features four home sides with Paddy offering a big 22/1 on wins for Chelsea (vs Watford), Man City (vs Sunderland), Liverpool (vs Leicester) and Spurs (vs Norwich). Later on today, you can also grab odds of 7/1 on an Arsenal away win over Southampton at St Mary’s.

Be sure to check the teams and conditions on all those offers and, of course, we should state that all these specials are only available to those aged 18. If you’re going to wager, always gamble responsibly.

ANYTIME GOALSCORER ODDS – GAMEWEEK 18

Sergio Aguero (1.40) is restored to the top of the Anytime Goalscorer rankings having been afforded the shortest odds by Paddy ahead of Manchester City’s home tie against Sunderland. Although the Argentine marksman is highly unlikely to last the distance at the Etihad, his five-goal haul in 20 minutes against Newcastle United will be fresh in the minds of non-owners today. In light of the fact that the Sky Blues rank top for home goals (25) and the Black Cats rank top for away goals conceded (25), Wilfried Bony (1.66), Kelechi Iheanacho (2.10), Yaya Toure (2.29) and Raheem Sterling (2.40) also feature in Paddy’s reckoning.

Harry Kane, along with Leicester’s Riyad Mahrez (3.00), has been pushing Aguero all the way in our Captain Poll and Paddy’s odds certainly appear to reinforce the argument that the Spurs striker he is best placed to rival the Argentine. Kane is pitched at 1.66 as Tottenham Hotspur prepare to host Norwich City at White Hart Lane. The Lilywhites frontman places second among forwards for shots on target (13) at home and is pitted against a Canaries rearguard that’s yet record a clean sheet on their travels.

Chelsea’s much-improved performance against Sunderland last Gameweek has prompted Paddy to price Diego Costa (1.83) for the Stamford Bridge meeting with in-form Watford. It’s unlikely that Fantasy managers will be encouraged by Paddy’s confidence – the Hornets go into today’s tie off the back of four consecutive victories and have shipped just ten goals in eight games on their travels.

Romelu Lukaku looks a far stronger proposition: he comes in at 2.00 for Everton’s trip to Newcastle. The blossoming Belgian has scored in seven successive starts and squares up to a Magpies defence that ranks joint-second for goals conceded (32) throughout the season, which bodes well for his attacking prospects. Lukaku’s record is also superb against the Magpies – he’s scored or assisted nine goals in his last six appearances against them.

Despite drawing blanks in his last six league appearances, Christian Benteke (2.10) boasts the sixth-shortest odds before Liverpool’s home clash against Leicester City. The Belgian’s case is bolstered in the knowledge that the visitors lay claim to just three shut-outs, although Benteke’s start is far from assured.

Olivier Giroud (2.40) netted in all but two of his previous nine league outings yet sneaks in at the bottom of the top ten. The France international will certainly fancy his chances against a Southampton back line that’s conceded in six of their last seven match-ups at St Mary’s. Theo Walcott is also out at just 3.00 for an anytime goal – the top midfield option behind the City continent.

CLEAN SHEET ODDS – GAMEWEEK 18

Man City are without a clean sheet in five Gameweeks but that hasn’t deterred Paddy from pinpointing them as the team most likely to claim a Boxing Day shut-out. On a similar note, Chelsea are also rated highly (2.00) but will do well to silence a Watford attack that ranks joint-top for goals (nine) over the last four Gameweeks.

Tottenham looks stronger bet (2.10) – they match up against a Norwich side that’s drawn blanks in two of their previous three away fixtures, while, on the surface, Swansea City look a decent option out at 2.20. However, the Swans lock horns with a West Brom outfit that’s only failed to score once in the last eight Gameweeks. Meanwhile, Manchester United are priced out at 2.50 as they prepare to engage Mark Hughes’ Stoke City who charts joint-bottom for goals (14) this season.

Arsenal (2.80) represent good value ahead of their trip to the south coast, given that Southampton have notched just two goals in their last five outings. Finally Aston Villa are tipped at 2.87 by virtue of the fact that West Ham United have drawn blanks in their last trio of match-ups. With the Hammers out at 3.00, the Villa Park clash is ranked the most likely to end in a 0-0 stalemate.