Boxing Day’s Top Tips: Villa, Hull, Leicester & Celtic look Christmas Crackers

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas with friends and family and are looking forward to the traditional Boxing Day card.

It's back to business today and there's plent to look forward to.

Although, maybe not if you're a Manchester United fan! Confidence must be fragile at Old Trafford after another defeat at West Ham on Saturday. More worryingly was a fourth consecutive 90 minutes without a goal, making it just two goals scored in their last six matches.

United’s record against teams in the top half of the table is appalling. They’ve won just four points from a possible 24, their only win coming against Chelsea who are having an equally disappointing season.

The bookies can’t decide between United and Aston Villa tonight, pricing them both up at 8/5 but on current form you’d rather be on the visitors.

Having passed up the opportunity to go top of the table on Friday night Villa can cement their title claims with a win tonight to pile more pressure on to Erik ten Hag.

Like Aston Villa, Newcastle have been excellent at home where they’ve won eight of nine and can add another to that tally today against Nottingham Forest.

Nuno Espirito Santo lost his first game in charge of Forest at the weekend which made if six defeats in seven for the club. They’ve won just once on the road this season and struggled away from the City Ground last term too.

The Magpies are just 1/2 but look a solid selection for today’s Accas.

There’s a cracker of a match in the Championship this evening when second place Ipswich Town host league leaders, Leicester City.

That Tractor boys have stumbled in recent weeks, firstly a 2-2 draw with local rivals Norwich then a 4-0 humbling by nearest challengers Leeds United. Those results have contributed to their 2/1 price tonight.

The Foxes are on a run of five wins in a row and victory tonight would take them nine points clear.

Leicester goals could be the best angle. They’re joint top scorers alongside Ipswich but the hosts defensive record is worse than more than half of the division. That means we could see a couple of goals for Enzo Maresca’s men at even money.

Michael Beale is feeling the heat at Sunderland already. His appointment as replacement to Tony Mowbray has been given a lukewarm reception and his introduction on Wearside resulted in a 3-0 defeat to Coventry on Saturday.

The Black Cats travel south to Hull City this afternoon with the pressure already on Beale. 6/4 on the home win has to be considered.

Rotherham look bang in trouble at the foot of the table and host Middlesbrough who seem to have steadied the ship in recent weeks.

Michael Carrick’s men are in to the semi-final of the Carabao Cup and have recorded back-to-back league wins for the first time since October. Pair them with Newcastle for a nice looking North East Double at 7/5.

Dens Park was controversially deemed waterlogged by referee David Munro on Saturday but it should be OK for this afternoon. That left the Dundee kicking their heels but they’ll be well prepared to the visit of champions Celtic.

The Hoops dominated against Livingston on Saturday but still didn’t sparkle in their 2-0 win. Not to worry though, they hit 14 corners to land our Over 10 bet and we’ll be looking for a repeat today at Dundee.

Brendan Rodgers’ men have hit 11, 12, 13, 11, 13, 12, 11, 9, 18 &14 in their last 10 domestic games – an average of 12.3 per game. You can have a bit of 13/10 with Bet365 on them hitting 9 or more – something they’ve obviously done in every on those last 10.

Boxing Day wouldn’t be Boxing Day without a goals bet so let’s go for Over 2.5 Goals at Notts County v Doncaster, Wimbledon v Sutton and Rochdale v AFC Fylde, which pays 375/100.

Super Singles

• Aston Villa to win 8/5 Bet365
• Hull City to win 6/4 Bet365
• Leicester to score 2+ Goals 1/1 Bet365
• Celtic – Over 8 corners 13/10 Bet365

Double

• Newcastle & Middlesbrough to win 7/5 Bet365

Over 2.5 Goals Treble

•  at Notts County, Wimbledon & Rochdale 375/100 Bet365

Upcoming Match Previews & Tips

• Football Bet of the Day: Portman Road the Place For Goals on Boxing Day
• SlipsTips Tips: Burnley vs Liverpool Bet Builder
• Tue 12:30 Newcastle United vs Nottingham Forest
• Tue 12:30 Preston North End vs Leeds United
• Tue 15:00 Dundee vs Celtic
• Tue 15:00 AFC Bournemouth vs Fulham
• Tue 15:00 Sheffield United vs Luton Town
• Tue 17:15 Birmingham City vs Stoke City
• Tue 17:30 Burnley vs Liverpool
• Tue 19:45 Ipswich Town vs Leicester City
• Tue 20:00 Manchester United vs Aston Villa
• Wed 19:30 Brentford vs Wolverhampton Wanderers
• Wed 19:30 Chelsea vs Crystal Palace
• Wed 19:45 Rangers vs Ross County
• Wed 20:00 Hibernian vs Heart of Midlothian
• Wed 20:15 Everton vs Manchester City

Racing Tips

It's the best day of the Christmas period as far as racing punters are concerned and Rizzel has scoured the Boxing Day card to pick out six selections to give us some festive cheer.

• Boxing Day Racing Tips

As always, post your tips for today in the comments section below.

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