The Christmas period is tough on footballers, having to watch what they eat and drink, no big parties to celebrate New Year and an extra training day on Christmas day. I am joking as that is part of the job and the huge salaries they command deserves no sympathy. Rio Ferdinand was on the end of a barrage of responses to his 'poor me having to go to bed early Tweet on New Years Eve'. It is tough on footballers though to maintain fitness as small strains can become serious injuries, with a run of 3 games in 7 days and extra training on top. This is when clubs with big squads generally perform better.
The run of results over the Christmas period can make or break a season, it can kill off your chances of promotion or firmly embed your side in this years relegation battles. Every year we have looked at how to get the best value football bets and have looked at previous years and now believe we have come up with some real Christmas crackers.
If a side can gain a maximum of 3 wins over Christmas, the 9 points can make a big difference to their standing within their own league. A club on the verge of the drop zone can be thrust up into the play-off battle but, for some reason, this run of form is often neglected by the top 4 bookmakers. This means their can be some great value bets at this time of year.
There is very little value to be had in the Premiership usually but we have found one worth a punt. Betting without both Manchester clubs, so effectively who will finish 3rd, assuming United and City finish 1st and 2nd, has Chelsea at 8/13, Arsenal 3/1, Spurs at 4/1 and Everton at 12/1. Two sides in the Premiership won their 3 games over Christmas, Man Utd and Tottenham. Therefore we think Spurs are great value @ 4/1.
In the Championship, Cardiff won all 3 games over Christmas and have gone 7 pts clear but at 4/6 to win the title we will leave that to the serious punters.
In the 1st Division Tranmere and Swindon won their 3 Christmas games and sit 1st and 5th respectively. So which side would have the shortest odds to win the title? Wrong it is Tranmere at 7/1 even though they sit 3 points clear of Sheffied United and 8 ponits ahead of Swindon. Swindon do have 2 games in hand but points in the bag are usually worth more at the end of the season. Tranmere can also be backed to gain promotion at odds of 11/5 which again is great value and should be considered, as they only need to finish in the top 3.
Finally, Division 2, this had one side win their 3 games and has moved Oxford United to within striking distance of the play-offs. After a stunning Christmas, they are 13pts behind top spot, 8pts behind 3rd place and only 5pts from a play-off berth. If they can maintain this run of run they will be serious contenders, given their injury list is getting smaller and some of their main squad players are regaining fitness after long layoffs. So to win the title 100/1, this may be a step to far but if backed each way with 1/4 the odds to finish in the top 3, you get a fantastic 25/1.
We took our prices from ladbrokes website on 3/1/2013.
