Premier League: The Clarets look good value to prop up the table on Christmas Day

Adam Baylis
02 August 2017

Burnley could struggle with a tough run of early fixtures

Join

View market

Twitter

Facebook

Ahead of the Premier League season, Adam Baylis gives his verdict on who could find themselves in the unenviable position of being bottom of the league over the festive period...

"Repeating last season's successful campaign may be a tough undertaking for the Clarets and they'll need to build on their haul of 33 points taken only from home games if they're to survive again."

It may only be the beginning of August, with less than a fortnight to go until the start of the Premier League season, but the Betfair Sportsbook suggests that festive cheer will be in short supply at Huddersfield Town who currently top the 'Bottom on Christmas Day' market. However the trend of promoted teams struggling with the quality of the top flight has receded somewhat in recent years so we cast the net out in search of a better value proposition...

Huddersfield Town - 6/4
Following no less than six new arrivals, last year's Championship Playoff victors have a new look to them. Importantly they've got their business done early, headlined by £11.5m forward Steve Mounie; their defence has also been given some added steel with Scott Malone. Given that they have a relatively straight-forward set of fixtures, not meeting a side with top four aspirations until the end of September, they should have racked up enough points by Christmas to avoid bottom spot.

Brighton & Hove Albion - 6/1
A tricky start awaits Brighton as they welcome Manchester City to the south coast on opening day but things do get easier from there with mainly mid-table sides lining up against them in the lead up to a busy December. An accomplished Championship squad has been supplemented with some savvy acquisitions from the Bundesliga in the shape of Markus Suttner & Pascal Gross and Chris Hughton's men should have enough about them to keep the ship afloat going into 2018.

Burnley - 13/2
Repeating last season's successful campaign may be a tough undertaking for the Clarets and they'll need to build on their haul of 33 points taken only from home games if they're to survive again. They've been dealt a cruel hand with trips to Chelsea, Spurs, Everton and Liverpool in their first seven games and despite doing some business, the lack of a replacement for the outgoing Michael Keane is a major concern. Charlie Taylor and Jack Cork are solid acquisitions but don't inspire confidence and at 13/2 look a good value bet to prop up the table on Christmas Day.

Other honourable mentions:

Bournemouth could well find themselves in trouble if they haven't notched many wins prior to December where they meet Man Utd, Liverpool & Man City in successive weeks. There'll be a lot of pressure on Jermain Defoe to justify his new bumper deal and the £20m on Nathan Ake does look steep and at 12/1 rate as an interesting proposition.

West Brom have a fairly kind road into the festive period but the gaps in their ageing squad are becoming wider with key players James Morrison & Gareth McAuley yet to kick a ball in pre-season. They couldn't muster a single victory in their final 12 games of last season and if that form continues into this year's campaign then Tony Pulis' incredible record of steering clear of relegation since 1992 could be about to end.

Recommended bet:
Burnley @ 13/2