Man City v Leicester tips: Premier League best bets and preview
Leicester City travel to the Etihad to take on title favourites Manchester City. Jake Pearson has previewed the fixture, picking out his best bet.
Football betting tips: Premier League
2pts Under 40 Booking points at 4/5 (Sky Bet)
With each passing game this season it is beginning to look more and more like just another campaign in the era of Manchester City Premier League dominance.
The Citizens are three points clear at the top of the league at the time of writing, have scored 44 times and conceded just nine across their 18 matches.
Pep Guardiola’s men have won their last eight successive league matches and look to be well on their way to yet another title.
Kick-off time: 15:00 GMT, Sunday
Man City 1/6 | Draw 6/1 | Leicester 16/1
By contrast, it is difficult to know exactly what to make of Leicester in their current guise, ninth in the table, out of the Europa League, and looking a long way off the side they have been since Brendan Rodgers took charge at the club.
A 4-0 victory over Newcastle in their last Premier League match was just the result the Foxes needed, and they were good value for it too, but after losing to Liverpool on penalties in the Carabao Cup quarter-final on Wednesday, having twice held a two-goal lead, a trip to the Etihad will have been the last thing Rodgers and his side would have wanted this Boxing day.
Guardiola is predictably ahead as far as these two managers are concerned, winning five of their nine meetings, and it is difficult to see that changing given the current form of both sides.
City are a general 1/6 shot to win this match, and though that is a ludicrously short price against a team that finished fifth last term, taking on the Manchester outfit when at home rarely bears fruit.
Instead it is worth looking at the number of cards likely to be brandished in this meeting, and as is usually the case when Manchester City are playing, siding with a lack of cautions looks the best bet in this fixture.
City average just 1.5 yellow cards per match, but interestingly, unlike their title rivals Liverpool and Chelsea, whose also average a low amount of cards, but whose opponents’ card average is much higher, City’s opponents have also averaged just 1.5 cautions per game this season.
This is all down to how City control the game, dominating possession and not allowing the opposition to impose themselves on the match. Opponents rarely get close enough to City players to foul them.
Just to add further credence to the theory that this game will see a low card tally, Leicester have averaged the fourth-fewest yellow cards this season, less in fact than Man City.
It may be odds on, but a price of 4/5 about UNDER 40 BOOKING POINTS is still too large and should be backed with confidence.
This selection would have landed in 12 of City’s 18 matches this season, as well as in 11 of Leicester’s 16.
Six of Man City’s nine home matches have seen fewer than 40 booking points, while six of the Foxes’ eight away matches would also have seen this bet click.
Man City v Leicester best bets and score prediction
- 2pts Under 40 Booking points at 4/5 (Sky Bet)
Score prediction: Man City 2-0 Leicester (Sky Bet odds: 11/2)
Odds correct at 1200 GMT (23/12/21)
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