JIM Knight (@JimKnight88) is back! The Leicester City fan returns with two Team Goals picks for the festive weekend. Let's hope he has better luck than his team have recently. Sorry Jim.
Aston Villa v Manchester United | Saturday 15:00
Manchester United are the form side in the Premier League at the moment, and I just can't turn down the 3/4 on them scoring two or more against an Aston Villa side who haven't convinced me defensively at all this campaign.
When you look at Villa's recent results they've definitely improved. Their positive run of form started when they got a draw against Southampton and that was followed up with wins against Crystal Palace and Leicester. But I just can't see them stopping this United side that have covered the Over 1.5 Goals mark in their last five matches.
Robin Van Persie and Wayne Rooney seem to be developing a strong understanding at the moment and the way they dismissed Liverpool on Sunday was really impressive.
Aston Villa were out of their depth against the bigger sides earlier in the season and leaked two or more goals against Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City, Everton and Spurs in a six game spell. Man Utd can definitely join that list.
Tottenham v Burnley | Saturday 15:00
It was a terrible start to the season for Burnley and they looked dead certs for relegation up until very recently, but ever since their comeback against Leicester (grr!) in October they've looked to have real spirit about them.
I really admire the way Sean Dyche seems to get 100% out of these players, and there's no doubt that they are a strong unit. In recent weeks they've beaten Stoke 2-1 and Southampton 1-0, those are hugely impressive results.
I'm going to take a chance on them this week against Tottenham on the Over 0.5 Goal line. Yeah just one goal for Burnley will be good enough for a payout.
Spurs have been playing a lot of football recently. They've been involved in the dreaded Europa League and are now through to the Capital One Cup semi-finals. I think at some point this is going to take it's toll on them and it might just be this weekend against Burnley.
Best Bets
Aston Villa v Man Utd – Man Utd to score Over 1.5 Goals (3/4 William Hill)
Tottenham v Burnley – Burnley to score Over 0.5 Goals (8/11 Boylesports)
