Something for the Weekend: Best Racing and Football Bets

There's no let-up to the festive sporting bonanza as we hurtle towards 2024. Hot on the heels of the Boxing Day feast, we have a weekend of action to savour, with quality televised racing action from Newbury and a full list of Premier League fixtures. Plenty for punters to get stuck into, and an ideal time to take advantage of the many excellent sign-up offers available through newbettingsites.uk.

Here, using data presented by newbettingsites.uk, we pick our two best bets from Newbury and the headline Premier League fixtures.

Saturday: Newbury 2:25 pm Mandarin Handicap Chase

We kick off with what looks to be a hugely competitive renewal of this cracking handicap for the staying chasers. Plenty in with chances here, including Surrey Quest, who showed all the right signs when scoring at Huntingdon on his first start for the Toby Lawes operation. He boasts obvious claims but hasn’t been missed by the market and is stepping up 3f in trip in a significantly hotter race.

Atlanta Brave is the other to catch the eye from towards the head of the betting, having done well to finish as close as he did when second at Exeter following a juddering error at the ninth obstacle. He ought to go well under Richard Patrick, but we prefer an each-way punt.

Second in the race 12 months ago and 5lb lower this time around, Shanty Alley makes obvious appeal, whilst Yes Indeed looks well handicapped on the pick of his French form and can be forgiven a sub-par effort at Bangor. However, the one we keep coming back to is the Joe Tizzard runner Striking A Pose. Tried in Grade 1 company in his hurdling days, he hasn’t gone on to scale the heights expected but is now fully 15lb below his last winning mark. Making his seasonal return at Wincanton earlier in the month, we were greatly encouraged by the manner in which he found a second wind to stay on for third on what was his first start since a wind-op. That effort suggests the procedure may have worked the oracle, and he looks dangerous under just 10st6lb.

• Best Bet - Striking A Pose each way @ 14/1 with BetGoodwin

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Saturday: Newbury 3:00 pm Coral Challow Novices’ Hurdle

The novice hurdlers take to the track in the feature Grade 1 event of the day in a race which features the names of Champ, Thyme Hill, Bravemansgame, and Stage Star on the recent roll of honour. Matching the achievements of those previous winners may prove a tall order, but plenty in this field come jam-packed with potential.

Clear favourite Willmount certainly falls into that category, having won all three starts under rules and hacked up by 13 lengths on his hurdling debut at this track in November. However, the form of that race has taken a few knocks since, and he has an extra 4f to contend with here. At the prices, we will look elsewhere.

With Paul Nicholls having landed the past three editions of this, Captain Teague and Farnoge aren’t dismissed lightly, with the latter, in particular, looking a little overpriced at around the 9/1 mark. Nevertheless, we rate Johnnywho as one of the most impressive novices of the season to date and will be sticking with that assessment. An impressive winner of an Irish Point to Point in 2021, Jonjo O’Neill has bided his time with this son of Calife, with Johnnywho having raced only twice since – winning a bumper at Taunton and a novice hurdle at Carlisle. That latter effort really caught our eye as he tanked around just off the pace before putting the race to bed in a matter of strides without breaking a sweat. He made a 125-rated rival look pedestrian that day, and there may well be more to come.

• Best Bet - Johnnywho @ 5/1 with BetUK

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Saturday: 5:30 pm Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United

Two sides on a high clash in the Saturday evening TV fixture, as Nottingham Forest welcome Manchester United to the City Ground. The Tricky Trees should head into the game with confidence, having stunned Newcastle at St. James’ Park, whilst United turned a 2-0 half-time deficit into a 3-2 win against high-flying Aston Villa at Old Trafford.

For Forest, this represents their third outing under the guidance of Nuno Espirito Santo, with the opening two games of his reign seeing the net bulge on nine occasions. Poor at the back in a 3-2 defeat to Bournemouth, they were much better at Newcastle. However, all three goals came on the counter against a wide-open Magpies side, and it would be a surprise to see the Red Devils adopt such a gung-ho approach on the road. Whether Forest have the guile to break down a more compact backline, we aren’t so sure.

No doubt that Erik Ten Hag’s troops have underwhelmed this season, but their record on the road against teams below them is rock solid. Trips to Burnley, Sheffield United, Fulham, and Everton have all yielded wins, and this doesn’t look much tougher on paper. Three of those four successes were built on a clean sheet, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see a similar result here.

• Best Bet - Manchester United to Win to nil @ 16/5 with Midnite

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Sunday: 2:00 pm Fulham vs Arsenal

From two sides on a high to two looking to bounce back from disappointing results. Battered at Bournemouth, Fulham will be hoping a return to Craven Cottage can help them rediscover their impressive early December form. However, it won’t be easy, as making the trip across London is an Arsenal outfit seething from a 2-0 home defeat to West Ham. Such is the pace at the top of the table that the Gunners can’t afford too many more slip-ups and will be looking to rebound at the first time of asking.

Whatever the result, we may be in for an entertaining encounter at the Cottage. Marco Silva has shown no desire to deviate from his attack-first approach at home, with Fulham’s home fixtures averaging over three goals per game. Looking a little deeper into the numbers, the hosts are averaging 1.74 xG for and 1.23 xG against on home soil. On the road, Arsenal have registered an identical 1.74 xG for but have been more solid defensively with an xG against of 0.93. Combining those values creates a predicted score of Fulham 1.35 and Arsenal 1.49.

Overall, we fancy those figures may provide a good guide to the result of this one. We expect the home side to get on the scoresheet, and it’s also worth noting that Fulham have only conceded more than twice at home on one occasion this season. A 2-1 Arsenal win looks a solid option for correct score punters, but we will be a little more cautious and back Mikel Arteta’s men to prevail by a single goal.

• Best Bet - Arsenal to win by 1 Goal @ 12/5 with Spreadex

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