Back Mason Mount to prove he is worldie class at Nottingham Forest.
The Chelsea man was outshone at the World Cup – after his quiet Euros too – so other ‘rising stars’ are getting all the love these days.
Managerial fame is a fickle mistress too, as Graham Potter could tell him. Potter has gone from ‘coaching genius’ to ‘hopelessly out of his depth’ in a tad less than four months.
Forest boss Steve Cooper’s reputation has been similarly hammered.His side’s naive backline work was a prominent feature of their defeat at Old Trafford last time.
In Cooper’s defence, he won’t actually have spent the last month coaching them to stand around with their mouths hanging open, but you’d fancy Chelsea to find a way to score (4.30pm).
Potter will have spotted among the other Forest flaws, Dean Henderson’s vulnerability to long-range pokes.
Last season this was a big part of Chelsea’s game. Time to bring it back and trust Mount ‘to score from outside the box’ at 12/1 (Paddy) – that is huge on his Prem long-range stats this term.
Harry Kane replying to the haters with a goal at Brentford was typical. The result was typical Tottenham too – an iffy away draw somehow looking a bit like a win.
It’s a very different story at home, except for the bit about Kane scoring. He’s done it in eight of 11 matches.
Get on the great man at Evens (Paddy) ‘anytime scorer’ when leaky Aston Villa visit (2pm) – a gift of a price to start 2023. The pre Premier League-era poet Ovid wrote “Let your hook always be cast” to catch any good luck going.
Sounds very fishy as a betting system, but in that spirit try these 3pm ‘anytime scorers’... Millwall’s Jake Cooper is the right aerial threat at 9/1 (Hills), and Luton’s Carlton Morris is too big at 13/5 (Bet365). Let’s cast for the double too at 26/1 (Hills). Happy New Year!
Over in Italy, Serie A returns in midweek and Lazio goalmachine Ciro Immobile looks value at 6/1 (Unibet) to make up ground and win the Golden Boot
Last time: Winners at 11/10 and 2/1 PLUS 8/1 (World Cup Golden Glove).
