Right Said Fred: Talking betting with Betfred boss Fred Done

From me and all my staff at Betfred – Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a cracking couple of days enjoying much-needed celebrations during what unfortunately remains a time of great uncertainty.

Stay safe, of course, but enjoy yourselves.

One of my favourite things about this time of year, and I’m sure I’m not alone in this, is the absolute feast of world class sport we are treated to.

First of all we have the PDC World Darts Championship going on at the minute. We’ve already seen a couple of nine-darters and some shock exits, and there’s no doubt there’ll be plenty more twists and turns as we approach the final in the new year.

There’s lots on for you racing fans out there too. The King George VI takes centre stage over these shores, as Paul Nicholls’ Clan Des Obeaux looks to complete the hat-trick. He faces stiff competition from last year’s winner Frodon, plus the 2021 Gold Cup victor Minella Indo. As always, that promises to be a Christmas cracker.

We’ve also got a few blockbuster days to enjoy over in Ireland. There’s some brilliant races scheduled – races which are not only fascinating in their own right but will inevitably provide an abundance of clues for the 2022 Cheltenham Festival. Unmissable action, for sure.

Hopefully we’ll have a full Premier League programme to get stuck into also.

I say hopefully because the short-term future of the Premier League appears to be in a bit of doubt after all those postponements in recent weeks due to the outbreak of this Omicron variant that’s sweeping the nation at the minute.

Fingers crossed they find a safe way to continue, for the Boxing Day fixtures are a staple of many peoples’ festivities, including mine, and it would be a great shame to go without it.

It’s Manchester City who are top of the tree at Christmas after their comfortable 4-0 win over Newcastle at the weekend was followed by draws for both Chelsea and Liverpool.

Pep Guardiola’s side hope to host Leicester on Boxing Day – they’re 1/5 with us to get another three points.

The Blues have shortened into 1/3 at Betfred to retain the Premier League title, ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea who have drifted out to 10/3 and 12/1 respectively.

My beloved Manchester United are next best at 100/1, but if we’re being brutally honest our sights are now set on a top-four finish.

Ralf Rangnick has won both Premier League games since taking over at Old Trafford and will be looking to make it three-from-three when they hopefully travel to St James’ Park on Monday 27th.

Our clash with Newcastle is the only game not to be staged on Boxing Day, which is a bit of a shame – although that means, providing there’s not a handful of further cancellations, there’s at least one Premier League game every day until January 3. Brilliant! 

United are 9/20 to triumph in the North East on Monday – while another 1-0, the scoreline of our last two wins over Crystal Palace and Norwich, is available at 7/1.

Finally, congratulations to Emma Raducanu who was crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year on Sunday.

She has been a breath of fresh air for the British tennis scene and thoroughly deserved this award.

Enjoy Christmas folks, as best you can in these times, and all the wonderful sport on our TV screens over the next few days.

Stay safe.