Super Bowl Preview: Tips, stats and key men for Patriots v Eagles

Pats looking for third triumph in four seasons

Super Bowl LII is on the horizon, with New England Patriots facing Philadelphia Eagles at Minneapolis’ U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday.

Ahead of the weekend’s showdown, the Coral News Team have been hard at work crunching the numbers and studying the stats to bring you the top tips and vital info.

Here’s what to expect from this huge clash, and where the value could lie…

Head-to-Head:

These sides have played 13 times, with the Eagles winning seven to New England’s six.

Philadelphia won the most recent one, with a 35-28 comeback win at Gillette Stadium in 2015. But that had been preceded by four successive Pats wins – including a narrow victory in Super Bowl XXXIX.

Most of the pair’s meetings have been fairly close. However, New England did rack up a 38-20 victory in Foxboro in their last home meeting with the Eagles – back in November 2011.

Super Bowl Record:

Experience is very much on the Patriots’ side. They’ve won each of their last two Super Bowl appearances, in 2015 and 2017 respectively.

The Massachussets outfit have been champions five times, and there’s been a constant thread throughout those successes.

40-year-old Quarterback Tom Brady has played a key part on every occasion – and could prove pivotal again this weekend.

Philadelphia have only featured in two Super Bowl games – and one of those was way back in 1980. While they lack experience at this stage, it remains to be seen what this crop of Eagles players can accomplish on the biggest stage.

Key Battles:

Eagles Running Back LeGarrette Blount was a key man for the Patriots last season, but this year he’s worn the dark green of Philadelphia.

With over 800 rushing yards under his belt, he’s a top talent. But the former Pats favourite faces a defence including Devin McCourty, who’s made a career-high 80 tackles in NFL 2017.

There’s also a battle of the QBs. Nick Foles has deputised superbly for the injured Carson Wentz at Philly, throwing for an impressive 598 post-season yards.

For New England, the evergreen Brady held the Regular Season record, throwing for 4,577.

As for the Philadelphia defense, they’ve got their work cut out stopping Brandin Cooks and Rob Gronkowski from getting their hands on Brady’s pinpoint throws. Both have been in superb form this term.

Match Odds:

New England are masters at handling the pressure of a Super Bowl. Bill Belichick’s men are 4/7 in the Money Line, with Philadelphia Eagles out at 29/20.

Cooks has been in superb form of late, with a TD or more in four of his last seven regular season games. Cooks to score a Touchdown Anytime is backable at 13/10.

When the Patriots win, they tend to do so in some style. Seven of their last 10 matches have been won by a margin of over 10 points. The New England – 8.0 handicap could prove good value at 17/10.

These sides were two of the three highest-scoring teams in the regular season, and the pair’s most recent meeting produced a combined nine TDs. The Coral News Team like the look of Total Touchdowns: Over 5.5 at 21/20.

Click here for the latest Super Bowl LII odds from Coral.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing