Club football returns this weekend and Andy Schooler has a couple of big-priced fancies for you with his usual Premier League Best Bets in English football’s top flight. Read Andy’s exclusive column each and every week with kwiff.
Premier League Best Bets: Andy Schooler’s MD12 Preview
Two teams in contrasting form meet at Elland Road on Sunday and Villa look worth siding with. Unai Emery’s men started the season poorly, really struggling for goals, but they’ve turned their season around quickly, winning eight of their last 10 in all competitions and five of six in the Premier League.
Premier League Best Bets: Leeds v Aston Villa
Bournemouth were crushed 4-0 last time out and the Midlanders should arrive in Leeds with confidence flowing. The same cannot be said about the hosts, who have now lost four of their last five. Defensively, they’ve been poor of late with 13 goals conceded in their last six. The pressure is building on Daniel Farke and this doesn’t look a great game for him or his side to be facing at this stage.
Premier League Best Bets: Arsenal v Tottenham
Thomas Frank was always likely to improve Spurs on set-plays and no player has benefitted more from his arrival than Micky van de Ven. The Dutch centre-back has scored six goals in 16 appearances for his club this season and I just can’t resist backing him in this North London Derby.
Yes, I know all about Arsenal having the best defensive record in the league but they’ve lost lynchpin Gabriel during the international break, while Justin Timber and Riccardo Calafiori also had injury issues while away with their countries. Basically, it could be something of a makeshift Gunners defence for what is always a tricky fixture for them – and one which tends to produce goals. Van de Ven is available at 13.0 to score at the Emirates and that looks worth a dart.
Premier League Best Bets: Bournemouth v West Ham
Betting is often about catching teams at the right time and this match offers an opportunity. The Hammers have emerged from their funk with back-to-back wins before the international break, while Bournemouth having lost two in a row, conceding seven times in the process. Both were away to strong opponents but you wonder whether their confidence has been dented enough for improving West Ham to capitalise.
For the record, the visitors are 4.8 for the victory and while I’m not going to back that, I do think the gap in price between the two sides – the hosts are 1.52 – is too big. That means some of the West Ham players have potential in the sub-markets and the man I like is Mateus Fernandes, who caught the eye in those two recent wins.
The former Southampton midfielder was involved in linking many of the Hammers’ attacks against Newcastle and Burnley and he provided an assist in the first of those matches. He made three key passes in each of those games – those are passes which lead directly to a shot – while he played six passes into the final third against Burnley, his highest such figure of the season in the league. Fernandes is 7.85 for an assist in this one and that’s a price I’m happy with.
Premier League Best Bets 2025/26: Matchday 12
Aston Villa to beat Leeds @ 2.15 with kwiff
Van de Ven 1+ goal v Arsenal @ 13.0 with kwiff
Fernandes 1+ assist v Bournemouth @ 7.85 with kwiff
By Andy Schooler
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