Andy Schooler previews the post-Christmas round of fixtures in the top-flight, with his Premier League Best Bets after Christmas. Read his exclusive thoughts each and every week with kwiff.
Premier League Best Bets: Festive Football Tips 2026
It’s now 10 wins in a row for Villa – and 16 in their last 18 games – and they look more than capable of getting a result at Stamford Bridge. Unai Emery has his side purring right now, with Morgan Rogers leading from the front. He has four goals in the last two games and I’m sure he’ll have his backers in the anytime scorer market at 3.5. However, my preference is to back the team as a whole, given their outstanding form, which has seen them beat both Arsenal and Manchester City, while also winning at Brighton and Spurs.
Premier League Best Bets: Chelsea v Aston Villa
Chelsea did well to fight back and claim a draw at Newcastle last week, although they had plenty of good fortune – the hosts were denied what looked a certain penalty when leading 2-1, a decision which didn’t go down well for those who followed my advice and backed the Magpies. The Blues have won just two of their seven games against sides currently in the top half, losing three. I wouldn’t put anyone off backing Villa at 3.5 but I’ll take the safer option and play them in the double-chance market, which also gets the draw on our side.
Premier League Best Bets: Brentford v Bournemouth
Igor Thiago has been mightily impressive so far this season, netting 11 times to sit second in the Premier League goalscorer chart. However, the bookies have long since wised up – the Brazilian is odds-on to find the net in this one. Brentford do have other goal sources though – Keane Lewis-Potter got two in last weekend’s win at Wolves – and it’s worth perusing the anytime scorer market a bit more, especially when you consider only four teams have conceded more goals than out-of-sorts Bournemouth.
Maybe Lewis-Potter (3.9) will continue where he left off at Molineux, but the man I like is the other member of the forward line, Kevin Schade. I’ve mentioned him before on these pages this season and he comes into this game having scored in three of his last six appearances at the Gtech. Brentford have been excellent on home soil, winning five and losing only one, and they’ve scored 16 goals across those eight matches – only Arsenal, Man City and Leeds have more home goals. Schade got into some great positions against Wolves, having three shots that day (all on target), and I think he’s the value play here at 3.6.
Premier League Best Bets: Man Utd v Newcastle
There’s just the one Premier League game on Boxing Day this year, something which hasn’t gone down well with fans, both hopefully we can help make up for that disappointment. The hosts look set to be without Bruno Fernandes, who will be sorely missed in their midfield, but Casemiro will be back after suspension and the Brazilian looks a player to focus on in the props markets.
Fernandes’ absence (and that of AFCON players Bryan Mbuemo and Amad Diallo) leave the Red Devils requiring shot output from other sources and Casemiro can help fill the void. His shot numbers have been high any way of late – five of his last seven games have seen him land the 2+ bet, with four of those games featuring 3+ shots from the former Real Madrid man. But with Fernandes out, he may well be on free-kicks and there’s every chance he’s asked to push forward a bit more than usual. 1.9 about him landing the over 1.5 shots bet again looks good, while I’m also going to ‘ladder’ this bet with a go at 3+ shots at 3.25.
Premier League Best Bets 2025/26: Matchday 18
Draw/Villa double chance @ 1.82 with kwiff
Schade anytime scorer @ 3.6 with kwiff
Casemiro over 1.5 shots @ 1.9 with kwiff
Casemiro 3+ shots @ 3.25 with kwiff
By Andy Schooler
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