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We like West Ham's Ghanaian attacker Mohammed Kudus as an anytime goalscorer at +375. (Photo by Alexander Canillas/SPP/Sipa USA)

Premier League best bets: Will the title race end with a whimper?

By Alyssa Clang | Last updated 4/24/24

That three-horse title race was fun while it lasted, huh?

Welcome to Matchday 35 of the Premier League season. Just four games remain to determine who will win the league. This week's makeup games saw Liverpool's title challenge fall apart and Arsenal's title challenge catch a second wind, but with Man City still carrying two games in hand, all that drama may be for naught.

There's plenty more to consider than just the title race, though. These next four weekends will also tell us who goes to Europe and who crashes down into the second division, and both of those competitions are close and fierce. Where are the best bets hiding in all that? We think you'll find them here:

West Ham vs. Liverpool, Saturday, April 27, 7:30 a.m. ET. With Wednesday's 2-0 defeat at the hands of local rivals Everton, Liverpool's title race is all but finished. It's nailed-on to finish in second or third, so it has very little left to fight for; we could see some hungry teams charge at it with the hope of taking advantage of its position.

Enter West Ham. It's been inconsistent this season, but when it's on, it means business. With 48 points, West Ham is in eighth place — just a few spots shy of a guaranteed European spot next season. It'll fancy its chances against already-on-vacation Liverpool and the odds haven't quite caught up to that. At +475 to beat the Reds at home, we're backing the Hammers on this one. We also like West Ham's Ghanaian attacker Mohammed Kudus as an anytime goalscorer at +375.

Aston Villa vs. Chelsea, Saturday, April 27, 3 p.m. ET. These two make for fascinating foils. Villa entered this season with a questionable lineup on paper--one that looked awfully similar to the team that nearly got relegated last year--and proceeded to dominate. Chelsea entered this season with a strong lineup on paper--one that cost more money than we can fathom--and proceeded to fall apart.

Tuesday's 5-0 hammering at the hands of Arsenal was just the latest embarrassment in a season full them for Chelsea, and we don't expect things to magically improve for the Blues when they travel north to Villa Park this weekend. Frankly, we're shocked that the odds disagree with us here--they put high-flying Villa at +125 to beat its beleaguered rival at home. We'll take those kindly.

Nottingham Forest vs. Manchester City, Sunday, April 28, 11:30 a.m. ET. "Three extremely poor decisions — three penalties not given — which we simply cannot accept. We warned the PGMOL that the VAR is a Luton fan before the game but they didn't change him. Our patience has been tested multiple times. Nottingham Forest Football Club will now consider its options."

That was the message that the official — yes, official — Nottingham Forest social media accounts pushed out into the world following the team's 2-0 defeat to Everton last weekend. Forest was mad because it felt it should've received three penalties against Everton, three penalties that would have (presumably) won it the game and secured its safety from relegation.

There's a lot to unpack there. First, if you need three penalties to beat Everton, you're probably not playing well enough to stay in the Premier League anyway. Second, if the VAR was a Luton fan and rigged this game in Luton's favor, surely he'd want Forest and Everton to draw, as that would be the best result for Luton, correct? Third, we've seen all three of those potential penalties and only one of them caused us to raise an eyebrow. Fourth, what exactly are those options that Forest is now "considering?" Legal options? Over penalties? That's not really how any of this works.

We haven't seen a Premier League team fall apart like Forest in ages. It's falling apart on the field, where it hasn't strung together two winning performances since December, and it's falling apart on social media, accusing English referees of corruption. With Everton and Burnley surging at the end of the season, Forest looks destined for relegation ... and it's facing a Manchester City team on a warpath. We don't have a good feeling about this one for Forest. We're betting on City to take this one by three goals or more while Forest fails to score at +375.

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