EPL Soccer Picks, Predictions, Best Bets: Manchester City, Chelsea meet in clash of Premier League giants

Week 20 of the Premier League marks the halfway point of the season, as English clubs continue to close out the holidays with this weekend’s set of matchups.

Arsenal leads the way with Manchester City needing a vital win over Chelsea this weekend to close the gap. Brentford heads to Everton for some high-quality mid-table action, while Villa’s Ollie Watkins stays hopeful to add to his tally of six goals this season against Nottingham Forest.

Prepare for many important EPL matchups this weekend, with the first match kick-off between Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest happening Saturday at 7:30 a.m. ET.

Manchester City vs. Chelsea best bet: Man City ML (-155)

Both sides confront each other for the first time this season after their last meeting in January 2025 resulted in a comfortable 3-1 City win at home.

Manchester City has truly made an impressive comeback on the EPL table, as they now sit at second place behind Arsenal. The Citizens didn’t drop points in any competitions in December, with their last loss dating back to a 2-0 Champions League defeat to Bayern Leverkusen on November 25.

Chelsea are dropping unnecessary points in their fixtures while barely holding onto fifth place in the standings. They have tallied 30 points from their 8-6-5 record, while United, Sunderland and Everton are hot on their heels. We’ve mentioned Chelsea gets up for big games, but struggles to finish against smaller clubs, with the Blues recently losing 2-1 to Aston Villa on the 27th, then drawing Bournemouth 2-2 on Tuesday. Chelsea (+355 this match) has not defeated City since May 2021, which leads me to be comfortable picking the City moneyline at -155 odds this weekend.

Everton vs. Brentford best bet: Under 2.5 (-155)

Everton took on tough competition this month with back-to-back losses against Chelsea and Arsenal, yet scraped out some points with a 0-0 draw to Burnley on the 27th and a more recent 2-0 win over Nottingham on Tuesday. They reside in eighth place with 28 points and an 8-4-7 record. The Blackwatch produced just five goals in their last five games, failing to score for three straight against Chelsea, Arsenal and Burnley. As such, this match could set itself up for under 2.5 goals, as Everton enters as a +135 home favourite.

Brentford is in a similar scenario to Everton, sitting in ninth place with 26 points and an 8-2-8 record. The Bees recorded an impressive 4-1 victory over Bournemouth last Saturday, although they’ve found trouble scoring this month after being shutout in back-to-back matches against Arsenal and Tottenham on Dec. 3 and 6, while only scoring seven goals in the five games that followed. Brentford enters this matchup at +210 underdogs, and with all things considered, this bout will likely be low scoring with under 2.5 goals at -155.

Best player prop bet: Ollie Watkins Anytime Goalscorer in Aston Villa vs. Nottingham Forest (+155)

The English Aston Villa striker has awakened his goal-scoring form with three goals in his last two games, a brace against Chelsea last Saturday to win the game for the Lions, and the only goal against Arsenal on Tuesday. Aston Villa takes home turf advantage against 17th-place Nottingham Forest, which sets up the perfect opportunity for Watkins to bag his seventh of the season at +155 odds.