Premier League best bets: Arsenal and Man City's epic game of chicken rolls on

Welcome to Matchday 36 of the Premier League season. Just three games remain to determine who will win the league, who will go to Europe, who will get relegated and who will escape all that drama by finishing in utterly forgettable 14th. (Just kidding on that last one. It's Crystal Palace. It's always Crystal Palace.)

The next three games are all about Arsenal and Manchester City's down-to-the-wire title run. Both must win all of their remaining games to secure the title. Arsenal must win while hoping Man City drop points, so its path is slightly more complicated. But City's run-in is far more difficult, with teams like Spurs and West Ham still on the horizon. When you throw it all together, City has a slight edge, but everything is still too close for comfort.

This weekend sees Arsenal taking on Bournemouth and City taking on Wolves. Who will win? Who will slip up? Will we get any clarity around this never-ending title race or will the uncertainty continue into Matchday 37? We'll find out soon enough. In the meantime, though, here are the bets we're eyeing:
 
Luton Town vs. Everton, Friday, May 3, 3 p.m. ET — The Toffees are almost certainly safe from relegation now, thanks to their awe-inspiring triple wins over Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and Brentford. But all still is not well at Everton: reports abounded this week about the financial health (or lack thereof) of its new investor 777 Partners.
Everton played its best soccer this season in its most difficult moments, so we're backing it to snarl back at this bad luck with a win over poor relegation-threatened Luton. The odds haven't quite caught up with this one, probably because the bookies assume Everton will stop trying now that it's safe from relegation. But Everton isn't that kind of team, and it hasn't had that kind of season. We're backing it to bite back and beat Luton at +160.
 
Arsenal vs Bournemouth, Saturday, May 4, 7:30 a.m. ET —  Arsenal's Mikel Arteta and Aston Villa's Unai Emery get all the attention in the endless "who is the best Basque manager in the Premier League" debate, but don't sleep on Bournemouth's Andoni Iraola. He led the Cherries from 15th in 2023 to 10th in 2024 and he's done so with grand style and verve. (How and why the tiny Basque region produces so many incredible soccer coaches is an interesting discussion for another time.)

Arsenal's on a mission, though: it's not going to slip up against Bournemouth this weekend, no matter how strong Iraola's bonafides may be. But Bournemouth's 'attack first, ask questions later' approach could make this game a bit tricker for Arsenal than it would prefer. We like an Arsenal win with at least one Bournemouth goal at +140. And as for that Bournemouth goal? We think  Dominic Solanke is the most likely man to score it. We're backing him to make Arsenal blush at +333.

Man City vs. Wolves, Saturday, May 4, 12:30 p.m ET — You're going to see a lot of breathless thinkpieces this week about what happened last time City and Wolves met in the Premier League: a surprise 2-1 win for the Midlands club that threw City off its rhythm way back when in September. City was  missing its most important player, defensive midfielder/magician Rodri, for that one, and won't be this weekend, but still. City played poorly last weekend against Nottingham Forest and Wolves are a team that have punished City for doing exactly that.
The odds have City as clear favorites here, and it's true that City would likely beat Wolves nine times out of 10 (especially now, at the business end of a title race.) But we aren't here to tell you how to play it safe. We're here to tell you that this and the Spurs game next weekend are City's most difficult remaining fixtures, and that if City is going to slip, it's going to do so in the next two weeks. We like the look of a long shot Wolves win or draw at +600.