Our betting expert Jones Knows provides his insight across the Premier League midweek card and wants to back Nottingham Forest to win to nil against Man Utd.
Arsenal vs Fulham, Tuesday 7.45pm
My colleague Nick Wright outlined Declan Rice’s attacking evolution at the start of March in his excellent “Radar” column and since that was published Rice has scored two goals in his last three games. It seems Wright Knows.
The markets haven’t caught up with his spiking numbers in attack, which is great news for us as punters. After playing mostly in the holding role last season, the emphasis has switched this term meaning Rice has now started more games for Arsenal at No 8 than at No 6. In his last 14 appearances, he’s had at least one shot in 13 of them and is averaging 1.8 shots per game, including three in his last appearance against Chelsea.
He is 5/4 with Sky Bet to hit two or more shots in this one and is 11/2 to score. Both are great angles to attack.
SCORE PREDICTION: 2-0 JONES KNOWS’ BEST BET: Declan Rice +2 shots (5/4 with Sky Bet)
Wolves vs West Ham, Tuesday 7.45pm
Wolves may end up being very fortunate that the standard of the three promoted teams is so low that they’ll stay up by default. Vitor Pereira has made them tighter defensively, but it’s come at a cost to their attacking output which is suffering and will struggle to see any positive impact with Matheus Cunha still banned. They got the job done at Southampton, scoring twice from just an expected goals total of 0.36 and five shots but it wasn’t a performance that convinced me of investing in them.
One thing Graham Potter has done at West Ham is improve their structure without the ball which in turn has tighten them up defensively. They’ve conceded just three goals in their last five games with a switch to a back three certainly helping them. The Evens on offer from Sky Bet for them on the draw no bet makes sense.
SCORE PREDICTION: 0-1
Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United, Tuesday 8pm
With just nine games to go, the end is in sight for Nottingham Forest in terms of Champions League qualification and judging by their performances of late they are thundering over the line.
There have been no wobbles. No signs of nerves. It’s been so impressive with Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic at the heart of the defence leading the club to some special places.
These two are making history for this football club.
This Forest team showed what they were all about in their gritty FA Cup win over Brighton. The outstanding work of Murillo and Milenkovic during the 120 minutes where defences were on top provided the bedrock of Forest’s win. That was clean sheet number 14 for the season across all competitions for the pairing.
Forest are such a difficult side to score against, especially at the City Ground where they’ve shipped just 10 goals in their 14 Premier League home matches this season – that’s the best home record of any team. They’ve kept seven clean sheets during that run, too, winning to nil against Man City, Brighton, Tottenham, Ipswich, West Ham and Crystal Palace.
Backing another victory without conceding a goal at 100/30 with Sky Bet looks too good to turn down.
SCORE PREDICTION: 1-0 | JONES KNOWS’ BEST BET: Nottingham Forest to win to nil (100/30 with Sky Bet)
Bournemouth vs Ipswich, Wednesday 7.45pm – PLAY SUPER 6 HERE!
“You gotta know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em,” Kenny Rogers once sang. That’s exactly my thoughts on Bournemouth right now, who look a team to oppose based on recent performances.
They looked on the floor in terms of confidence and attacking ideas in the second half against Man City in the FA Cup, who were so dominant.
The Cherries failed to post a single shot in the second half and their most important attackers, like Antoine Semenyo, is running on empty and lacking confidence. It’s no goals in eight for him and Bournemouth haven’t won in 90 minutes for seven games now.
Everything has its price and Ipswich are too big here at 7/1 with Sky Bet.
What Ipswich did to Bournemouth in reverse game at Portman Road has stuck in my mind. For 75 minutes that day they were the better team and were unfortunate to concede two late goals to throw away the game 2-1.
Kieran McKenna’s team aren’t as woeful as Leicester or Southampton and do have a bit about them – as shown recently by draw at Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup while they were only beaten narrowly by Palace in a close encounter.
I’m happy to swing for the ropes and back the outright away win.
SCORE PREDICTION: 1-2
Brighton vs Aston Villa, Wednesday 7.45pm – PLAY SUPER 6 HERE!
It’s exciting times if you’re an Aston Villa fan, eh? Two legs with PSG in a Champions League quarter-final, a fight for Europe in the Premier League and now a chance to win the FA Cup. It certainly won’t be dull at Villa Park between now and May.
A win for either team here would be massive for their European qualification hopes and Brighton are – as always – fancied by the markets at 21/20 with Sky Bet for the home win. That would be the way I’d play the outright as Villa’s underlying data away from home this season has been sketchy.
They are shipping 1.84 worth of expected goals against on the road per 90 this season – the fourth worst record of any team and they’ve conceded 27 away goals, only Wolves, Ipswich, Leicester and Southampton have conceded more. Until they fix those type of numbers, they are hard to trust on the road.
SCORE PREDICTION: 2-1
Manchester City vs Leicester, Wednesday 7.45pm – PLAY SUPER 6 HERE!
Ruud van Nistelrooy must be up there with one of the worst managers to ever to have graced the Premier League based on the evidence. Leicester have lost 14 of their last 16 games in all competitions and are on a run of six successive Premier League defeats without scoring. That’s the first time that’s happened in the history of the football club.
Those that think that statistic will become seven in a row can get 11/10 with Sky Bet on Manchester City winning to nil. I’m surprised that price is odds-against. City still have motivation in the Premier League in order to get Champions League qualification and the way they bossed proceedings in the second half of their impressive win at Bournemouth suggests they may finish the season quite strongly.
SCORE PREDICTION: 3-0 | JONES KNOWS’ BEST BET: Manchester City to win to nil (11/10 with Sky Bet)
Newcastle vs Brentford, Wednesday 7.45pm – PLAY SUPER 6 HERE!
The likelihood of shots increases substantially when a full-back plays on the wrong side, meaning they are liable to cut in towards goal onto their stronger foot rather than going down the outside which in turn takes them away from goal. And I think there could be a developing angle to exploit here with Tino Livramento from left-back for Newcastle who has switched there since Lewis Hall was ruled out for the season.
Livramento is going to get chances to shoot against Brentford, who defend in numbers and don’t mind soaking up lots of shots. Only Southampton have faced more shots this season than Brentford and they’ve conceded the most shots from outside the box – 6.1 per game in the Premier League.
He is 15/8 with Sky Bet for one or more shots – that’s a nice bet.
SCORE PREDICTION: 2-1 | JONES KNOWS’ BEST BET: Valentino Livramento +1 shots (15/8 with Sky Bet)
Southampton vs Crystal Palace, Wednesday 7.45pm – PLAY SUPER 6 HERE!
Adam Wharton is going to land an assist before the season is out.
Palace’s midfield maestro has created 11 chances in his last 210 minutes of Premier League action. So, he’s creating a chance every 19 minutes for his team-mates based on that. He hasn’t grabbed an assist in that time but against Aston Villa, for example, where he created three chances officially, it was his key pass for three of Palace’s goals that opened the play up. He is the spark in this Palace team.
Towards the end of last season when Palace were flying and he was purring in midfield, he got three assists in his last seven games.
I’m expecting Palace to be potentially scoring three or more here if they’re in the mood and I think that 11/4 with Sky Bet for Wharton to assist one of them is a big slice of value.
SCORE PREDICTION: 1-4 | JONES KNOWS’ BEST BET: Adam Wharton +1 assists (11/4 with Sky Bet)
Liverpool vs Everton, Wednesday 8pm, live on Sky Sports – PLAY SUPER 6 HERE!
Liverpool require a maximum of 16 points from their final nine games to win the Premier League title.
Anyone tempted to read too much into the Carabao Cup final defeat and take them on here may want to remind themselves that Liverpool are currently on a 25 Premier League game unbeaten run – only once have they had a longer unbeaten run in the competition. Only PSG are currently on a longer unbeaten league run than Liverpool in Europe’s major leagues.
Fatigue may be a factor with Liverpool playing their 20 games so far in 2025 across a 71-day spell – averaging a game every 3.6 days. The break should revitalise them and this could be a bad time for Everton to head across Stanley Park. Liverpool have scored two or more goals in 13 of their 14 home Premier League game this season making the Liverpool -1 on the handicap the way to play to this at Evens with Sky Bet.
SCORE PREDICTION: 3-0
Chelsea vs Tottenham, Thursday 8pm, live on Sky Sports
Djed Spence is taking his opportunity for Tottenham, winning lots of plaudits for his displays since the turn of the year. His performances are catching the eye, especially from a punting perspective where the prices surrounding his ability to win fouls are very much in our favour.
He remains a slice of value with Sky Bet to be fouled two or more times – a bet which has landed for punters in 11 of his last 13 starts. Ange Postecoglou likes his full-backs to drive into central areas of the pitch and that tends to lead to fouls being drawn. He can go in again in what is always a high-octane London derby.