
It has been an ideal start to 2026 for Arsenal. Manchester City dropped points at Sunderland on New Year’s Day before conceding a stoppage-time equaliser against Chelsea on Sunday evening.
Sandwiched between those two City draws, the Gunners picked up a 3-2 away win at Bournemouth, a result that has helped them move six points clear at the top of the Premier League table.
Elsewhere, it has been a busy period off the pitch. Enzo Maresca has departed Chelsea, while Manchester United have moved on from Ruben Amorim.
The schedule now continues with a full midweek programme, with matches taking place from Tuesday, 6 January, through to Thursday, 8 January.
Premier League tipster Ben Smith has selected a five-leg accumulator across those fixtures. All selections are available with QuickBet, who are offering competitive Premier League odds across the full round of Premier League matches.
West Ham United are in dire straits, but with things also looking bleak at Nottingham Forest, the visitors appear too short in the market.
Sean Dyche’s side have lost their last four league matches and, alongside Leeds United’s recent results, that has turned the battle for survival into a direct contest between West Ham and Forest for 17th and 18th place.
Team news could be important. Lucas Paqueta missed out at the weekend, and his availability would be significant, while Forest are monitoring Callum Hudson-Odoi, who was also absent.
A draw would not be catastrophic for either side. Forest would still hold a four-point cushion, while West Ham are simply desperate to avoid falling seven points behind, which suggests caution if the scores are level late on.
All but one of West Ham’s home games have seen two or more goals this term, so I’m happy to add over 1.5 goals to get us to Evens.
Bournemouth played well in spells against Arsenal, but it is hard to side with a team that have not won in 11 games at just over Evens. That is especially the case against Tottenham Hotspur, who are far from perfect but have lost only twice in their last eight matches and just twice away from home all season in the league.
Spurs were well beaten at Nottingham Forest, but since the start of December they have taken points at Newcastle United and Brentford, as well as winning at Crystal Palace.
Bournemouth’s defence, previously reliable, has become increasingly leaky, conceding 14 goals across their last five matches. One of their goals against Arsenal came from a mistake by Gabriel, while the other was a long-range strike. They had scored just once in their previous three home games, and this feels like a tight contest where Spurs can take at least a point.
Wolverhampton Wanderers’ upturn in form appears to have come too late to realistically change their survival prospects, but their steady improvement had gone somewhat under the radar until Saturday. The 3-0 win over West Ham United confirmed that they are in a better place than they were a month ago.
It may have been ‘only’ West Ham, but Rob Edwards’ side could have taken something from trips to Arsenal and Liverpool, before earning a point away at Manchester United.
The West Midlands side have significantly underperformed their expected goals figures this season, but that has begun to correct itself as chances are now being taken.
Looking at Everton, their home matches against sides outside the current top three have all produced at least two goals. Five of those games have seen three or more, and with defensive issues again exposed on Sunday, over 2.5 goals looks a fair angle here.
Chelsea’s late leveller denied Man City a ninth straight home league victory. Pep Guardiola’s side now have the chance to start another run when they face Brighton & Hove Albion, whose away record against the better sides has been poor.
Excluding matches against the bottom four, Brighton have taken just four points from seven away games. Three of those came at Chelsea, where they were trailing before Trevoh Chalobah was sent off early in the second half.
Despite that, Brighton have only conceded more than twice on the road once this season. With that in mind, combining a City win with under 4.5 goals appeals as a way of reaching a reasonable price.
Leeds United are proving a tough nut to crack at the moment. The recent draw with Manchester United extended their unbeaten run to seven matches, a sequence that includes a win over Chelsea and two draws against Liverpool.
They showed at Anfield that they are capable of sitting deep and protecting a result, but there is also plenty of attacking quality in this team. The goalless draw at Liverpool is the only time Leeds have failed to score in their last ten games, and even then they had a goal ruled out for a marginal offside.
All things considered, this looks a more difficult test for Newcastle United than the odds would suggest.
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West Ham vs Nottingham Forest betting preview
Man City vs Brighton betting preview

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