EPL 2023/24 Matchweek 18 – Betting tips & Predictions

Premier League fixtures are coming thick and fast. Matchweek 18 kicks off the most exciting part of the Premier League’s festive period. It also marks an incredibly pivotal week in the title race. Man City are off at the FIFA Club World Cup, but their biggest title challengers Liverpool and Arsenal are going head-to-head this week. 
 
Keep reading to see our EPL betting tips and picks, including our best bets for Liverpool vs. Arsenal and every other EPL Matchweek 18 fixture. 

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Selhurst Park, 6:00 AM, Friday, December 22

EPL Matchweek 18 kicks off with one of the strangest rivalries in English soccer. The Seagulls of Brighton head 40 miles north to play Roy Hodgson’s Eagles side in the first so-called A23 Derby of the season.  
 
Both teams come into this match fresh off playing against EPL title challengers. Palace stunned Manchester City and came away from the match with a 2-2 draw. Brighton, meanwhile, were outclassed at the Emirates and defeated 2-0 by Arsenal.  
 
In addition to being on a better run of form, Palace will be playing at home in this match. Despite this being the case, we think Brighton get their season back on track with a win here. The Seagulls are healthier than Palace right now and should be more focused against Palace than they were their disappointing result against Arsenal. 

Predicted Lineups

Crystal Palace: Mattews; Clyne, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell; Riedewald, Richards; Olisa, Hughes, Schlupp, Mateta 

Brighton: Steele; Veltman, Van Hecke, Dunk, Igor; Baleba, Gilmour; Adingra, Gross, Mitoma; Pedro 

Villa Park, 6:00 AM, Saturday, December 23  

Aston Villa defeated Brentford last week 2-1 in a surprisingly tense match which saw over a dozen cards issued to both teams. Sheffield United played in a more low-key affair against Chelsea where they lost 2-0. This week, we’re expecting something more like the latter fixture.  
 
The gulf in class between Aston Villa and Sheffield United is simply enormous, especially considering how dominant Unai Emery’s team have been at home. The best the Blades can hope for is to hold on for a draw, but that can only get them so far. They were only able to keep Chelsea scoreless for 50 minutes. They would be lucky to replicate that at Villa Park.  
 
We’re backing a big victory for Villa here. Unai Emery’s men are genuine title contenders this year. They won’t be slipping up now against a side like Sheffield United.

Predicted Lineups

Aston Villa: Martinez; Konsa, Carlos, Torres; Cash, McGinn, Dendoncker, Ramsey, Moreno; Diaby, Watkins 

Sheff Utd: Foderingham; Bogle, Ahmedohodzic, Trusty, Lowe; McAtee, Hamer, Souza, Brooks, Archer, McBurnie

London Stadium, 10:30 PM, Saturday, December 23  

Manchester United responded to their disastrous loss to Bournemouth and getting knocked out of the Champions League by Bayern by securing a 0-0 draw at Anfield against Liverpool.  
 
The stats in Liverpool vs. Man Utd  looked pretty one-sided in the result, but it was actually pretty close for many stretches. This has many Man Utd fans thinking things might finally be on the up. We hate to tell them this, but we think things will come crashing back down against West Ham.  
 
The Hammers convincingly beat Wolves 3-0 over the weekend, thanks to two Mohammed Kudus goals. We can’t see Manchester United coping well against West Ham’s midfield, who looked dominant against Wolves. Moyes' style of play also favours West Ham.  
 
Mohammed Kudus, Lucas Paqueta, James Ward-Prowse, and West Ham are going to get at least a point at home against Manchester United.  

Predicted Lineups

West Ham: Fabianski, Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson; Soucek, Alvarez; Kudus, Ward-Prowse, Paqueta; Bowen 

Man Utd: Onana; Wan-Bissaka, Evans, Varane, Shaw; Mainoo, McTominay; Ganacho, Fernandes, Rashford; Hojlund 

Craven Cottage, 1:00 AM, Sunday, December 24

Fulham’s scoring glut came to an abrupt end against Newcastle last week. After scoring 10 goals in their prior two matches, the Cottagers could not score a single goal at St. James’ Park. Part of the reason for this was a Raul Jimenez red card in the 22nd minute. He will be suspended against Burnley, but we think Fulham will be okay.  
 
Vincent Kompany’s Burnley were taught another tough lesson on what it takes to stay in the Premier League last weekend by their former manager Sean Dyche and his new club Everton. The Toffees won 2-0 and looked like they were having a lot of fun doing it, even though Burnley had significantly more passes and possession.  
 
Fulham are not the defensive powerhouses that Everton are, but they keep the ball well and still have plenty of goalscoring talent on the wings. This should be at least a one-goal victory for Fulham.  

Predicted Lineups

Fulham: Leno; Tete, Tosin, Bassey, Robinson; Palhinha, Cairney; Wilson, Pereira, Iwobi; Vinicius 

Burnley: Trafford; Vinho, O’Shea, Beyer, Taylor; Larsen, Berge, Brownhill, Odobert; Amdouni, Rodriguez 

Kenilworth Road, 1:00 AM, Sunday, December 24

Luton Town were well on their way to securing a valuable point at home against Bournemouth last weekend before tragedy hit. The Hatters club captain Tom Lockyer suffered a cardiac arrest midway through the match. Thankfully, Lockyer is reportedly in good health as the club and his doctors continue to run tests on the 29-year-old centre back.  
 
As insensitive as it is to say, this scary moment could bring Rob Edwards side and the raucous Kenilworth Road crowd together and help them get a result against Newcastle. On the other hand, no one would blame the Hatters if they were a bit shell-shocked and too emotionally exhausted to put up a fight against Newcastle.  
 
We think betting on the Magpies to win is smart here, but if you want to bet with your heart and on the story, Luton Town to Win or Draw would give you a big payout. 

Predicted Lineups

Luton Town: Kaminski; Mengi, Bell, Osho; Kabore, Lokanga, Barkley, Doughty; Townsend, Brown; Adebayo 

Newcastle: Dubravka; Hall, Lascelles, Botman, Trippier; Longstaff, Guimaraes, Joelinton; Livramento, Wilson, Gordon 

The City Ground, 1:00 AM, Sunday, December 24 

It’s another Premier League matchweek, which means another week full of speculation about the future of Steve Cooper’s job at Nottingham Forest. Most recent reports say former Wolves and Spurs manager Nuno Espirito Santo is in line to replace Cooper. The Welshman can keep Nuno at bay for a while longer if he gets a result this weekend. We think this is definitely doable.  
 
As good as Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth are, they much prefer to be giant slayers than the favourites in a match. If Nottingham Forest can put in a controlled performance and limit their turnovers, we can’t see Bournemouth creating many chances in this match.  
 
We think this one will end in a low-scoring draw. If you want to pick a winner, Bournemouth is the better team here.

Predicted Lineups

Nottm Forest: Vlachodimos; Boly, Murillo, Niakhate; Williams, Yates, Mangala, Kouyate, Toffolo; Elanga, Gibbs-White 

Bournemouth: Neto; Smith, Zabarnyi, Senesi, Kerkez; Cook, Christie; Tavernier, Kluivert, Semenyo; Solanke 

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, 1:00 AM, Sunday, December 24 

Tottenham vs. Everton is a matchup of two of the Premier League’s most praised managers, but the two popular men could not be more different. Spurs’ Australian manager Ange Postecoglou is seen as a modern, innovative, and offensive manager. For lack of a better term, Everton’s Sean Dyche is a ‘proper football man’. Dyche values defence, hard work, and simple tactics.   
 
The stylistic clash in this match could make this one of the best matches in the league this weekend. On paper, Tottenham’s style should win out, but it won’t be clean. Spurs are comfortable facing the kind of pressure they will see from Dyche’s hard-working Toffees, but they are not very solid defensively right now. Everton should have plenty of chances to get a counter attacking goal.  
 
Overall, we like Spurs to win, but Both Teams To Score - YES is probably the best bet for this match.

Predicted Lineups

Tottenham: Vicario; Porro, Romero, Davies, Udogie; Sarr, Lo Celso; Johnson, Kulusevski, Son; Richarlison 

Everton: Pickford; Patterson, Branthwaite, Tarkowski, Mykolenko; Harrison, Garner, Onana, McNeil; Doucoure, Calvert-Lewin

Anfield, 3:30 AM, Sunday, December 24 

Arsenal lept over Liverpool over the weekend to take the top table spot from the Reds. Jurgen Klopp’s men had a chance to get it back, but fell short against Manchester United. Liverpool now sit in second.  
 
Things are too close for this match to be a ‘title decider’, but it’s hard to not feel like this match could be decisive for the rest of these clubs’ seasons. A win here makes Arsenal genuine title favourites. For Liverpool, they need all the points they can get before Salah leaves them in January for the African Cup of Nations.  
 
Besides playing at home, all things here point to an Arsenal win. The Gunners have been much more convincing in their recent matches and are outstanding defensively. Despite this being the case, we like Liverpool here. They can’t be this bad for three matches in a row. At worst, this will be a draw for Liverpool 

Predicted Lineups

Liverpool: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Szoboszlai, Endo, Jones; Salah, Nunez, Diaz 

Arsenal: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Rice, Havertz; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli 

Molineux Stadium, 11:00 PM, Sunday, December 24 

The last match of EPL Matchweek 18 is probably one of the hardest to predict. Wolves are a good side. They’ve shown it several times this season. Recently though, Gary O’Neil’s side have looked very inconsistent. Wolves have won just one of their last five matches. Chelsea are equally as inconsistent as Wolves, but they have a much greater capacity for failure.  
 
Playing at home should make a slight difference for Wolves, but they are not dominant at home, unlike other teams in the bottom half of the table. Chelsea are in a similar boat and have a nearly identical record on the road as at home.  
 
We’re taking a draw for this one to end Matchweek 18. 

Predicted Lineups

Wolves: Sa; Kilman; Dawson, T. Gomes; Semedo, Lemina, J. Gomes, Bellegarde; Hwang, Cunha, Sarabia 

Chelsea: Petrovic; Gusto, Silva, Badiashile, Colwill; Caicedo, Fernandez; Palmer, Gallagher, Mudryk; Jackson 

There you have it. Those were our EPL betting tips for this week. If you are a soccer bettor looking for more great tips and insights, check out our best soccer bettings sites guide to see where you can find the best odds. Here at BettingTop10, we also cover the NRL, AFL, NBA, Golf, Cricket, and Horse Racing. 
 
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