Whale.io 🐳 | ⚽ English Premier League Season: 2025/2026

[JollyGood]

I've asked Jolly to recruit more football gambling fans to the thread - lol maybe we see some next year but I'm okay with the 3 of us talking to ourselves   better than having spammers on the thread.

Many of them are worried their post will be deleted therefore it will be a wasted effort that will not result in adding to post count or signature campaign quota. I am glad the spammers are away because they are not needed. Having said that, it would be nice to have more members posting here too  

I like the bet on Chelsea vs. Aston Villa. Aston Villa's fairytale has dragged on, just like Chelsea's nightmare. I expect a return to the mean here.

If Chelsea manage a win, it thrusts them back in the title race. If Aston Villa win, it will demonstrate they serious about staying in the top three until the end of the season. I think Emery deserves a lot of credit for taking Aston Villa to a very high level. For example, they paid £8 million to Middlesbrough in January 2024 to buy Rogers, if they were to sell him today they would receive more than £50 million. Emery and the Aston Villa board deserve credit for how they are recruiting and playing in the Premier League.

I also like the multiple bet on Arsenal and City - the overall odds are good, but keep in mind that for me, betting on City, even when I lose, is a joy because City loses points. I'm confident about Arsenal, they've exhausted their point-dropping potential for now.
Still waiting for damn United to come to their senses, but there's no point in talking about cash bets here.

I am confident both Manchester teams will lose their games and Arsenal will manage a draw. As for Chelsea, I have to go for an Aston Villa win.

In summary, Manchester United to lose at home to Newcastle United this evening. In the games tomorrow, Nottingham Forest to beat Manchester City and then Arsenal to draw at home to Brighton. In the late game, Chelsea to lose at home to Aston Villa.

I think the games will have surprises this weekend  

[tokeweed]

^  We should get Trofo and the gang to post here. 

What fixtures are you guys looking at betting wise for the coming weekend?  The only match that I kinda have a strong feeling on is Brentford vs Bournemouth.  Just by looking at each of their last 6 games, it feels like it's gonna be an easy win for Brentford.  And at 2.25, I think it's +EV...

What do you guys think?

And hopefully this thread gets more people sharing their leans or their picks.  Most of everybody are posting in the slop filled EPL threads.

I've asked Jolly to recruit more football gambling fans to the thread - lol maybe we see some next year but I'm okay with the 3 of us talking to ourselves   better than having spammers on the thread.

To your pick: I'm looking at GG & O2.5 goals in that fixture and also in Ars- BH, Chel- Ast fixtures too. I'm curious why we're having only one game on boxing Day this season.

Not really sure if Bournemouth could score a goal away as they haven't been scoring a lot of goals unless they're at home.  I'm thinking something like a 1 - 0 or 2 - 0 win for Brentford.

As for BTTS and the over 2.5 goals combo, I mostly agree for Chelsea vs Aston Villa.  Not sure if Brighton could score a goal against Arsenal.

[examplens]

I didn't pay much attention to the Premier League table, but now I see that Arsenal is only two points ahead of Manchester City. That seems to be over. Given their current form, there is little chance that they will be able to resist the pressure. Liverpool could not withstand that in some previous seasons, and they had a stronger team and a more consistent form. Simply put, Arsenal are losing this season because of inexperience.

[Trofo]

^  We should get Trofo and the gang to post here. 

Not gonna happen man, at least for me, just dropped by since you tagged me I am very much against self moderated topics and duplicate topics. This one is unfortunately both. Now the OP will reply with the counter argument that my Premier League topic is full of spam - true by the way, and then I will reply that spammers will always find a place to post and that I don't plan on locking it.... We already went on that merry go around in the past  

The other problem is time, I am mostly doing my posting in paid pools topics since they are 100% free of spam and not self moderated. And due to that I know the whole gang there very well and it feels like hanging with friends.

By the way man, why don't you join some of those pools or BSFL? Same goes for other members here.

[JollyGood]

I didn't pay much attention to the Premier League table, but now I see that Arsenal is only two points ahead of Manchester City. That seems to be over. Given their current form, there is little chance that they will be able to resist the pressure. Liverpool could not withstand that in some previous seasons, and they had a stronger team and a more consistent form. Simply put, Arsenal are losing this season because of inexperience.

Manchester City and Aston Villa have gone a very good run of games and have accumulated a lot of points. Arsenal are no longer clear favourites to win the Premier League.

Here is the Premier League table. It will change later this evening after Manchester United host Newcastle United and when the remaining games take place this:

^  We should get Trofo and the gang to post here.  

Not gonna happen man, at least for me, just dropped by since you tagged me I am very much against self moderated topics and duplicate topics. This one is unfortunately both. Now the OP will reply with the counter argument that my Premier League topic is full of spam - true by the way, and then I will reply that spammers will always find a place to post and that I don't plan on locking it.... We already went on that merry go around in the past  

Not at all, I will not counter anything

[igebotz]

^ I can't think of any good reason why Bournemouth will not score against Brentford.

Many of them are worried their post will be deleted therefore it will be a wasted effort that will not result in adding to post count or signature campaign quota. I am glad the spammers are away because they are not needed. Having said that, it would be nice to have more members posting here too  

500+ posts deleted - valid point.

They're afraid you'll put noise in their business too - anyway the smaller the better  

By the way man, why don't you join some of those pools or BSFL? Same goes for other members here.

I'm surprised jolly and tokeweed isn't in any of the prediction paid pools - I remembered marketing it to jolly last season. I guess they don't like the Mafias  

Don't worry I'll represent the gang on this thread - I like to fish on 100% spam free threads and I like self-moderated  threads better too.

[püsür]

I didn't pay much attention to the Premier League table, but now I see that Arsenal is only two points ahead of Manchester City. That seems to be over. Given their current form, there is little chance that they will be able to resist the pressure. Liverpool could not withstand that in some previous seasons, and they had a stronger team and a more consistent form. Simply put, Arsenal are losing this season because of inexperience.

I think around this time Arsenal's squad is fully settled. Every match is decided by one player. In previous years, it was only Odegaard, Trossard, Martinelli and Saka who made the difference. Now that burden has lifted from them too. Eze, Madueke and Zubimendi have been like a breath of fresh air for the team. I think Gyökeres will come to good form soon, with time. City's game is improving, but they have too many weaknesses. Arsenal and Villa are much more cohesive and better teams compared to City. Arsenal are doing quite well despite all these absences. That's the advantage of having a deep squad.

[examplens]

I think around this time Arsenal's squad is fully settled. Every match is decided by one player. In previous years, it was only Odegaard, Trossard, Martinelli and Saka who made the difference. Now that burden has lifted from them too. Eze, Madueke and Zubimendi have been like a breath of fresh air for the team. I think Gyökeres will come to good form soon, with time. City's game is improving, but they have too many weaknesses. Arsenal and Villa are much more cohesive and better teams compared to City. Arsenal are doing quite well despite all these absences. That's the advantage of having a deep squad.

I'm not talking about the quality of the players, but about experience and bearing pressure. I wouldn't say that Arsenal's team is significantly better than City's, but they have a huge advantage in the form of one of the best and most experienced managers at the moment.
Villa may look the strongest at the moment, but Emery's experience should not be overlooked.

Are the three teams that will fight for that 4th place slowly emerging, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United?

[JollyGood]

These are the results of the games played this weekend:

Friday 26th December
Manchester United 1-0 Newcastle United

Saturday 27th December
Nottingham Forest 1-2 Manchester City
Arsenal 2-1 Brighton and Hove Albion
Brentford 4-1 Bournemouth
Burnley 0-0 Everton
Liverpool 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
West Ham United 0-1 Fulham
Chelsea 1-2 Aston Villa

Sunday 28th December
Sunderland 1-1 Leeds United
Crystal Palace 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur

Arsenal and Manchester City won very difficult games but Chelsea lost against Aston Villa. The top three teams are breaking away from the others.

It is safe to assume Chelsea are out of the title race, their best case scenario will be to finish inside the top four for a Champions League spot. Even Liverpool and Manchester United won difficult games this weekend. To some degree I am not surprised Aston Villa won, they will try to push Arsenal and Manchester City for as long possible.

[igebotz]

Arsenal and Manchester City won very difficult games but Chelsea lost against Aston Villa. The top three teams are breaking away from the others.

It is safe to assume Chelsea are out of the title race, their best case scenario will be to finish inside the top four for a Champions League spot. Even Liverpool and Manchester United won difficult games this weekend. To some degree I am not surprised Aston Villa won, they will try to push Arsenal and Manchester City for as long possible.

I never for once thought we were in it or ready for it - not with this inexperienced team  that bottles every chance to go top. When the owners are ready to do what is right, we'll keep clowning and spend wastefully.

This is not the first time we've dominated a game, take the lead and somewhat bottle it at the end. I don't see why Enzo Mascara would stick to this project next season. It a shit show.

[JollyGood]

Losing the game after taking the lead (especially at home) must really hurt the Chelsea players and the fans. Having said that, Aston Villa did not stop believing they could get at least a point. In the end, they took all three points and basically demonstrated why they deserve to be in the top three.

If Maresca quits because he is not happy, all the effort he put in will be wasted because a new manager will start implementing his own ideas and will replace some of the players too. Chelsea need stability if they are to challenge for the title soon.

I never for once thought we were in it or ready for it - not with this inexperienced team  that bottles every chance to go top. When the owners are ready to do what is right, we'll keep clowning and spend wastefully.

This is not the first time we've dominated a game, take the lead and somewhat bottle it at the end. I don't see why Enzo Mascara would stick to this project next season. It a shit show.

[igebotz]

Losing the game after taking the lead (especially at home) must really hurt the Chelsea players and the fans. Having said that, Aston Villa did not stop believing they could get at least a point. In the end, they took all three points and basically demonstrated why they deserve to be in the top three.

If Maresca quits because he is not happy, all the effort he put in will be wasted because a new manager will start implementing his own ideas and will replace some of the players too. Chelsea need stability if they are to challenge for the title soon.

If the owners wants stability they need to start doing the right thing and signing the right players - we've been on this road in the last 4 years and nothing to show for it. No progress in league title pursuit.

When it comes to getting an experienced players they don't make too much efforts to make it happen but will go all on some random kids in North America. Enzo Mascara has built enough CV for himself and will always get some serious offers should he choose to walk away next season or get sacked trying to do the right thing.

It hurts when you dominate teams end up losing it says a lot about and it affects the team psychologically.

[JollyGood]

Whenever a team dominates possession and also lead by a goal but lose the game, there is always concern therefore Chelsea and Maresca are working out what happened against Aston Villa.

Bringing in new players is a risk because there will be immense pressure on Maresca if Chelsea were to spend £300 million in the next transfer window and after that he still did not get the results that were expected. You are right about him not being short on job offers (if he resigns or is sacked) but his heart is at Chelsea. I hope Maresca and the owners sort out their issues.

Keeping that aside, I think Aston Villa deserve a lot of credit for what they are achieving this season.

If the owners wants stability they need to start doing the right thing and signing the right players - we've been on this road in the last 4 years and nothing to show for it. No progress in league title pursuit.

When it comes to getting an experienced players they don't make too much efforts to make it happen but will go all on some random kids in North America. Enzo Mascara has built enough CV for himself and will always get some serious offers should he choose to walk away next season or get sacked trying to do the right thing.

It hurts when you dominate teams end up losing it says a lot about and it affects the team psychologically.

[igebotz]

Whenever a team dominates possession and also lead by a goal but lose the game, there is always concern therefore Chelsea and Maresca are working out what happened against Aston Villa.

Bringing in new players is a risk because there will be immense pressure on Maresca if Chelsea were to spend £300 million in the next transfer window and after that he still did not get the results that were expected. You are right about him not being short on job offers (if he resigns or is sacked) but his heart is at Chelsea. I hope Maresca and the owners sort out their issues.

Keeping that aside, I think Aston Villa deserve a lot of credit for what they are achieving this season.

This is not the first time this season that we're losing from a dominant position - Enzo Mascara hasn't learnt anything from those results. It's difficult to blame managers when the attackers keep missing open sitters though but I think he could have made the necessary changes earlier than he did.

Have no idea how Aston Villa went from a troubled season to 11/11 winning streaks without anyone noticing - it happened like magic.

[JollyGood]

It is an interesting fact that Arsenal, Manchester City and Aston Villa occupy the top three places and they are all have Spanish managers.

Aston Villa were close to a Champions League place last season. The Premier League were awarded five places for the Champions League but Aston Villa finished in sixth. This season they are going on a fantastic winning run that could define their season. After 18 games played and another 20 remaining, they are just three points behind Arsenal and a point behind Manchester City. The team deserves credit.

As for Chelsea and Maresca, I am still optimistic. There are 20 games to play in the Premier League as well as other cup competitions, things might get better for him.

This is not the first time this season that we're losing from a dominant position - Enzo Mascara hasn't learnt anything from those results. It's difficult to blame managers when the attackers keep missing open sitters though but I think he could have made the necessary changes earlier than he did.

Have no idea how Aston Villa went from a troubled season to 11/11 winning streaks without anyone noticing - it happened like magic.

[examplens]

It is an interesting fact that Arsenal, Manchester City and Aston Villa occupy the top three places and they are all have Spanish managers.

Aston Villa were close to a Champions League place last season. The Premier League were awarded five places for the Champions League but Aston Villa finished in sixth. This season they are going on a fantastic winning run that could define their season. After 18 games played and another 20 remaining, they are just three points behind Arsenal and a point behind Manchester City. The team deserves credit.

I wouldn't ignore Villa. They were good last year, but they were a few wins short of a better position. They certainly look much better this year. This is exactly what we can say: trust the process. 2025/2026 will be one of the most interesting seasons in recent times.
Tomorrow is a big game, Arsenal vs Aston Villa, and we'll see what the relationship between them is like.