Soccer Best Bets for Premier League and around the World on Saturday, January 14 and Sunday, January 15

Gambling on sports is hard. It’s infuriating, confusing, draining, and challenging. I could go on and on with adjectives that come to mind both in general and, for me, very explicitly at the moment, but I’ll skip the part where I waste your time and show off my particularly impressive vocabulary. So why do I say this as I introduce an article where I’m about to give out Premier League soccer best bets? Well, there are two reasons which I think are both important and underappreciated. The first is that, at the moment, I’m dealing with a lot of the bad aspects of sports gambling. Not only am I having trouble with my bets and giving out losers, but I’m not particularly enjoying what I do. I love sports and gambling generally, so when it starts feeling like work instead of play that’s usually a good sign to take a step back and reset. And, honestly, recognition of burnout is a huge part of succeeding. Rather than plowing ahead and trying to outrun a metaphorical bullet in terms of my mental health, I took a couple of days off to stop gambling and refresh because my body absolutely needed it. I cant promise that it will turn me into the happiest and most successful gambler of all time, but I can promise it will help more than the alternative. And now we are ready to look at the best soccer bets for this weekend from the Premier League and around the world. This week, we are focused on Spurs vs. Arsenal, Brugge vs. Anderlecht and Brentford vs. Bournemouth.

The second reason I bring this up is, quite simply, being a successful gambler isn’t easy. And that is not the message that’s being thrown in your face on a daily basis. Sports books are trying to convince you that you can get rich if you join and try your hand, big name handicappers are trying to tell you they’ve cracked the code and paying them a few bucks a month is all you need to get rich, and so on. But, in all honesty, sports gambling is incredibly difficult to master. I work my ass off to try to hit about 56% of my bets and “profitable” is not an easy task. So just remember that, if you’re going through a period of frustration or confusion with sports gambling, it makes sense. This is NOT FUCKING EASY, and the only people who will tell you it is are financially interested or liars.

With that, time to dive back into the trenches and do my best to produce some winning slips because I still do love this gig. Onward.

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Premier League Best Bets - January 14 & January 15

Brentford vs. Bournemouth: Best Bet

Kickoff: Saturday, January 14 - 12:30PM ET

Let’s start with something simple, and take Brentford TT Over 1.5 at -138. Now, -138 bets don’t require a huge mental leap. In fact, that’s a pretty damn simple concept to wrap your head around. But we’re looking for winners and I don't really care if they’re “brilliant” or not.

So why this pick? Well, you really only need to look at Bournemouth’s defensive record to figure it out. The Cherries have conceded a league-worst 39 goals this season through 18 games, which already gets us over the line as far as averages. Then you look at their record away and say “holy fuck this team is an abomination.” Bournemouth have conceded TWENTY NINE of those goals in their NINE away games, which is an astoundingly bad number and tells you that they give up over three goals per game on average away from home.

Brentford, for what it’s worth, are also a solid team with a fairly strong home record. They also tend to be a bit lackadaisical defensively, which means they’ll probably need two goals to ensure they take all three points. But, overall, this pick is driven by Bournemouth, who I would generally bet against on the road at any opportunity.

BET: Brentford TT Over 1.5 (-138) at DraftKings Sportsbook

Brugge vs. Anderlecht: Best Bet

Kickoff: Saturday, January 15 - 7:30AM ET

Brugge have looked a bit sluggish since coming back from the World Cup Break (likely breaking in their Christmas Lambos as the Discord would say), but this is still a top class team in Belgium who managed to win a UCL Group and can go for a big number on any given day. Anderlecht, meanwhile, have had a fall from grace, sitting 11th in the table and conceding more goals than they’ve scored through 19 matches.

As you likely surmised, this is a battle of form vs class for me, with the former being temporary and the latter being permanent. Brugge have had some recent struggles, but they sit in the top 4 overall and are going to positively regress over time from their last two performances. Anderlecht, on the other hand, have proven just to be a somewhat mediocre team in need of a rebuild, and their defensive record doesn't inspire confidence that they can hold off Brugge on the road.

With that, we turn to another fairly straightforward pick and take Brugge TT Over 1.5 at -125, which honestly feels like a damn good price for this club at home. Sure, if Brugge were facing Genk or USG I’m not sure I’d back them to make waves right now, but it feels like this number has a lot more to do with Anderlecht’s historical success than it does their performances this season. The home side should find goals.

BET: Brugge TT Over 1.5 (-125) at DraftKings Sportsbook

Spurs vs. Arsenal: Best Bet

Kickoff: Sunday, January 15 - 11:30AM ET

I feel obligated to bet on this game given its importance and my allegiance as a Spurs fan, but luckily I also don't find this match to be all that complicated. Important games between top half sides generally go one of two ways in the second half of the year; either both teams play scared and the game drowns to a 0-0 or 1-0 end, or you get an awesome fist fight where both sides try to beat the living hell out of each other in the metaphorical soccer sense.

To me, this game seems very likely to be the latter, largely because Spurs are such a mess defensively that it’s hard to think they have a prayer of winning a defensive battle. This team continues to trot out the likes of Eric Dier while buying a new winger every transfer window, and their defensive record of 25 conceded in 18 matches shows why they’ve fail to compete for a title (among other things). Arsenal will find chances and likely a goal or two, but Spurs will also be able to do some damage with their offensive firepower. Over 2.5 at -128 feels like the intelligent play, and the recent history in this fixture backs it (cashed in 3 straight and 4 of 5). Please pray for my mental health if Spurs lose again.

BET: Over 2.5 (-128) at DraftKings Sportsbook