Premier League Gameweek 15: The best player prop bets for Sterling, Jota, and Ollie Watkins

The Premier League is heating up as we approach the busy Christmas period, with the three teams at the top of the table separated by just two points. There are only three points splitting the five teams fighting for that all-important final Champions League spot, while Burnley and Norwich are scrapping for every point in an attempt to avoid the drop.

Here are the best player prop bets as we go into another fantastic slate of fixtures.

Wolves vs. Liverpool: Diogo Jota to score a goal (+138)

Liverpool just can’t stop scoring. They’ve now bagged four goals in each of their last three Premier League games, beating Arsenal 4-0, Southampton 4-0, and Everton 4-1. There is no shortage of Liverpool stars who can find the back of the net at any time, but the shrewd play is to get on Diogo Jota while he is in such red-hot form.

The Portuguese star got two goals in Liverpool’s first two games this season, but then went on a bit of a dry spell, scoring just twice in the next eight matches he was involved in. But in the last few weeks, he has found that golden touch again, with four goals in his last three games.

The former Wolves man joined Liverpool in 2020 and scored a goal every 124 minutes in the league, with a conversion rate of 19.6%. He’s stepped up a notch this season and has a goal every 116 minutes and a 24.2% conversion rate.

Jota scored the only goal of the game in this fixture last season and can inflict more punishment on his former club on Saturday. Wolves have kept three clean sheets on the spin, but nothing can stop Liverpool’s scoring power currently.

Watford vs. Manchester City: Raheem Sterling to score a goal (+120)

This is a tricky one for bettors to approach, given Sterling’s questionable form this year, but there are enough green shoots in recent weeks, and plenty of history in recent years, to suggest this is a good bet.

Sterling seemed to struggle with a Euro 2021 hangover, as he scored just once in his first two and a half months with City this season. Pep Guardiola started to rotate Sterling as the flying forward lost a little bit of form. But he’s starting to look back to his usual self, as he bagged three goals in five games since the start of November.

Now he gets to face Watford, who traditionally Manchester City always hammer, and Sterling regularly gets involved. In the last eight matches between these two sides, Man City have won all eight and scored a whopping 37 goals — an average of 4.6 goals a game!

Sterling has faced Watford five times for City and scored in every game, bagging a total of nine goals.

City rank second for shots per game away from home (18) this season, while only two sides in the top flight have conceded more goals than Watford this year. Back Sterling to be involved in a thrilling game for Guardiola’s men again.

Aston Villa vs. Leicester City: Ollie Watkins to score a goal (+185)

Steven Gerrard has breathed new life into Aston Villa. After the Villans lost five league games in a row, Gerrard was brought in to steady the ship, and he’s done just that, with wins over Brighton and Crystal Palace before a gritty, narrow defeat to reigning champs Manchester City.

Gerrard also seems to have sparked Ollie Watkins into life again. The Villa striker bagged 14 goals last year (a goal every 238 minutes), but this season managed just two goals in his opening nine games (a goal every 366 minutes), as the whole team struggled.

But under Stevie G, Watkins now has two goals in three games and has started to rediscover his best form. His goal against Manchester City, a well-worked corner kick, was fantastically taken and shows that Watkins has lost none of his deadly finishing ability.

Another huge positive here is the matchup. Leicester City have conceded in 13 of their 14 matches this year, their last clean sheet coming all the way back on August 14.

The Foxes have conceded more goals than any of the other teams in the top 16, and Watford and Newcastle are the only teams to have fewer clean sheets. This game is set up for Watkins to continue his purple patch.