Premier League best bets: Who will shine while City is away?

Welcome to Matchday 34 of the Premier League season. Just five weekends remain to settle who will win, who will get relegated, who will go to Europe and who will finish adrift from any excitement or danger in 14th. (Just kidding on that last one. It's Crystal Palace and we all know it.)

While the quality of the Premier League is undeniably high, the competitiveness of it has historically been pretty low — the great teams are leagues beyond the rest and it shows. The beauty of this season is how competitive everything has remained right up into the final stretch. While Arsenal and Liverpool stumbled last weekend, allowing Manchester City to place one hand on the Premier League trophy, make no mistake: it's still a three-team race. And those stumbles couldn't have come at a better time: this weekend offers the perfect opportunity for redemption.

Manchester City, high on its unexpected Premier League boon last weekend, is absent from this weekend's fixtures. It's facing Chelsea on Saturday in an FA Cup semifinal, and its absence means that Arsenal and Liverpool can pick up three unanswered points and make up the difference they lost last Sunday. City still has the advantage — it will replay this game it's missing — but it will do so in the midst of an insane run of end-of-season fixtures that could lead to the team being tired, disinterested or worse.

Revenge is on the menu, then, for two of the top three. Can they make it happen? Or will this weekend just go to show how uncompetitive the Premier League remains? Either way, here are the bets we're eyeing as the title race gets serious.

Luton vs. Brentford. Luton remains in the 18th-place "hot seat," but neutrals all around the world are rooting for it to escape — it's a storied, lovable club with a great stadium and some surprisingly sophisticated style. Under coach Rob Edwards the team has aggressively challenged everyone in the league, and while it hasn't been able to pull off many wins, it never fails to be a thorn in its opponent's side.

Brentford — classy, suburban, Danish-influenced Brentford — represents an interesting challenge for Luton. Brentford won the return fixture 3-1 in December with goals from Neal Maupay, Ben Mee and Shandon Baptiste. But Brentford tends to struggle away from home, and that struggle will only be amplified by the rocking atmosphere at Kenilworth Road. We're backing Luton to win or draw at -150.

Wolves vs. Arsenal. Poor Arsenal. After getting absolutely hammered by Aston Villa last weekend (shoutout to all of you who took us up on that "Villa win or draw" bet, well done) it has to take on Wolves, the most unpredictable team in the Premier League. This is a team that lost to last-place Sheffield United and beat first-place Man City. This is a team that you simply cannot plan for.

Arsenal enters this match on the back of a depressing and unexpected Champions League quarterfinal exit at the hands of Bayern Munich. It's hard to say if the team will be motivated by its elimination or browbeaten by it. One man, though, will undoubtedly be fired up no matter what his teammates are doing: Leandro Trossard. The tricky Belgian was one of Arsenal's few bright spots in the Champions League and looks ready to take out his elimination frustration on the back of Wolves' net. We're backing Trossard as an anytime goalscorer at +200.

Aston Villa vs. Bournemouth. Unai Emery's Aston Villa pulled off one of the greatest team performances of the season against Arsenal last weekend. Not one for relaxing, Emery will no doubt be encouraging his men to do even more against Bournemouth. While the Cherries are a lovable and talented side, they're visiting Villa Park at the worst possible moment and may be in for a hiding. Villa's Ollie Watkins, one of the league's Golden Boot contenders, is available as an anytime goalscorer at +105, but we've got our eyes on Jamaican striker Leon Bailey for a bigger payout at +210.