Premier League Gameweek 22: The best player prop bets for Kane, De Bruyne, and Coutinho

After a brief FA Cup break, the Premier League returns with a fascinating slate of action. We have a North London Derby between Tottenham and Arsenal that has huge ramifications on the race for the top four, while Manchester City can extend their lead at the top and essentially put Chelsea out of the title picture if they beat Thomas Tuchel’s side at the Etihad Stadium.

Here are the best player props for a huge weekend in the Premier League.

Tottenham vs. Arsenal: Harry Kane to score a goal (+128)

There aren’t many players that love a North London Derby as much as Tottenham’s Harry Kane. He’s played Arsenal 14 times in the Premier League and scored an impressive 11 goals – averaging a goal every 112 minutes against the Gunners.

Spurs come into this game on a roll in the league under Antonio Conte. The manager took over at the start of November and has guided Tottenham to an eight-game unbeaten streak. Kane himself has started firing again after a slow start to the season and has three goals in his last four league games.

Both teams were in action in midweek, and while Tottenham were knocked out of the League Cup by Chelsea on Wednesday, Arsenal battled to a 0-0 draw with Liverpool on Thursday. That plays into Kane’s favor as well as Spurs had an extra day’s rest and Arsenal had to play 65 minutes on Thursday with 10 men after Granit Xhaka was sent off.

Kane has averaged 4.6 shots per game in the last five games so he hasn’t lost his appetite for goals, and another North London Derby winner to add to the collection would further cement his legacy as a Tottenham hero.

Manchester City vs. Chelsea: Kevin De Bruyne to score a goal (+260)

There’s a huge 10 points separating first and second in the Premier League, and Manchester City’s advantage could grow again if they see off Chelsea on Saturday. In contrasting form, City have won 11 Premier League games in a row while Chelsea have won just one of the last five and completely dropped off the boil.

I’m a huge fan of the revenge narrative in these big games, giving players an extra incentive to perform, and that’s why I like Kevin De Bruyne to haunt his former club again. Chelsea let De Bruyne leave after two years with the club with reports of a rift with manager Jose Mourinho, but since returning to the Premier League with Manchester City, De Bruyne has 47 goals and 78 assists in 162 games.

He’s scored four goals in 10 games against Chelsea in the Premier League for City, and has only got more goals against one other team (Arsenal). He has three goals in his last five games against Chelsea, and comes into the match with three goals in his last five league games.

Pep Guardiola has managed his squad well and De Bruyne has only played 66 minutes of football since Jan. 1^, so he’s well rested and ready to go against a Chelsea side that has played four times in the last 16 days.

Aston Villa vs. Manchester United: Philippe Coutinho to score a goal (+360)

Talking of a revenge narrative, it doesn’t get much bigger than Villa’s game against visitors Manchester United. Earlier this week the Red Devils dumped Villa out of the FA Cup, so they will be desperate to avenge that defeat, particularly given manager Steven Gerrard and new loan signing Philippe Coutinho were once together at United’s arch-rivals Liverpool.

Coutinho has had plenty of joy against Manchester United before, scoring goals against them for Liverpool in the Europa League and for Barcelona to knock them out of the Champions League, and he’s spoken before about how much pride he takes in beating the Red Devils.

Coutinho’s form has dipped slightly, but hopefully a return to the Premier League and being with Stevie G again will spark a return to the Coutinho we all remember. He scored 20 goals from 160 shots in his last two seasons in the Premier League (12.5% conversion rate), and kept that going in his first two La Liga seasons with Barcelona, where he scored 13 goals from 105 shots (12.4% conversion rate).

His conversion rate improved to 13.8% (eight goals from 58 shots) in the one season he was with Bayern Munich, but in the two seasons since when he’s been back in La Liga it’s dropped to 7.7% (four goals from 52 shots).

This has all the ingredients to be a perfect start to Coutinho’s Villa career if he rediscovers his shooting boots.