In The Mixer: Experts pick their best football bets for 2026
Sports Journalist at FST, Gareth qualified as a journalist after graduating from university and spent over a decade as a freelance broadcast journalist, commentator and tipster before joining FST. Now living in Manchester, he is a long suffering Bolton Wanderers fan who also enjoys boxing, the NBA, tennis and rugby league.
In The Mixer is FST’s weekly column where we catch up with our team of football betting experts and get their opinion on the hot topic of the week.
With the year coming to a conclusion and a World Cup to look forward to next summer, we asked our team of experts for their best football bets in 2026.
Our team of seven looked across Europe and towards next summer’s international showpiece for their selections. I’ve added bet365’s prices to each tip and new customers can take advantage of their sign-up offer using the button below.
Experts’ Best Football Bets For 2026
Gareth Freeman
Aston Villa to win the FA Cup @ 18/1 with bet365
I’m a little tempted by the 18-1 on Aston Villa pulling off the ultimate shock and winning the league but a similar price on them to win the FA Cup is probably the better option.
Villa have been incredible over the last few months and a piece of silverware looks a very real possibility.
Their price to win the world’s oldest cup competition is inflated due to the fact they’ve been drawn at Spurs in the third round, but if Unai Emery puts his best XI out in that game then it looks a very winnable assignment for the Villans.
Right now Villa are the third best team in the country and on form alone they’re the best, but they’re down in eighth place in the FA Cup betting market so there is plenty of value in backing them to lift the trophy in May’s showpiece at Wembley.
Henry Hardwicke
Barnet to win League Two each-way @ 20/1 with bet365
League Two is a wide-open division and it could pay to take a chance on a big-priced punt. Barnet are 20-1 to win the title, with firms laying three places each-way on the outright market, and that looks worth a go.
The Bees have ground to make on Walsall and Bromley at the top of the division and 13th place doesn’t look overly promising.
However, Dean Brennan’s men have been incredibly unfortunate this season and the underlying numbers suggest that Barnet have achieved 22 points fewer than the 29 they should have collected.
The Bees will need to come home strong in the second-half of the campaign, but there is enough in the price to chance Barnet in an erratic division.
James Mason
Nice to be relegated @ 14/1 with bet365
It has been a calamitous season for Nice, who have lost six Ligue 1 matches in a row and find themselves just six points above the bottom two in the division after 16 matches.
Such has been the outrage at the club’s poor form, a number of supporters descended upon the club’s training center to protest at the disappointing results before hundreds of fans then hit and spit on players after a ninth straight loss in all competitions to Lens in mid-December.
There doesn’t appear to be any togetherness in the squad and head coach Franck Haise faces a tough challenge to stop the team from being relegated to Ligue 2.
Tom McGarry
Peterborough top-six finish in League One @ 12/1 with bet365
Peterborough spent much of the autumn languishing in the League One relegation zone, but their form has improved dramatically since the arrival of Luke Williams as head coach at the end of October.
Williams has won six of his eight league matches in charge, including each of the last four, a run that has propelled the Posh into midtable and only six points adrift of the top six.
With League One appearing wide open this season, Peterborough are capable of surging into promotion contention and they provide great value to finish in the top six, something they have achieved in three of their last four seasons at this level.
James Milton
Lille to win the Europa League each-way @ 25/1 with bet365
Lille are worth an each-way bet at a best price of 28-1 to win the Europa League, having caught the eye in Ligue 1 over the past couple of months.
The Europa League table is bookended by French clubs as Lyon have won five of their first six games and Nice have lost six out of six.
Their compatriots Lille have nine points from six matches, so still have work to do in order to make the knockout stages.
However, one of their three wins came at a rock-solid Roma side and their last ten Ligue 1 fixtures produced seven wins, two defeats and a draw with European champions Paris Saint-Germain.
Jack Ogalbe
Crystal Palace to win the Conference League @ 11/4 with bet365
Recent results suggest Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner will soon have to decide on his team’s priorities. The Austrian guided the Eagles to their first-ever domestic trophy by winning last season’s FA Cup and continental glory could follow.
Palace underperformed in in the Conference League before Christmas, finishing only tenth in the league phase, and their results included a 2-1 defeat to second favourites Strasbourg. However, like two-time beaten finalists Fiorentina, Strasbourg may have more pressing concerns in their domestic league.
Palace are Conference League favourites and Glasner’s presence gives them a real advantage. He won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022 and I expect him to repeat that magic in this competition.
Alex Wrigley
Spain to win the World Cup @ 9/2 with bet365
Spain went on an all-conquering run 15 years ago, landing a maiden World Cup title sandwiched between two European Championship successes, and their current squad has the potential to enter a similar period of dominance now.
Luis de la Fuente has some of the world’s best youngsters at his disposal in the likes of Lamine Yamal, Pedri and Gavi, and that raw talent is joined by plenty of top-level experience across the rest of the squad. La Roja followed their Euro 2024 triumph with 11 wins and five draws, and their last defeat inside 90 minutes came almost two years ago. They look justified favourites for their trip to the United States this summer.
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