Christmas is a’ coming and with it the usual run of festive fixtures. In the build up to this Christmas we’ve put together a few tips and free bets for you to build up that bank balance before you hit the end of year sales.

After comfortable wins against West Ham and Basel we’re up against Stoke next and there’s always a bit of niggle with the boys from the Potteries for obvious reasons. This is the first of two very winnable matches before we face Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in the last game before Christmas.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though. Stoke won’t be easy opposition as they’ll bring their usual rugged approach to the game. We’re better at standing up to that kind of thing now though and our overall quality should see us come through this one with a win, even if they take it down to the mud and get a bit dirty.

Stoke may have held us at their place in January but we hold our own at home and picked up 2 and 3 goal wins at the Emirates in 2015. We’ve got better since then as well and Stoke are going to produce something special if they want to get even a point on Saturday.

At odds of 2/5 or so for a home win then there isn’t big money to be won here. Your best way to profit from this game is to do some trading, get in while the odds are high and get out when they drop down a bit. You should be able to lock yourself in a profit and enough money for another free bet if you’re careful and don’t go all in too early.

After that comes a trip to Everton just 3 days later. Our squad will help us out here and Everton’s poor run doesn’t hurt either. The Toffees haven’t been in great form recently and that could be extended with their away trip to Watford this weekend. It’s a good time to catch them as they have some injuries and a weaker squad than us. It helps that we’ve got a good record against Everton, they’ve not beaten us in the last 5 matches. Welbeck and Iwobi got us the goals in a 2-0 win there last season and although we will have different goal scorers, who would bet against a similar score line?

After that we’re on to the Manchester City game. Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho will both be suspended for that one and we’ll have an excellent chance to pick up another win. City have already lost against two of the teams towards the top end of the table and this should be a good game with both sides looking to play a possession based game.

If we can get the 3 wins (or even 2 out of 3) then there’s a good chance that we could be top of the tree by Christmas Day. Chelsea have been on a great run recently but they’re very reliant on Diego Costa and he’s been walking a suspension tightrope for several games now, one more yellow card and he’ll have to sit out a match.

Paddy Power are running a “Top on Christmas Day” market and offering odds of 6/1 on the Gunners being that team.

Do some trading in the build up to those games and earn yourself enough to cover a free bet or two, if the games go the way we expect then the “Top on Christmas Day” bet stands a very good chance of coming in as well.