Feels a little like Christmas Eve here in JOE as we await the kick-off of the brand sparkling new Premier League season. We have a look to see what value is out there in the betting market ahead of the new season.
No surprises really to see reigning champions Manchester City installed as favourites to retain their crown, given that they’ve pretty much maintained last season’s squad and bolstered it somewhat with the likes of Eliaquim Mangala from Porto. They head the betting at 15/8.
Chelsea are many people’s tip to win the league and Jose Mourinho has been very shrewd in the transfer market snapping up real quality in the shape of Diego Costa, Cesc Fabregas and Filipe Luis. They have been priced at a fairly enticing looking 19/10.
Bizarrely enough, Manchester United are next priced at 5/1 and we can only surmise that the bookies feel Louis van Gaal is a really, really good manager as they’ve only added Ander Herrera and Luke Shaw to their ranks.
Arsenal fans will be disgruntled to see their team installed as fourth favourites at 13/2 despite the signing of the brilliant Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona. The Gunners look like a much better bet than United right now, but Arsene Wenger won’t mind people writing his team off.
Last season’s nearly men Liverpool come next in the betting at 11/1 and clearly the bookmaker feels that the loss of Luis Suarez is too much of a cross to bear for the men from Anfield.
Brendan Rodgers has gone on a buying blitz buying half of Southampton and bringing in players such as Markovic and Can. With Steve Gerrard seemingly on the decline, it looks as if Liverpool’s best chance of ending their title drought came last season.
The race for the top four has always featured the clubs mentioned above, but Everton look really strong under Roberto Martinez and are attractively priced at 7/1. Spurs with new manager Mauricio Pochettino are available at 7/2.
At the other end of the table, the overwhelming favourites to be relegated are Premier League new boys Burnley who are priced at unbackable 8/13. Fellow new boys, QPR and Leicester are priced at 7/4 and 21/10 respectively. Crystal Palace are at 2/1 and with the exit of Tony Pulis, we think those odds could plummet further in the coming weeks.
The top scorer market is headed by Robin van Persie. He clearly has a good working relationship with his new boss Van Gaal and if he avoids injury could easily justify the odds of 5/1.
New Chelsea striker Diego Costa is priced at 6/1 along with Liverpool’s Daniel Sturridge, but the man who looks the best value of all to us is City’s Sergio Aguero who is there at 13/2 making him our best value pick in this market. New Arsenal signing, Alexis Sanchez is priced at 16/1 while Romelu Lukaku from Everton is there at 20/1.
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