The Premier League is back this weekend and if you believe all the spin and hype it is set to be one of the best season’s ever. One thing is for certain it promises to be one of the most interesting with no fewer than six clubs genuinely fancying their chances of a title tilt and that is without including the defending champions Leicester.
Last season’s fairy tale success for Leicester is sure to have given belief to everyone who is in the league this season which should make for another highly competitive campaign and in turn should present plenty of betting opportunities and exciting action.
The Favourites
Man City are under new management this season. Pep Guardiola has taken over from Manuel Pellegrini and will be looking for success both domestically and in Europe. He has been quick to spend the cash with John Stones, Nolito, Leroy Sane and Gabriel Jesus all big money signings. With players already in situ such as David Silva, Sergio Aguero and Kevin de Bruyne, City have the offense to go close. All eyes will be on their defence to see if that has improved. If it has City are worthy favourites.
Man Utd have also spent big in the summer and they are another side heading into the campaign under new leadership. Jose Mourinho has become manager and he has made Paul Pogba the most expensive player in the world. Zlatan Inbrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan have also joined so United aren’t short of big names now. Whether the van Gaal approach of bringing the youngsters through can be continued by Mourinho remains to be seen. The Special One might be made to look ordinary this season.
Chelsea are the third side to begin the season with a different manager to the one they finished the last one with. Antontio Conte is the new man in charge but interestingly his additions have been low in number but potentially big in impact. N’Golo Kante signed from champions Leicester while Michy Batshuayi has joined from Marseille.
Arsenal were runners up to Leicester in the end last season and they go into this campaign joint third favourites with Chelsea. Arsene Wenger has added Granit Xhaka and Rob Holding to his squad but the striker he craves has proven elusive thus far. As ever there are question marks about Arsenal defensively especially with news that Per Mertesacker is expected to miss the start of the campaign.
Liverpool have almost gone under the radar in pre-season but the bookmakers have them as fifth favourites to be champions this season. Jurgen Klopp has certainly improved them but I don’t see them as title challengers even allowing for the signings of Joel Matip, Loris Karius, Sadio Mane, Ragnar Klavan and Georginio Wijnaldum. I think they had more improvement to make than anyone and I’m not sure they’ve done enough.
Tottenham were title challengers for so long last season but just ran out of gas in the last few matches. They haven’t done huge business in the summer but the business they have done could be significant as they have added extra steel in the midfield in Victor Wanyama and Harry Kane has a partner in Vincent Janssen. I would expect Tottenham to be stronger than Liverpool and maybe a couple of others.
The Champions
So what of the champions Leicester? Well they were given no hope last year and they seemingly have just as little hope this year if you listen to all the predictions but really they have only lost N’Golo Kante who played a significant part last season and in Ahmed Musa they have given Jamie Vardy a real class act to play alongside. Nampalys Mendy has been signed as Kante’s replacement. If the Foxes can keep Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy into September there is no reason why they can’t have a big season.
Other Contenders
All eyes will be on West Ham this season to see how they fare in the Olympic Stadium but in Dimitri Payet they have arguably the best player in the league and Slaven Bilic has strengthened a strong squad nicely with the additions of Sofiane Feghouli, Toni Martinez and Andre Ayew. The title is beyond them but if they show improvement they can push for the top four.
Everton were pap last season but a change of manager and a fresh approach could make a big difference. The talent at their disposal was never in any doubt but their soft centre was worrying so the addition of Ronald Koeman as manager could be key as could the signing of Ashley Williams from Swansea. Idrissa Gueye was one of few Aston Villa players who had a good season last year and he could be a key signing.
Another 5000/1 winner?
They say lightning doesn’t strike twice and it certainly won’t as far as the Premier League is concerned this season before the highest price on any of the 20 sides this season is 1500/1. And no none of Middlesbrough, Watford, Sunderland, West Brom, Hull, Burnley or Bournemouth will be the Premier League champions.
Betting
If you take notice of the odds this season then you could be forgiven for thinking this is a Manchester battle for the title but I don’t necessarily go along with that. I’m not convinced Mourinho and United are the right fit and it could be that Guardiola needs longer than a season to implement his style on City.
I accept City are the favourites but I’m going to play the odds here and with that in mind Chelsea have to be a huge price for this season. By and large this is still the Chelsea squad which won the league two years ago but if anything they could be even stronger because Kante will slip in alongside Matic allowing Fabregas to go further forward and have a bigger impact on the play.
Michy Batshuayi is an exciting prospect and if Antonio Conte can get the best out of Eden Hazard and Oscar then Chelsea are going to have a lot of goals in them. We know he will tighten them up defensively so with the talent to win the title and a style which should make them hard to beat they could be the forgotten side almost who comes through and lands the title.
I also think the demise of Leicester has been premature in being predicted. There is a case to be made that they will be even more dangerous this season with the addition of Ahmed Musa and while they have lost Kante they have brought in a replacement.
The addition of Champions League football to their season could mean they aren’t title challengers but I’m not convinced they’ll be way down the field. I think they can use the 20pt start that Paddy Power give them in the right way and bring home the handicap market.
Last year 81pts was enough to win the title. I would imagine you will need a few more this season but if Leicester get 66pts which is a full 15 less than they managed last season then there won’t be too many higher than them when the handicap is applied.
Tips
WON – Back Chelsea to win Premier League (e/w) for a 2/10 stake at 7.50 with Paddy Power (1/3 1-2)
Back Leicester (+20) to win Premier League (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 21.00 with Paddy Power (1/4 1-4)
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