After what seems like 24 hours since the last Premier League season finished another one gets underway on Friday evening and the 2022-23 campaign will be like no other with an enormous break in the middle of it for the FIFA World Cup.
Manchester City won the title on the final day of last season and they will be out to defend their title this term. Liverpool look to be the only challengers but it remains to be seen if anyone else can bust the big two.
Recent Winners
2021-22 – Manchester City
2020-21 – Manchester City
2019-20 – Liverpool
2018-19 – Manchester City
2017-18 – Manchester City
2016-17 – Chelsea
2015-16 – Leicester City
2014-15 – Chelsea
2013-14 – Manchester City
2012-13 – Manchester United
The Favourites
Manchester City are odds on favourites to win the title for a third straight season. That is one thing they haven’t done under Pep Guardiola and if he needs another incentive to motivate his squad then that might certainly be it. Despite winning the title for a second year in succession last term the Citizens haven’t stood still, bringing Erling Haaland to the club, although how much stronger they will be with the departures of Oleksandr Zinchenko, Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus remains to be seen. Nevertheless, the KDB/Haaland pairing could win the title on their own. They’re worthy favourites.
Liverpool are the only other team to win the Premier League apart from Manchester City in the last five years and they are 2/1 to regain that crown. You could argue they landed the first blow in the title race when they won the Community Shield a week before the campaign got underway but it is easy to read too much into that result. Liverpool have allowed one superstar to leave in Sadio Mane and could have recruited a new one in Darwin Nunez but as always with the Reds, squad depth could be something of an issue.
Tottenham Hotspur have moved into a clear third favourite to win the league. They have made good acquisitions under Antonio Conte who is no stranger to winning big titles. The likes of Yves Bissouma, Djed Spence, Richarlison and Ivan Perisic give Spurs much more depth to their squad and more options for Conte to utilise around a Champions League campaign. If they can keep goals out of their net well enough they look a clear third best in the league to me.
The Contenders
Chelsea were third last season but stalled after the Roman Abramovich departure and although they have a new owner in place ahead of the campaign they haven’t really done amazing business in the transfer window although bringing Raheem Sterling in was a marquee piece of work. They do get the likes of Conor Gallagher back from his loan spell but look light defensively so you would imagine a busy August is in store in the transfer market. It might need to be.
One team who don’t need to do a whole lot more in the market because they have already done some good work is Arsenal and they are pushing for the fifth favourite tag in the league. Oleksandr Zinchenko, Matt Turner and Gabriel Jesus look good additions to a squad which was very young last year but who will be a year further developed. That will bring more pressure but there looks to be an exciting mix in the squad and if they do bring one or two more in they should progress once again.
Manchester United could be anything this season. They are under new management for the second time in the space of 10 months with Erik Ten Haag the latest man charged with bringing the good times back to Old Trafford. Their pre-season has been clouded by the Cristiano Ronaldo saga and at the time of writing that looks set to continue a little. Incomings haven’t been as regular as you would imagine they needed to be so this looks a season too soon for huge improvement from United.
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Best of the Rest
Newcastle United are the favourites to be the team closest to the top six this season. That is no real surprise given the money they have to use should they wish to but they haven’t really splashed the cash as they would have been expected to do when the Saudis took over the club. They should improve because they can go big in January if they need to but I wonder if the purse strings have been tight because Eddie Howe isn’t their man. I sense he’s under pressure to deliver and that isn’t guaranteed to end well.
Leicester City and West Ham United complete the top nine in the betting at 250/1 and while neither of those are going to win the title, there is no reason why they can’t push for a top six finish which would be very acceptable. Leicester haven’t done any transfer business yet but you wouldn’t be surprised if some happens in August. They have everyone who was out injured last term back though so they might feel they have some new signings. West Ham were good enough for seventh last season and additions such as Gianluca Scamacca and Flynn Downes with Maxwel Cornet on the horizon give them much stronger depth in the areas they were light in last season. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are around the top six come the end of the campaign.
Betting
I’m expecting another close title race this season but in a campaign where players are going to be in the red zone a lot more than usual with the cramped schedule I don’t see beyond Manchester City winning the title. I think the options Pep Guardiola has at his disposal will allow him to change it up more often than Jurgen Klopp will enjoy. I still think Liverpool will be a clear second in the league though because the top two look a cut above the rest.
Unfortunately that isn’t exactly a big secret so if we are going to get any value we are going to need to think outside the box a little. You can get 7/1 if you add Tottenham Hotspur to the front two to form a tricast. Spurs look a fair bit clear of the rest to me and there might even be more to come with Antonio Conte searching for another defender. The Italian knows exactly how to get the best out of his players and I think the Spurs squad man for man is the third best in the league so it stands to reason that they should come third. 7/1 on the City-Liverpool-Spurs tricast will do for me.
Tips
Back Man City-Liverpool-Tottenham Tricast for a 1/10 stake at 8.00 with Bet365
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