Premier League Predictions
Premier League Betting Tips
By Matt Pitt
Manchester City: +250 to win the Premier League with Bovada
Manchester City finished in a disappointing fourth place in the Premier League during 2015-16 some 15 points behind champions Leicester City, yet they enter this new season as the +250 favorites to win the title.
Installing Pep Guardiola as manager is a master stroke as he is one of the best managers in world soccer. Another great tactic is to give that great man unlimited spending power to buy every player he wants, and prevent other teams from snapping them up.
Guardiola has already forked out £21 million in Ilkay Gundogan, £13.8 million on Nolito, £37 million on Leroy Sane, and is in talks to bring Everton’s John Stones to the City of Manchester Stadium for a reported £50 million!
Add these stars to the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Yaya Toure, Raheem Sterling, David Silva, and Sergio Aguero, and it is easy to see why the bookmakers make the blue half of Manchester favorites for the league title.
Personally, I think Man City will win the league, and if it stops Manchester United from doing so then I am all for it.
Manchester United: +325 to win the Premier League with Bovada
Manchester United are another team with a new manager at the helm, the legendary Jose Mourinho. In Mourinho they have a proven winner who loves to splash the cash, preferring to buy readymade stars in preference of working with young talent.
Mourinho has spent hundreds of millions of pounds wherever he’s managed, and has done the same at the start of his Manchester United career, bringing in Henrikh Mkhitaryan for around £26 million, Eric Bailly for £30 million, and the ongoing transfer saga involving Paul Pogba which will cost United £100 million when completed.
However, the best signing could be the free transfer of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Swede may be older than most fossils, yet he has legitimate star quality, and is determined to prove himself in English football before he retires.
As a supporter of one of Man United’s rivals, I hope they get relegated, but realistically, if Man City are not crowned champions, it will be Manchester United lifting the trophy aloft.
Chelsea: +500 to win the Premier League with Bovada
Chelsea ensured a turbulent 2015-16 campaign, finished in 10th place, and failed to qualify for European football this season. That last fact could help them as they’ll not have to worry too much about squad rotation, or midweek matches.
Chelsea showed glimpses of what they are capable of a few times last season, and they are still a good side, and with new manager Antonio Conte pulling the strings they will be hard to beat, but I just can’t see them pulling up any trees this season, even with N’Golo Kante and Michy Batshuayi new to the squad.
+500 to win the league seems short in my eyes, although so does the +600 on Arsenal, and +800 on Liverpool. If Liverpool win the Premier League this season, I’ll eat a Liverpool shirt and put the video on these pages, that’s how confident I am that Jurgen Klopp’s men will not be in contention for top honors come May 2017.
With the top four teams gaining entry to the UEFA Champions League, a top four spot is the least any of the big clubs want to reach this season.
Title favorites Manchester City are -750 with Manchester United -250. Chelsea are -200 with Bovada, with Arsenal -175, Tottenham Hotspur evens, and Liverpool +150.
From those six teams, I think it will be both Manchester clubs, Arsenal, and Tottenham finishing in the top four, with both Chelsea and Liverpool finishing in the top six and qualifying for Europe.
Arsenal have finished in the top four every season since 1996-97, and although manager Arsene Wenger refuses to get his chequebook out and buy a proper forward, preferring to add to the 172 midfielders in his squad, Arsenal are still a very good team who should bank a top four finish.
Tottenham finished third in the league last term after falling away in the latter part of the season. They have strengthened key areas of their squad during the break, but challenging for the league title looks a little out of their each.
I’ve already downplayed Chelsea’s chances this season, yet if they are looking competitive after Christmas when the January transfer window opens, expect them to bring in a handful of new players to help push them back towards a Champions League spot.
Category : Soccer Betting Picks
