League Winners
After narrowly missing out last season, I am going to have a little punt on the league winners again. My choices last year were Manchester City, Queens Park Rangers, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chesterfield. The slump in form for Harry Redknapp’s men cost me dear.
This season I have picked
Manchester City (12/5)
Fulham (9/1)
Sheffield United (5/1)
Luton Town (9 /1)
All Prices are best with Coral or Paddy Power and the accumulative odds are a whopping 2039/1.
Premier League
Manchester City (again). I am finding it hard to look past Manchester City as they seem very strong in every position. Despite their financial constraints I still think they have enough to win the league again.
Arsenal finally won a trophy last season and I think their big spending (currently most in Premier League) will serve them well. Alexis Sanchez is a good acquisition and they cannot be overlooked. They score goals from all over the park and they never went more than one game without scoring, they have goals in them. I give them a decent outside chance and they would be my second pick for the title (13/2 at most bookies).
Liverpool have lost their main player and, despite spending in excess of £70 million, I feel they have not done enough exceptional business in the transfer market to convince me they can be serious title contenders. Victor offers the best value at 12/1 but I am still not tempted.
Manchester United are having a good pre season and LVG seems to have a good aura about him. I still think they have a long way to go before they can be considered serious title contenders. 5/1 at most bookies seems far too skinny for me.
Chelsea’s chances have been given a boost by the signing of Fabregas but I am still yet to be convinced by Costa. His performance in the World Cup should be a concern for Chelsea fans and the team will have to fit round him if he is to succeed. If Mourinho wasn’t the manager of Chelsea I don’t think they would be favourites for the league. He is the “Special One” but I don’t think he has enough to lead them to the title this season. 19/10 favourite’s best price with Bwin offers no value for me whatsoever.
I can’t see any of the other Premier League teams having a chance of clinching the title or even achieving a top four finish. The bookies fancy Tottenham to have the best chance of a top 4 finish, but at 7/2 (Bet 365) I will most certainly be keeping my money in my pocket on this one.
First Manager to Leave Post
After receiving the backing from the board I am surprised to see Big Sam as the comfortable favourite to be the first manager to leave post. I will be laying him on Betfair. As I write he is 2.6 to back. The end of season form was not great for West Ham but astute signings should see him avoid the chop first.
If you would rather back than lay then a few picks are the three behind Big Sam. Alan Pardew, Alan Irvine (12/ 1 with Victor) and Paul Lambert (10/1).
Premier League Top Scorer
This is always a nice market to keep your interest. However, my interest slightly waned last season after backing the injury prone Robin Van Persie. RVP is favourite to be top scorer this season under the new leadership of LVG (the Dutch love a three letter acronym). At 9/2 with most bookies I think it is far too skinny. There is plenty of talent around and if you are looking for some value then Lukaku (20/1) or Bony (28/1 365) might be worth a punt. For the serious money it would be hard to look past Sturridge (6/1) with Victor. I think he will step up to the plate now serial biter Suarez has moved on.
Paddy Power offer an incentive on this market by offering a £2 free bet every time your player scores a goal. It is worth noting that the prices they are offering are sometimes not as good as competitors because of this.
top goal scorer odds 2014/15 season as of 1st August
Terms and Conditions – for top scorer bet.
Championship
Whilst Fulham aren’t the bookies first choice I make them mine (9/1). Big spending on Ross McCormack will certainly help them spring back into the Premier League. Cardiff (8/1 Paddy) and Derby (8/1) are the bookies choices to triumph. If it was a choice of these two then I would go for Derby, their form at the end of last season was amazing and if it continues they will be a sure fire promotion side.
If you are looking for value then Blackburn (20/ 1 365) and Brighton (22/1 Coral) were two of the other two form teams at the end of last season and they offer some good value. Blackburn are 13/2 (Victor) to get promoted and Brighton are 7/1 (Victor) to get promoted. I certainly think that these prices are good enough to have a flutter.
League One
It is difficult for me to judge this league as I am a Sheffield United fan and I have a season ticket. If we had kept Brayford and Coady (on loan) then I would be saying lump on us to win the league. A great cup run and excellent form since Clough took over fills me with confidence. A great win against Fenerbache and the team look ready. I am not sure the odds (5/1) are good given the fact we lost two of our most influential players. We have made a token bid for them so watch this space. If we get them and the odds stay the same, LUMP ON. If we don’t get them, the price isn’t good enough.
Peterborough to win the league offers better value (12/1 Ladbrokes).
Chesterfield to get promoted (9/1 365) might be a good outside chance and the price looks fairly reasonable. They had a strong finish last season and teams that come up usually fair quite well.
League Two
This is probably the hardest of the leagues to pick. Last season I was confident about Chesterfield. This season I am not so sure. Luton dominated the Conference last season and the bookies fancy them to have a chance this season to go straight up again (9/1 Ladbrokes). I have opted for Luton too but Portsmouth were a close second (8/1 Betway). I don’t fancy the chance of relegated side Shrewsbury (11/1 Betway) and am surprised by Bury (17/2 888).
For an outside punt I would be tempted with Northampton. They finished the season very strongly and at 20/1 (Skybet), they should not be overlooked. Northampton are 5/1 (Skybet) for promotion.
Hi Ryan
Nice piece mate. Thought you we’re all Maths, but your English is pretty good as well. My picks for league winners are:
Chelsea – Mourinho always does better in his second season. Great buys and more importantly, they’ve got rid of Luiz (liability). I think they’ll win without blowing anyone away with their style.
Cardiff – I think Solskjaer is better suited to the championship. I fancy Cardiff City Stadium to be a bit of a fortress this year.
Sheffield United – can’t believe I’ve got more faith in the Blades than you have! Poor start today but again, if they can sort their home form out, they should be good enough to win league 1.
Luton – loads of money compared to the other teams in their league. Momentum from last year.
Odds = 1360 to 1. Come on!