One of the all-time great rivalries in sports will be renewed in the coming weeks as Arsenal hosts Chelsea in a highly anticipated re-match of the 2016 UEFA Champions League Final. In the United Kingdom, soccer is the second-most popular sport (behind only cricket), and even casual fans know that this is quite a classic rivalry. Let’s take a look at who will come out on top this year in terms of odds, starting with a guide to odds-guru William Hill.com on the Premier League 2017 season!
The Overall Favorites
This year’s UEFA Champions League Final will pit Arsenal against Chelsea, who both missed out on a chance at a quadruple last year when Liverpool won the title for a record fifth time. With only four teams capable of winning the Premier League, it’s guaranteed to be a competitive season, and the early favorite is…
- Manchester United
- Tottenham Hotspur
- Liverpool
- Arsenal
All of those teams are great contenders despite a less than ideal start to the season, which is exactly what you would expect from a competitive slate. The top four teams are clearly the favorites, with the fifth-sixth spots being up for grabs. Interestingly, seven of the past eight UEFA Champions League winners have been English teams. With the exception of Real Madrid in 2016, every other champion has come from either Chelsea or Liverpool.
The overall favorite to win the Premier League title in 2017 is Manchester United. The Red Devils had the best of both worlds last year, taking down Liverpool in the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League. They also boasted the best attack in the Premier League last season, with a blistering pace that helped them rack up 72 goals, the most in the division. United will be looking to build on that success, and the early odds give them the advantage.
The Underdogs
As mentioned above, there are four teams that can realistically win the Premier League this year, with Leicester City, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, and Liverpool all having a chance. All of those teams are quite capable of competing evenly with the Manchester clubs for the title, so it’s quite a close fight to call. The early favorite to win the 2017/18 Premier League title is Liverpool. The Reds have been extremely active in the transfer market, securing the services of legends such as Alex Hunter, Jamie Carragher and Daniel Sturridge. In addition, Jürgen Klopp’s side has a knack for earning points in the latter stages of the season, so they may just pull it off. However, a close second spot belongs to Leicester City, who despite having the weakest attack in the Premier League last year (27 goals in 41 games), managed to keep pace with Manchester United and Arsenal in terms of results.
What makes Leicester a popular underdog option is their manager, who has turned around Premier League careers including that of Leicester’s American owner, Vichy. Indeed, the bookmakers may label Leicester as the “unlikely champions,” as underdogs often do win league titles, albeit it is rather uncommon. Leicester City will be looking to make history and bring a league title home to the King Power Stadium for the first time in their history.
The Favorites In Each City
It’s also important to note that, in some cases, the teams in the same city are not necessarily the favorite in that city. For example, Chelsea are very likely to be favored in London due to their great results in the past against the West London rivals. Manchester United are the obvious choice in Manchester, but you would put money on Everton to beat the Red Devils in the second city. Tottenham are the pick in North London while Liverpool are a slight favorite in Liverpool due to the dominance of the city’s soccer teams over the years. Some of the most interesting competitions could be within the four city centers of London, Liverpool, Manchester and Tottenham as there is a heated rivalry between all of these teams!
Other Chances
There are also some outsiders that managed to grab some headlines by making it to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League. One of the most surprising stories last year was Napoli, who qualified for the knockout stage by topping their group. However, they suffered a disappointing loss to Ajax in the semi-finals. In the case of Ajax, it was expected that they would go on and win the tournament. The early money is currently on Ajax to retain the title as they are even money to win at the moment. In the other groups, all the English teams are in the mix, so if you’re looking for a free bet, you could play them all!
Another surprising name is Fiorentina, who eliminated Barcelona in the quarterfinals before bowing out to eventual winners, Liverpool. Roma had the best semi-final performance of the tournament, knocking out English side Arsenal with a 3-2 win. It appears that this year’s UEFA Champions League could see some upsets.
On the other hand, some teams are completely out of the picture. Barcelona and Real Madrid failed to get out of their groups, Monaco were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Ajax, and Borussia Dortmund were sent packing in the first round by Fenerbahce. It is a long time since these teams won the title, and it is highly unlikely that they will ever be able to wrestle the trophy away from the five big clubs of Manchester, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham.
The English teams have won the last five UEFA Champions League titles, but it hasn’t been a great run for the “Other Teams”. It would be great to see some youth teams step up and give the Premier League some real competition, which isn’t impossible considering the rising tide of youth academies across the country. More kids playing football means more talent getting discovered and more rivals getting generated, leading to more exciting football!
Overall View
Taking it all into consideration, it’s clear that the top four teams are the clear-cut favorites to win the Premier League title. The next four are very competitive and, considering the small sample size of games so far, we could see some upsets. In addition, it would be great to see some youth teams step up and give the Premier League some real competition, which isn’t impossible considering the rising tide of youth academies across the country. More kids playing football means more talent getting discovered and more rivals getting generated, leading to more exciting football!