It’s only been a week since Manchester City repeated as English Premier League champions, but that hasn’t stopped Las Vegas and the EPL betting sites from already trying to make a profit off of next season. And they see a three-peat in their future: They currently have the Citizens as the favorite at -140.
The runner-up of the 2018-19 campaign, Liverpool, comes in the second position at +260 odds, and if it was up to me, I’d have the Reds much closer. Liverpool would provide us so much entertainment forcing Manchester City to hold their celebration off until the last day of the season. City would end up with a 4-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion, while the Reds would take care of business against Wolverhampton, 2-0. As a result, the Citizens would get the title over the Reds by one point. Just an absolute drama-filled season and last day.
Coming third in the odds is Tottenham Hotspur, a club who had a brilliant season and pulled upsets over numerous power brands. They would finish fourth in the EPL and collect 71 points total — just imagine how they would have been if they didn’t struggle massively in their last collection of matches. They would tally 11 points in their final 12 games. With the 2019-20 odds, the Spurs come in with +1400 odds.
Up next is Manchester United with a figure of +1800, and in my opinion, they should be placed over Tottenham Hotspur with the way they closed out the season with Ole Gunnar Solkskjaer at the helm. Last season, the Red Devils would finish sixth in the league, but probably would have had a higher performance if it weren’t for the struggles that came under then-manager Jose Mourinho.
Fifth in the odds is Chelsea at +2000, and the reason why they sit in this position with those numbers is because of their transfer ban that they will suffer over the next two windows, which will obviously impact next season heavily. If you’re not sure what that means, the Blues can’t pull in any players both in the summer and winter, but they can still lose players to transfer. Scary times for Chelsea fans, especially considering that it’s looking like their superstar Eden Hazard is headed to Real Madrid, and the deal is expected to be finalized after the Europa League final that features Arsenal as an opponent.
The clubs featured in the odds that come from The Championship are not official yet, but we do know that Sheffield United and Norwich will be in the English Premier League after finishing first and second. All four of Leeds, Aston Villa, West Brom, and Derby are in the playoff for the final two spots to be in next season’s EPL.
With that being said, can we just get to next season already?
Manchester City had a remarkable season on their quest to win a repeat championship in the English Premier League. It included a total of 32 wins, just four losses and just two points away from 100 at 98. The Citizens would also close out the season on a blazing note as well, ending things on a seven-game winning streak to hold off Liverpool for a repeat title. Now heading into the EPL offseason, Manchester City are now faced with the dilemma of whether or not to keep Leroy Sane. Bayern Munich will be going after him aggressively, we’ll see what City does.
Liverpool was so close to winning themselves an English Premier League championship, and I mean, really close. When the smoke cleared, the Reds would only have one less point than Manchester City, and this is after just getting two fewer wins than the Citizens at 30, and they would actually get three fewer losses than City with one. What killed Liverpool this season was their amount of draws, they would have seven total compared to Manchester City’s two. Just one less draw, and the Reds could be English Premier League champions right now. Crazy.
At one point this season, Tottenham Hotspur was winning left and right, and in the process, they were taking down power brand after power brand. If it weren’t for their late-season struggles, the Spurs probably would have taken the No. 3 position and may have had around 80 points. And who knows, if their inconsistency that happened throughout the season also didn’t take place, Tottenham may have been a championship contender — never know. But the Spurs will have to figure out how to keep Kieran Trippier. Juventus has been rumored to want him.
Under the previous manager Jose Mourinho, Manchester United would get off to such a dismal start by their standards, however, when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over as caretaker manager (he would eventually get hired as the permanent manager), the Red Devils would roll. Well, that was until the last full month of the season. United would struggle with a 1-1-3 record in April in EPL play, following with a 0-1-1 figure in May. However, even though the momentum got blown in the end, expect the Devils to return to their winning ways under the first full year of Solskjaer.
Chelsea had a solid campaign, tallying up 21 wins for 72 points on the season that saw them finish No. 3 in the EPL, but here’s why the Blues are placed fifth in the odds: They’re currently on a transfer fan that will last in both the summer and winter. With that being said, Chelsea won’t be able to bring in any players to help improve the team, but current Blues will still be able to transfer if they choose to do so. Needless to say, the 2019-20 campaign has the potential to be rough for Chelsea and fans, especially with the potential loss of Eden Hazard.
They suffered a bit of inconsistency through the 2018-19 campaign, but Arsenal delivered the goodies to their fan base with a fifth-place finish in the English Premier League. As a result, the Gunners are sitting pretty heading into next season, but they’ll have to make improvements. They have a solid foundation to build on with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who shared the Golden Boot Award with Liverpool’s Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah — Aubameyang had 22 goals for the season. When the transfer window approaches, keep an eye on Arsenal.
Now we arrive to our long shots of the English Premier League, and we start with the Wolverhampton Wanderers. Sitting at 16-9-13 in the season, the Wolves did some damage this year upsetting a few top clubs. One of the biggest was knocking Arsenal out of the top-four after a 3-1 win. For their standards, it was a successful season for Wolverhampton. To continue the success and improve, however, the Wolves will have to figure out a way to hold on to Ruben Neves, their star. Liverpool will be looking to take him away from the Wanderers for 2019-20.
They might have finished in the eight spot in the English Premier League, but Everton did their thing this season, including bringing down multiple top clubs such as Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, and would even pull a draw with Liverpool. As a result, it did give them a winning 15-9-14 record when everything was done. But like other mid-level clubs, the Toffees will be forced to try to keep Idrissa Gueye and will have to out-spend Manchester United to do so. Obviously, they won’t have the funds to do it. Interesting summer ahead for Everton, for sure.
Leicester City had such a strange season in the 2018-19 campaign. At the beginning of things, the Foxes would struggle massively, but there was a turn around after ownership threatened to fire then-manager Claude Puel. Back in late December, he would be forced to win against power brands Chelsea and Manchester City, or lose his job. Well, Puel would deliver with a 1-0 win over the Blues, and then follow it up with a 2-1 victory against the Citizens. However, inconsistency would strike again to see Puel lose his job. Now Brendan Rodgers takes over.
Even though they had a losing season at 15-7-16, West Ham United managed to finish in the top 10 after grabbing the No. 10 spot in the English Premier League. Throughout the season, they would also pull upsets over Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Manchester United. For the standards of the Irons, I’d say it was a pretty solid season for the club. They would also mark another milestone: Being the first club to defeat the Spurs in their new stadium. It was certainly a success. Now, West Ham United enters the summer window with improvement on the mind.
Not the most explosive season for Bournemouth in the 2018-19 campaign, but they were able to land a victory over Chelsea, but as you see, it was more losing than anything for the Blues. As a result, it saw them with 45 points and the No. 14 spot in the English Premier League. But there’s definitely room for improvement, this being evident by their odds at +100000. Right now, they’re not at threat of losing one of their key players on the roster, so that’s good, but there’s plenty of time left in the summer — it hasn’t even gotten here yet.
Crystal Palace would pull upsets over Manchester City and Arsenal during the season, but that’s about all they would do in the 2018-19 season — as you see, they finished with a losing 14-7-17 record. The Eagles would also play spoiler, putting Cardiff City into official relegation and they also ruined a Europa League spot for Everton. So what does this mean: Crystal Palace has the potential to rack in wins, they just don’t have the budget to compete with the top clubs. Don’t expect too many moves from the Eagles, and also expect these high odds.
The 14-8-16 Watford Hornets didn’t do much in the 2018-19 campaign other than put up a losing record, and that’s exactly why they have hefty +50000 odds — at least in the English Premier League. Currently. Watford actually sees themselves in the FA Cup Final. The problem, however, is that they’re facing off against English Premier League champion and foe, Manchester City. It’s still been a good run for the Hornets though in that tournament. If they can pull an upset, who knows, maybe that can bump them up in the odds. Only time will tell.
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