Premier League winner betting 18/19: Can Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool or Tottenham catch Man City?
Newly-crowned Premier League champions Manchester City are 4/5 to win the league again next year but who will be their main challengers?
They are odds-on favourites to retain their Premier League title next season so can anyone stop Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City from claiming back-to-back titles?
A dominant display from City this season has seen them win the title with five games to spare having beaten every team in the league this season.
They’re miles clear of the chasing pack, and will no doubt add more strength to the squad in the summer, so who can launch a serious title challenge next season?
Premier League title odds 2018/19
- 4/5 Man City
- 4/1 Liverpool
- 7/1 Man Utd
- 11/1 Chelsea
- 14/1 Tottenham
Jurgen Klopp: "I'm really not a social media guy. But I watched the videos of when people celebrated at home or whatever and went completely nuts and I was like... 'wow!'" pic.twitter.com/H2rNIA1DfD
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) April 13, 2018
Jurgen Klopp's men are the leading contenders with the bookmakers after beating the champions three times this season while knocking them out of the Champions League. Liverpool's attacking front three of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah have dismantled defences this season and been scoring for fun, but the Reds have still fallen well short of City in the league.
They've proven that their team is a match for anyone, but consistency has been a problem as has finding replacements for their front three, and there's a sense an injury to one of them could have severe consequences.
Naby Keita coming in will bolster the midfield area which is a slight area of concern, although Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has been growing into that role brilliantly of late. Virgil van Dijk has steadied the defence and even Loris Karius has improved in goal, although he’s still not convinced as a title-winning number one.
Perhaps another centre back and another forward option will be brought in from Klopp but his team do looked poised for a title challenge next year, they just need more strength in depth to keep up with City during a long, hard Premier League season.
Manchester United 7/1
The second most expensive squad in the league behind City, United should be the biggest challengers to City’s crown but they’re behind Liverpool in the betting and that is purely down to Jose Mourinho’s style of play this season.
They’ve beaten Liverpool and City this season, have wonderful players all over the park and the best goalkeeper in the world in David De Gea – but they’re still not thought of as the team most likely to challenge City by the oddsmakers.
Much of the criticism for Mourinho is down to his frustrating style of play, which he defiantly refuses to change. Paul Pogba has been shackled and new signing Alexis Sanchez needs to find his best position.
It’s a tough question to answer how they can improve with the players they have – Mourinho will no doubt be asking for a bucket load of money to spend again, possibly in the heart of the defence, full back and also a central midfielder to replace Michael Carrick.
They'll end up the best of the rest, albeit by a huge margin, but many will simply say it's a change of footballing philosophy that is needed at Old Trafford rather than wholesale changes of personnel.
Chelsea 11/1
Going on recent times Chelsea should possibly be favourites for the title as they’ve won it twice in the last four years, followed immediately by a huge drop-off in performances and results.
Antonio Conte won the title in his first year but seems likely to be leaving Stamford Bridge in the summer and yet another manager will be looking to land the title in his debut season.
The players leaving Chelsea this summer will be arguably more important than the players coming in – namely Eden Hazard who could be targeted by Real Madrid.
It’s hard to predict how Chelsea will go without knowing who’ll be in charge next season, but the areas of concern will remain the same. Defence is the standout problem area, with only Cesar Azpilicueta regularly performing at a high level.
Up front Alvaro Morata has struggled, while effectively swapping Nemanja Matic for Tiemoue Bakayoko has been a disaster in midfield and signing Ross Barkley a bit of a head scratcher.
Tottenham 14/1
Mauricio Pochettino’s side have been roundly lauded for the last couple of seasons, but whether he can get them over the line remains the big question mark.
They play with style, flare and attacking intent, but lost out to Leicester a couple of years ago and have been just behind the recent league champions.
Similar to Liverpool, it looks like just a bit more consistency is all that’s needed at Spurs as they’ve got a deeper squad than the Reds, especially in midfield and defence.
Keeping their star players, and indeed their star manager, will be the big question during the summer, especially if Real Madrid don’t win the Champions League.
Financing the new stadium may also limit them in the transfer market this summer, but it's the outgoings that will be the key factor for Spurs this summer.
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Odds correct as of 1030 BST 16/04/18
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