Liverpool are clear favourites to defend their title.
Betting patterns suggest only four teams have any real chance of winning the 2025/26 English Premier League which kicks off on Friday night.
Defending champions Liverpool are quoted at 2.70 by Betway, with challengers Arsenal at 3.40, Manchester City at 4.40 and Chelsea at 8.50.
This is the order in which the teams finished last season, so bookmakers and punters don’t expect any dynamism at the top of the table – despite some very expensive player movements in the transfer window.
Just below this quartet, however, are some mildly surprising names. Manchester United are in fifth spot, priced at 21.80 to win the league – after finishing in 15th place last season.
There is clearly a lot of confidence in manager Ruben Amorim to do what he failed to do last term: turn around the one-time giants’ lousy form. It seems Amorim’s spending of £200-million, and counting, on new players has swayed opinion.
Newcastle United are in transfer wrangles with their star striker Alexander Izak but are still in many people’s calculations at 49.00.
Tottenham Hotspur did not show Man U’s patience with their manager after they finished in an ignominious 17th place last season. The new man, Thomas Frank, poached from outperforming Brentford, has also been spending on new recruits – and the sports books are taking no chances with this outfit, pegging them at R50.00.
After that “top seven”, there a smorgasbord of choice for anyone who dreams of a shock outcome to the world’s most-watched league – from Nottingham Forest at 230.00 through West Ham at 675.00 to Brentford sans Frank at 925.00.
An interesting bet on the extensive Betway menu is Most Goals between two selected players. One example: Man U’s new signing Matheus Cunha 1.80 versus Liverpool’s Omar Marmoush 1.90.
The first match is on Friday night at 9pm SA time, with Liverpool taking on Bournemouth at Anfield. The other 18 teams are in action on Saturday.
These Betway odds are correct at time of publishing and subject to change.
