It’s still early days, but we can see which teams are set to go far this season, as well as those who look to crumble down the line. The table itself may not be overly revealing right now, but we’ve seen enough to gauge who the real title contenders are.
Manchester City - 5/4
Manchester City were always going to be a major threat this season. Last season they boasted one of the best sets of attacking players in the league, and they’ve since added some more. With Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero as the striking partnership – as if Aguero wasn’t enough on his own – the South American stars are fed all game by the likes of Kevin de Bruyne and David Silva every game, as well as their other big-money stars.
As strong as the team looks on paper, there is quite a glaring weakness waiting to be exploited: their defence. Liverpool had all of the right tools to expose City’s defensive set-up and potentially run riot, but the sending off of Sadio Mane thwarted that opportunity. Nicolas Otamendi has been getting all of the fundamentals spot-on, but the often-used back-three has looked disjointed trying to play Pep Guardiola’s football in the Premier League.
The team is deep in most areas and full of top-class players, so they should go quite far in the Champions League, which they are 11/1 to win. However, Vincent Kompany’s injury will no-doubt strain the defence because, as talented as Danilo is, the replacement does look out of place when not at right-back or defensive midfield. Europe’s top domestic competition should see City make it to the quarter-finals, and possibly beyond, with the Citizens expected to be the highest placing English club in the competition at 47/20.
When it comes to the Premier League, Manchester City will naturally drop points due to the nature of the league, but defensive injuries will play a major part. Goalkeeper Ederson picked up a nasty facial injury against Liverpool but is expected to get right back between the posts, which is great for City as Claudio Bravo proved to be rather unreliable last season.
They’ve got some close competition just over the road, but Manchester City have the squad strength to challenge for the title right to the very end and are worthy of the 5/4 favourites price. This could be boosted even further if they finally sign Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal in the January transfer window. It will be interesting to see how they fare against full-strength title contenders down the line, but if they show up, they could well be a force to be reckoned with and well worthy of backing to win the division.
Manchester United - 11/4
Jose Mourinho’s men got off to an impeccable start to the season with three wins, three clean sheets, and ten goals scored. The signing of Romelu Lukaku added the brute force but mobile striking option that took the team to that next level offensively – with the big Belgian a great bet at 3/1 to win the golden boot this season – and transferring in Nemanja Matic from Chelsea looks to be one of the best signings of the summer already.
A back-four including Phil Jones at centre-back and Daley Blind or Matteo Darmian at left-back was never expected to last, and Stoke made them pay by simply bullying their way to two goals at home. Left-back will be a problem for the Red Devils all season, while a fit Chris Smalling or new signing Victor Lindelof present better options to accompany the erratic but clinical Eric Bailly at centre-back. Luckily Mourinho’s defensive tactics and the stalwart Serbian in midfield, Nemanja Matic, will help to keep David de Gea's workload down.
Hoping to go far in the Champions League, United are 11/1 to win but 5/2 to be eliminated in the quarter-finals. Mourinho dealt with his injury crisis last season and won the Europa League as well as two other trophies, but legitimately challenging for the Premier League as well as being expected to do well in the Champions League is a different matter altogether; another injury plague would hit the team hard this season.
Overall, United look to be the best team to challenge Manchester City for the Premier League crown this season, with 11/4 odds to back that up. They also have history on their side, with Mourinho never failing to win the league in his second season at any club that he’s managed. They’ll get Zlatan Ibrahimovic back in January for a bit of extra striking bite on the field as well as a mighty character in the dressing room on match day, which could kick this already very strong team into hyperspeed over the winter period. They’re a strong team with quite possibly the best title-winning manager in the league, so they’re well worth backing while they’re still second-favourites.
Chelsea - 9/2
There was word of turmoil with the defending champions throughout the transfer window, but even without their best player and top scorer of the last three seasons – Eden Hazard and Diego Costa, respectively – Chelsea have amassed three strong wins and an unfortunate loss.
With Costa’s situation grabbing most of the limelight, new striker Alvaro Morata has quietly pulled himself into the early golden boot running with three goals in four games, currently sitting at 6/1 to win the award. Despite losing Nemanja Matic, Chelsea have remained strong defensively at the back and in midfield. N’Golo Kante has been his usual world-class self, with the diminutive midfielder dominating midfield, and the wing-backs Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso have been as deadly as ever.
Chelsea are at rather long-odds of 17/1 to win the Champions League, but if Morata keeps knocking in the goals, it’s hard to see many teams not struggling against them. Elimination in the Round of Last 16 looks the most likely at 31/20 despite them being 5/4 favourites to win their group.
The team looks rather thin when considering the extra workload of the Champions League thrown in, but the late signings of Danny Drinkwater and Davide Zappacosta should help to carry the workload when the cup competitions add to the fixtures list. Despite winning the league last season, Chelsea don’t look to have made enough progress to compete with the Manchester clubs. But, this is the Premier League, so anything can happen; their 9/2 odds may prove to be a bargain for the dark-horse Chelsea.
Tottenham Hotspur - 12/1
Mauricio Pochettino’s team keeps edging closer and closer to a Premier League title, with them now seen as a shoo-in for a top-four place, but they just didn’t muster enough over the summer to be legitimate contenders just yet.
Centre-back Davinson Sanchez was an inspired signing; the Colombian should have been given the man of the match award in last year’s Europa League final against Manchester United because he was unplayable at times and will prove to be a great addition to Spurs’ already top-ranking defence.
Serge Aurier patched the not-so-gaping hole at right-back, and Fernando Llorente provides a trusted backup scoring option to back-to-back reigning golden boot winner Harry Kane – who is at a nice 3/1 to make it three years in a row as the league’s top scorer. There weren’t any real holes to patch in the Tottenham line-up, but depth was needed to improve their Champions League hopes.
Struggling at Wembley Stadium in recent years, it’s now their home, so hopefully Spurs will be familiar with the ground and pull-off some great performances in the Champions League this year. However, being third-favourites to win their group with 9/2 odds, the draw of Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund looks to be the killer. If they don’t progress to the knockout stages, an almost cameo appearance in the Europa League would be key if they wanted to make a surprise push for the Premier League, which they’re at long 12/1 odds to win.
Liverpool - 14/1
The front line of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, and Saido Mane presents possibly the best attacking trio in the Premier League, which will be enhanced even further if Philippe Coutinho returns to play just behind the striker. But looking back from there, the team looks less and less like title contenders.
The defence is meek, to say the least, and their goalkeeping tandem doesn’t belong anywhere near a team that hopes to challenge for the top-six, let alone the title. The middle of midfield, without Coutinho, lacks an attacking spark, but Emre Can has performed admirably to try to push some offence while being solid in-front of the defence. If Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is granted his wish, he could provide the forward-thinking play from further back in the middle of the park, but with Can playing so well and Henderson wearing the captain’s armband, it’s hard to see him getting a starting role when both Coutinho and Mane are available.
Escape from their Champions League group looks likely, but the Reds are expected to exit the competition in the following round with odds of 6/4. To cause a real upset in the Premier League, Liverpool will have to overcome 14/1 odds, but an early exit from Europe would help them stay fresh while their competitors tire. Right now, however, Liverpool don’t look like a contender that should be backed in this title race.
We’re only a small segment of our way through the season, and anything can happen in the Premier League, but as it stands, the title race looks to be the Battle of the Manchesters, with dark horses from London potentially popping up down the line.
