Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City were a class above their rivals in 2017/18. Finishing the campaign with a record points tally, most goals scored and largest gap to second place, City broke various top flight records last season.

Expecting more of the same this season would be foolish though; England’s elite clubs will be looking to pip the defending champions to the title.

With the World Cup now over, preparation for the domestic campaign is well and truly underway. We are now less than a month away from the opening weekend and those players involved in the latter stages of the World Cup will be given an extended break.

August could be an interesting month if the major contenders struggle to hit the ground running. We look at the six primary candidates for Premier League glory in 2018/19...

Manchester City

Are the Blues destined to defend the Premier League crown? It is hard to back against them after their dominance in 2017/18. City have been quiet in the transfer window so far but it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see Guardiola act before the start of the campaign.

Riyad Mahrez has finally completed his move to the Etihad Stadium – two years after he was first linked with the Blues. The former Leicester City star will give City an added dimension in the final third and he may help Pep’s side as they look to retain the English title.

Odds: 13/20

 

Liverpool

The Anfield faithful will be expecting big things after a heavy summer of spending and there will be plenty of punters siding with Jurgen Klopp’s men. As mentioned in an article back in May, the Reds are well placed to push on and claim a first Premier League crown.

With Naby Keita and Fabinho under contract and AS Roma goalkeeper Allison likely to join in the coming weeks, Liverpool need to challenge for major honours this season. Silverware is an absolute must after their expensive transfer activity in recent months.

Odds: 5/1

 

Manchester United

Jose Mourinho’s side pipped Liverpool to second spot last season but most fans are expecting the Merseyside outfit (3/4) to finish above their rivals. Mourinho came under scrutiny for his approach in 2017/18 and a more attacking approach is expected this campaign.

The Red Devils move quickly to sign Brazil international Fred from Shakhtar Donetsk and his arrival could allow Paul Pogba to take on a more advanced role. The 2018 World Cup winner will return to Old Trafford full of confidence and he can be United’s difference maker.

Odds: 6/1

 

Chelsea

Antonio Conte is out and Maurizio Sarri is in. The Blues will be expecting to bounce back in 2018/19 after missing out on Champions League football last season and their new manager can endear himself to the Stamford Bridge faithful with a positive run of results in the early stages of the campaign.

With Cristiano Ronaldo now plying his trade with Juventus, Real Madrid will be looking for a marquee signing and Eden Hazard fits the bill. Their hopes of a top four finish hinge on whether the Belgium winger stays at Stamford Bridge or leaves for Santiago Bernabeu.

Odds: 11/1

 

Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham’s main business this summer has been in-house but it would be foolish to ignore the importance of tying Harry Kane and Mauricio Pochettino down to long-term deals. Spurs will head into the campaign confident of another top four finish at the very least…

The new White Hart Lane is starting to take shape and it will almost certainly rank as one of the best stadiums in the Premier League. Tottenham fans will be hoping that their off-field success pays dividends; 14/1 isn’t a bad price based on Spurs’ recent exploits.

Odds: 14/1

 

Arsenal

It is going to be a strange campaign for Arsenal fans. Unai Emery has been busy this summer but have the Gunners done enough to challenge for Premier League glory? If truth be told, probably not – Arsenal are some way short of lifting the top flight title.

Finishing in the top four will almost certainly be Emery’s top target next season; anything else is a bonus. The Gunners must improve away from home to stand any chance of a positive campaign though and Arsenal still need to bolster their squad in a number of key positions.

Odds: 25/1

 

*Odds subject to change - correct at time of writing*

The Super Sprint Trophy is a flat horse race held at Newbury for two-year-old thoroughbreds and was first run in 1991.

The race is currently restricted to horses sold as yearlings at Weatherbys sales for 37,000 guineas or less before July 1st, or 40,000 guineas or less after June 30th. The weights carried are determined by the sale price of the horses, with one pound deducted for each 2,500 guineas below 40,000.

The Weatherbys Super Sprint quite often produces a fairytale story and it will be interesting to see who comes out on top at Newbury on Saturday. In 2016, Mrs Danvers attracted not one sales bid at a reserve of £1,000 as an unraced juvenile but went on to amass upwards of £120,000 in prize money that season.

She went on to win twice more for the Jonathan Portman stable, including at Group Three level, so it’s a “never-say-never” race for many of the contenders this weekend.

Fillies have an excellent record in the Weatherbys Super Sprint, taking 15 of the 26 renewals, with this year’s race featuring 13 of them.

A maximum field of 25 juveniles go to post on Saturday afternoon and here is a look at some of the leading contenders:

 

Little Kim

Top-weight Little Kim heads the 25 two-year-olds going for glory in the £250,000 Weatherbys Super Sprint.

The Karl Burke-trained Little Kim made a winning debut in a novice event at Carlisle in June and last time out pipped Chelsea Cloisters to win the G3 Prix du Bois at Deauville, France. Both races were over over five furlongs, which is the distance of the Weatherbys Super Sprint.

In between, Little Kim finished eighth, beaten two lengths, behind Signora Cabello in the G2 Queen Mary Stakes over the same distance at Royal Ascot.

With Signora Cabello’s connections opting for a French engagement themselves, the way looks open for Little Kim to cash in.

Karl Burke said: "Little Kim is in great form. She goes there with a Group race win in the bag and, although she has an 8lb penalty for that, she has a good draw and will hopefully run well.

"We had her in the Prix Robert Papin on Sunday as well. It was a 50/50 call, but I have another horse declared for that race and it was always his target.

"As well as that, Nick Bradley (part-owner of Little Kim) is happy to go for the money at Newbury as he did not want to take on the Queen Mary winner again."

 

Red Balloons

Red Balloons picked up the first win of her career last time after finishing placed on two of her three starts. She came out of Royal Ascot well and was sent off the short priced favourite at Nottingham.

Her trainer, Richard Fahey, is a dab hand at these kind of sprints having won this race three times in the last five years, and she should not be underestimated at around the 10/1 mark.

 

Snazzy

The Highclere Thoroughbred-owned filly Snazzy pushed Signora Cabello close in a Listed race at York in May, but was then well beaten by her in the Queen Mary.

Her trainer, Charlie Fellowes, believes she can put that disappointing Royal Ascot display behind her:

“Snazzy was heavily in season at Ascot – Stevie (Donohoe) said she felt as flat as a pancake and was not the horse that he knows,” said Fellowes.

“On a very strict form line, we should have been bang there because we were only beaten a length and a half by the winner at York. We just didn’t turn up at Ascot, but she ovulated the following day and that has to be a very fair excuse.

“She is in good form now and this has been the plan since. She has had a clear run through and we are hopeful of big run.”

 

Tin Hat

Eve Johnson Houghton’s Tin Hat ran on to take fifth in the Listed Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot which certainly gives the chestnut colt a squeak here.

 

Kinks

The Mick Channon-trained Kinks finished sixth in the G2 Norfolk Stakes after being denied a clear run and any Royal Ascot runner that comes here to contest this sprint is always of interest.

 

Society Queen

The twice-raced Ayr winner Society Queen is the mount of last year's winning jockey Paddy Mathers and is also trained by the Weatherbys Sprint maestro, Richard Fahey.

 

Its The Only Way and Ginger Nut

The Hannon stable has an impressive record in Weatherbys Super Sprint, with eight victories in total. Richard Hannon, who was successful with Tiggy Wiggy in 2014, saddles dual winner Its The Only Way (Tom Marquand) and Ginger Nut (Harry Bentley).

 

Signora Cabello

Trainer John Quinn has decided to bypass Saturday's Weatherbys Super Sprint at Newbury with Signora Cabello and heads across the Channel instead.

The Queen Mary Stakes winner takes up an entry in the G2 Prix Robert Papin at Maisons-Laffitte on Sunday.

"We have declared her for the Prix Robert Papin on Sunday at Maisons-Laffitte," Quinn told At The Races.

"The main reason is down the line after racing, she's going to be bred from and she's got a very nice pedigree.

"She's already a Queen Mary winner and we just decided that this was the route - the Group route - that we'd follow with her, so that's where we are."

Signora Cabello is set to be joined in France by the Karl Burke-trained True Mason.

888sport suggests: Red Balloons @ Newbury (e/w)

 

*Odds subject to change - correct at time of writing*

Weeks of speculation over Cristiano Ronaldo’s future came to an end on Tuesday. The Portuguese superstar completed his transfer to Juventus for a fee in the region of £88 million.

A move away from the Santiago Bernabeu had been in the offing since Real Madrid won yet another Champions League, but it was still hard to really believe the rumours until an official announcement was made.

It’s almost surreal. Rumours of a transfer have previously been a crude decoy for a pay rise. This time it was obviously different, but Juventus were always way down the list of potential suitors.

The timing was strange for a transfer of this magnitude, too. They could have waited for the World Cup to end for maximum attention, and neither party made any flashy announcement.

The Old Lady got their man. A 33-year-old, five-time Ballon d’Or winner fresh off another remarkable season. Sure, there will be shouty criticisms in corners of the internet, but it’s hard to argue with the deal from Juventus’ perspective.

Expect A Busy Summer In Turin

This could be the first of many dominos to fall this transfer window. It’s been slow going for the rumour mill thanks to the World Cup, but sales from Juventus are inevitable now with Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala both linked with moves away. We could be seeing one or two Juve stars move to the Premier League before the window shuts.

Max Allegri’s squad may look quite different by the opening day of the Serie A season. The Turin-based club are massive favourites for yet another title, however, at 4/9.

Across multiple managers and teams, Juventus have won seven straight. Adding Ronaldo to the mix surely only enhances their chances of further success, even if it causes a minor rebuild of the team.
The loss of iconic goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon further emphasises the changing of the guard. Buffon was synonymous with Juventus, and his struggle to match his domestic success with a Champions League triumph had become one of the great footballing stories.

This era of Juventus dominance was built on shrewd deals and an Italian defensive core. Ronaldo is a move away from that, and maybe, just maybe, a significant moment for the whole of Italian football. It’s been a while since Serie A attracted the sport’s biggest names.

Napoli, Juventus’ closest competitors, are out at 6/1 to win the Scudetto. The price speaks volumes. Napoli could have a markedly different (weaker) squad themselves and are under the guidance of Carlo Ancelotti instead of Maurizio Sarri, who masterminded their breath-taking football last season.

It’s possible, of course, that things go drastically wrong for Juventus and Ronaldo’s arrival upsets a club cruising domestically. That seems no more than a remote possibility, though, making Napoli’s 6/1 price still too short.

 

Dreaming of Europe

Juventus’ real desire is European glory. They’ve conquered Italy and reigned supreme for the best part of a decade, now it’s time to do what Buffon never could.  

No club has lost as many European Cup/Champions League finals as Juve (7). Two of those came since 2015, and five since they last won the competition in 1996. Ronaldo, in stark contrast, has won five Champions League finals in his career, including four of the last five.

One player is not going to take Juventus from nearly men to victors, that’s just now how football works, but it certainly increases their chances. Every fan, every manager in the world would rather that match defining chance was falling to Ronaldo rather than Higuain.

Ronaldo is a ruthless competitor and leader. It would be foolish to right that off as an irrelevance when evaluating Juventus’ chances in Europe’s premier competition.

What has made Real Madrid’s spell of Champions League dominance so remarkable, though, is the luck required to win knockout competitions. Good fortune, freak performances and an array of other factors influence a team’s chances of lifting the Champions League. The winners are not necessarily the best team, the same as with any knockout tournament.

Picking an outright winner is hard as a result. Juventus’ chances are obviously enhanced, but even choosing a favourite is challenging until we’ve seen where players move. Real Madrid will still be fancied by many, particularly if they were to add a couple more attacking superstars like Neymar and Eden Hazard.

 

Champions League or Bust

Ronaldo has adapted well as he’s aged. His influence on the match has lessened, but his impact in the final third is as great as ever. Decline physically has been held off – and maybe it will be indefinitely – but this is not a decade long project for Juventus.

It is probably a two or three year job for Ronaldo, giving a relatively small window for Juve to end their quest for that elusive third Champions League.

The impact this deal has on European football as a whole, and more specifically Italian football, is enormous. Without continental glory, though, Ronaldo’s time in Turin will be a relative disappointment, such is the expectation on one of the greatest footballers the sport has ever seen.

 

*Odds subject to change - correct at time of writing*