Despite drawing their last game against Sunderland, Arsenal head into the upcoming weekend fixture list four points ahead of resurgent Manchester City in the table.
Meanwhile, most people’s early favourites for the title, Liverpool, are eighth in the league, a position behind Manchester United, having won just one of their last five Premier League matches. Chelsea sit third in the table, having fairly quietly gone about their business and with one of the best attacks in the league.
Liverpool were hot favourites for this year’s title after winning last season with ease. However, despite spending nearly half a billion pounds during the summer window, things haven’t gone to plan.
A lot of value has been found betting against Liverpool, while Arsenal have become favourites with bettors and bookmakers, and are regularly part of the weekly tips from FIRST.com.
Arsenal
Arsenal have the stingiest defence and third-best attack in the league. Despite losing to Liverpool in their third game of the season, they have risen to the top and stayed there, now leading the table by four points.
They have taken advantage of successful set pieces and have already played both Manchester clubs, Liverpool, and surprise contenders Sunderland. Many pundits now believe this could be the year they get back to winning ways, having finished second in the past three years.
Priced at 8/11 to win the league, they face North London rivals Tottenham next, and will be hoping to put their draw with Sunderland behind them.
Manchester City
Before the North London derby kicks off, Manchester City will have faced Newcastle and could have reduced the gap at the top of the table to a single point with a victory.
City are perennial winners, having secured six of the last eight Premier League titles and as long as talismanic striker Erling Haaland keeps scoring, the Etihad outfit could push Arsenal close.
A lot of punters are unwilling to bet against Pep Guardiola, who always seems to do a good job of finding ways to win. City are 2/1 to win the Premier League.
Liverpool
Liverpool started the season in such a manner as to suggest they would run away with this year’s competition, with six straight wins, including victories over Arsenal, Newcastle, and local rivals Everton.
However, since then, they have gone on to lose to Crystal Palace, Chelsea, Man Utd, Brentford, and Man City, with a single victory over Aston Villa bringing the only respite. The new players, which cost over £400m, including potential add-ons, haven’t really performed, and the newly assembled team is failing to gel.
Despite being 8th in the table, the bookmakers expect their form to improve, as they are 10/1 third favourites ahead of their upcoming tie against Nottingham Forest.
Chelsea
Chelsea sit third in the table. Their defence is best described as reasonable, but with the second-best attack in the league behind only Erling Haaland, they are a force to be reckoned with.
However, manager Enzo Maresca has come under fire for heavily rotating his team, with matchday squads regularly featuring as many as seven changes.
Rooney recently said of the policy: “If they are getting results all the time then you can’t question it but if they’re not, there has to be questions asked.” They have been given odds of 25/1 to lift the title.
Manchester United
A surprise inclusion in this list is Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United, but a reasonable turnaround in results has seen something of a shift.
Following on from last campaign, which was their worst performance since the Premier League began, the Old Trafford outfit did not look to have made any improvements at the beginning of the season.
In fact, until a few weeks ago, they were considered more likely to be relegated than to win the league, by bookmakers, at least. Now, with 3 wins and 2 draws in their last five, the Red Devils sit in 7th position and have been given odds of 40/1 to win the league.
