THE PREMIER LEAGUE IS UPON US! 11 weeks, 77 days, 1,848 hours, 110,880 minutes and finally, the wait is over. The yearning for Christmas to arrive is definitely an easier sentence than these 11 weeks aching over the irreplaceable and gaping hole in your Saturday afternoons, Super Sundays and Magical Monday Night’s.
What excites us just as much as the Premier League’s return is a BETDAQ Exchange bursting with value into the new season. Here are his 6 Best Bets to transform you into a footballing oracle in the eyes of your peers 9 glorious months from now.
Back Arsenal at 3.0 without Chelsea
Has Arsene finally cracked it? Despite finishing as perennial Top 4 achievers, the Gunners have been lacking in either steel, self-belief or both for a number of years but a record of 20 Wins and 3 Draws from their last 26 PL games last season is eye-catching. Wenger’s tactical naivety of a belief in only winning the beautiful way looks to be at an end with the emergence of Coquelin allowing them to park the bus when necessary. Add in the masterstroke of snaring Petr Cech and this Arsenal side looks extremely strong and importantly, settled.
Backing Arsenal at 5.0 for the title is a legitimate bet in it’s own right but the safe and profitable play here to avoid taking on champions Chelsea and the league’s best player Hazard. 3.0 to beat both Manchester clubs is enormous value as Arsene’s hot shots can finally come of age after 11 years of trying. Whether that will deliver a title remains to be seen.
Lay City at 4.1 in Outright
For a club, literally drowning in cash you would have thought City could have spent better in the last 3 years than they have. Fernando, Mangala and to a lesser extent Fernandinho and Bony haven’t shown themselves to be worthy of champions just yet and despite signing a reinvigorated and dangerous Raheem Sterling we think they could struggle. Two of City’s big game players Kompany and Toure had poor seasons and looked a shadow of themselves while long term doubts surround the fitness of star striker Sergio Aguero.
Chelsea (2.8) will be immensely strong again and assuming that Man Utd (6.4) get their hands on Pedro plus potentially another world class attacking talent, it will be tough for City to usurp both and our previous argument above for Arsenal (5.0). Could another threat to trumping City be Liverpool? Although a justified long price of 30.0, they have two wildcards in Benteke and Firmino who, if they hit the ground running could do significant damage to PL defences. That’s enough for us to confidently lay City at 4.1
Back Stoke City at 1.9 as Top Midlands Club
All hail Stokelona FC! Mark Hughes deserves massive credit for de-bunking possibly the most well known footballing stereotype in the Premier League – Stoke are an ugly, ungainly, long ball team. Having led them the Potters to a Top 10 finish last year, with an eye-catching hammering of Liverpool plus a win over Arsenal, Stoke will be looking to build on this foundation. It’s been a case of so far so very good on that front with Hughes adding huge talents from Catalonia in Moha El Ourachi and Ibrahim Afellay to the returning Bojan who lit up the league before getting injured.
With an enviable home record, Stoke are a genuine threat to win the ‘Without the Big 6’ market at 9.8 but a nailed on banker for this season is to win the Top Midlands Club market at 2.02. Sherwood’s Villa have been busy replacing their two biggest players Benteke and Delph and without them you feel a relegation scrap is unavoidable. Similarly, Leicester defied all logic to win 7 of their last 9 to escape the drop but Claudio ‘The Tinkerman’ Ranieri has been out of the PL for a long time and could struggle to maintain the plot. Lastly West Brom, could still lose Berahino to Spurs and their current squad list doesn’t exactly set your pulse racing so this market has Stoke hugely undervalued in our eyes.
Back Crystal Palace at 2.62 to finish Top 10
Palace’s record since Pardew was appointed – P18W10D1L7. The Eagles are definitely on the rise with Pardew instilling self-belief on the squad that they can mix it with anyone over 90 minutes. Each season, a ‘surprise package’ emerges from the gloom and akin to what Southampton have achieved this could be Palace’s year to take the next step.
The signing of Yohann Cabaye is intriguing for two reasons, 1. the ambition of the club and 2. the high regard in which the players must hold Pardew’s ability to manage and this project itself. Palace have also recruited Championship top scorer Patrick Bamford on loan from his brief return to Cheslea and there’s nothing to convince onlookers that he won’t score goals for the club.
If we assume the Top 6 are out of reach that leaves 4 top half spots to fill between Everton, Southampton, Swansea, Stoke and possibly West Ham and Newcastle. Mangerial pressures, Europa League distractions and second season syndrome are all legitimate detractors of the eminent three here and Crystal Palace can absolutely oust at least one of them this season at 2.62.
Back Norwich at 2.72 as Top Promoted Club
In 23 years of ‘the richest game in football’, 13 playoff winners have gone straight back down however Swansea, West Ham and Crystal Palace are reversing the trend and Norwich can follow.
The case for Norwich being the Top Promoted club is based around experience rather than necessarily talent. In Ruddy, Bassong, Johnson and Jerome the spine of their team has plenty of PL experience unlike their promoted rivals Bournemouth (2.34) and Watford (3.15). They also don’t have Luis Suarez to worry about anymore!
True, Norwich go into the new season with the manager who is a PL rookie but the other two are in similar situations. Despite the very high regard in which BETDAQ Towers hold Eddie Howe, Alex Neil’s side are compact, disciplined and hard to break down which will inevitably lead to useful points during the season. If Jerome can chip in with goals then they have a good chance of survival.
There a big question marks over Watford and Bournemouth and even though Norwich could still become the 14th play off winner to go straight back down they can still do so winning this market at 2.74.
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