The Premier League returns this weekend for the 2024-25 campaign, with Manchester United taking on Fulham on Friday at 3pm ET to kick off the league year.
If future odds for the title race are anything to go by, the top of the league table — or at least the top two — will resemble what we’ve seen each of the past two seasons.
Manchester City and Arsenal, the two teams that finished 2022-23 and 2023-24 in first and second place, are again expected to finish 1-2 at the top of the EPL in 2024-25.
2024-25 EPL Title Chances: Man City Favored
bet365 | FanDuel | DraftKings | |
Manchester City | +137 | +120 | +140 |
Arsenal | +162 | +165 | +170 |
Liverpool | +700 | +650 | +650 |
Chelsea | +2000 | +1400 | +1800 |
Manchester United | +2000 | +1900 | +2200 |
2024-25 EPL Title Odds, Analysis, Best Bets
Based on the players Pep Guardiola is able to use, City will understandably win the league in ’24-25 for the seventh time in eight seasons.
There are wrinkles (potential history), though.
Right now, Man City are favorites to win the league, but they are also relegation contenders. Yes, you read that right.
Why are bettors targeting Manchester City for relegation?
A hearing due to start in September will determine whether City is guilty of 115 alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules. It is possible that the EPL will punish City with points deductions, or even expel the club from the league.
The club’s predicament has led to bettors who believe the club will be misled by betting heavily on Manchester City – yes, the same Manchester City who have won the EPL title every year since the 2020-21 season – to be relegated.
More on how City could be relegated, and how sportsbooks and football bookmakers respond, to come.
Can Arsenal — or anyone — beat Manchester City?
The question that has dominated the betting conversation in the Premier League is the same as before (at least in recent memory).
Last year, City lifted the EPL trophy for the fourth consecutive season, becoming the first to win the league more than three times in a row.
Every year for the past seven years – Liverpool’s ’19-20 squad being the lone exception – no matter how many worthy challengers have emerged, City’s depth has barely caught up in this league. That is unlikely to change this year, although Arsenal should make it an interesting run again.
Some of City’s top players are nearing their end. Still, until it’s proven, you shouldn’t believe that the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, John Walker and Kyle Stones are really going down until you see it happen.
Many expected this to be Manager Pep Guardiola’s last season in Manchester. With his team on course to become the first in league history to win the title five years in a row, the safest bet is Guardiola riding the sun after a fifth consecutive title (best Man City 2024-25 title odds: +140 on DraftKings).
That being said, it’s hard to blame anyone as this bet is Arsenal’s year (Arsenal’s 2024-25 title chances at best: +170 in DK) gets over the hump.
The Gunners have almost won the trophy each of the past two years, and their upward trajectory – from 69 points in 2021-22 to 84 in ’22-23 to 89 in ’23-24 – is undeniable.
Major League ’24-25 Top-Four Betting Odds
Fortunately, there is plenty of intrigue as to who will take third and fourth place in this year’s Premier League.
How many EPL teams will qualify for the Champions League in ’24-25?
It is a big deal to finish in third or fourth place as the top four in the Premier League will automatically qualify for the prestigious – and extraordinary – UEFA Champions League in 2025-26.
Last year, Liverpool and Aston Villa finished behind City and Arsenal a year after ManU and Newcastle took the places.
The fact that the squads have moved up to third and fourth in 2023-24 a year after Liverpool finished fifth and Villa seventh is a good sign that every team that finished in the top eight last year has a realistic chance of finishing in the top four this season . .
Of course, oddsmakers give eight teams realistic (3-to-1 or lower) odds of finishing the upcoming season in the top four. Here are the eight teams that currently have the shortest possible four in 2024-25.
Each team’s finish in 2023-24 is listed in brackets.
bet365 | FanDuel | DraftKings | |
Manchester City (1) | -600 | -950 | -750 |
Arsenal (2) | -700 | -750 | -650 |
Liverpool (3) | -200 | -190 | -200 |
Chelsea (6) | +150 | +145 | +140 |
Tottenham (5) | +200 | +155 | +200 |
Newcastle (7) | +200 | +220 | +200 |
Manchester United (8) | +175 | +155 | +200 |
Villa Aston Kab (4) | +300 | +340 | +300 |
EPL Top-4 Odds, Analysis, Predictions
City and Arsenal – assuming the former won’t take a massive points deduction – look key to finishing fourth or better.
The question is which two clubs from Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham, Newcastle, Manchester United and Aston Villa will get the third and fourth place.
Liverpool lost long-time manager Jurgen Klopp this offseason, but oddsmakers don’t expect much of a drop-off for the team under new manager Arne Slot. There is nothing wrong with being bullish on Mo Salah and Co., but playing at Liverpool with minuscule chances is still hard to justify.
The odds suggest that choosing between Chelsea, Tottenham, Newcastle and Manchester United is essentially splitting hairs.
Chelsea were incredible last year, winning each of their last five games, and they are as loaded as anyone in the league in terms of pure talent.
There are many questions about the Blues in Year 1 under Enzo Maresca, but the same can be said about Tottenham, Newcastle and ManU.
So let’s go with the team with the highest ceiling in fourth place (or better).
EPL Top-Four Best Bets: Liverpool, Chelsea
- Chelsea’s best Premier League chances: +150 at bet365
- Liverpool are the best in the Premier League, possibly in the top four: -190 on FanDuel
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