High-flying Man City have become the lowest-priced favourites to win the Premier League at this stage of the season in history after thumping Stoke 7-2 at the weekend. They have banged in 28 goals in just eight games, more than any team since the 19th century. As chief rivals Man Utd dropped points against Liverpool, and Chelsea slumped to a shock defeat against bottom team Crystal Palace, City opened up a two-point lead at the top of the table. They are now just 1.33 with Sun Bets and 1.40 with various others of BMR’s green-listed bookmakers, such as Bet365, Ladbrokes and William Hill, to win the Premiership this season.
The best price on offer for Pep Guardiola’s men is 1.44 at Stan James. City are in sensational form and show no signs of slowing down, so the rest of the Premiership must be very afraid. However, it is worth noting that they won their opening 10 games in all competitions last season, only to fall away and end up third in the Premiership, leaving Guardiola without a trophy for the first time in his managerial career. Yet they seem a different animal this time around, and most of their challengers have gone backwards.
Champions Chelsea are in dire straits after losing to City, Burnley and Palace and are already nine points behind. It is all too reminiscent of the 2015/16 campaign, when they were champions and finished mid-table after some shocking results. They are struggling to deal with the rigours of the Premiership and the Champions League and are suffering from a poor transfer window by their high standards. Liverpool have been wildly inconsistent and they too are nine points behind. Arsenal are ridiculous and cannot really be considered title contenders any more.
Tottenham, third in 2015/16 and second last season, are an interesting dark horse at 15.0000 with Bet365, Paddy Power and various others, as they are still within five points of City and seem to be improving. In Harry Kane they possess a great striker, and they are strong defensively. However, they need to overcome their Wembley hoodoo and start picking up more points at home. Man Utd are their closest challengers and there is no shame in drawing away at Anfield, but they were second best against Liverpool and lucky to escape with a point. They are solid defensively, and big and strong across the team, but they lack City’s flair.
Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva are pulling the strings from deep with devastating results, and Gabriel Jesus, Sergio Aguero, Leroy Sane, Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva are all banging in outrageous amounts of goals. They have suffered a couple of injuries, but it has not mattered one jot. Odds of 1.44 look tempting as their rivals are struggling and they are thriving.
Meanwhile, over in Italy, Napoli cannot stop winning and they are also leading the goal scoring charts in Serie A, where they are top of the table and five points clear of champions Juventus. They are blessed with continuity after keeping the side together in the summer, and they have made a sensational start to the campaign. They are now odds-on favourites to win the league with most bookmakers but Sportingbet – who still favour Juventus – have made them 2.35 outsiders and that looks a great bet. You could make it a double with City to win the Premiership.
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