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The Sun
a day ago
- Sport
- The Sun
Premier League winner odds 2025/26: Predictions and tips as Liverpool look to defend crown
THE PREMIER League is the most-watched domestic football league in the world. With iconic clubs like Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal, and some of the biggest stars in world football, it draws massive global audiences every week. Liverpool are the defending champions and the betting favourites to win again in the latest Premier League winner odds. Arne Slot's team have strengthened their squad with some big-money summer signings, but that doesn't guarantee success. The Reds were the third favourites last season behind Manchester City and Arsenal. However, City struggled and Arsenal focused more on the Champions League - leaving Liverpool to upset the odds and claim the title. Here we look at what will happen this season. Our focus in this article is on the Premier League title race, but don't forget the best football betting sites also offer odds on a whole host of different markets, including who will finish in the top four, be the top goalscorer, and also who will take the dreaded drop to the Championship. Have the bookies got their Premier League winner odds right this season? Let's take a closer look. Quick tips for the 2025/26 Premier League title winner and best bets Current Premier League standings The Premier League campaign gets underway in August with last season's top four most favoured by the bookies. Liverpool will start the season as favourites closely followed by Man City, Arsenal and Chelsea. The defending champions: Liverpool Liverpool won the title in 2024/25 at a canter. The Reds finished ten points clear of Arsenal in second place and 13 points ahead of Manchester City in third. Arne Slot basically won the title with the squad of players he inherited from previous boss Jurgen Klopp. The Dutchman made a few tactical tweaks here and there - making the Reds harder to score against, and also freeing up Mohamed Salah to have arguably his best ever season at Anfield - but by and large, it was Klopp's team. However, this season promises to be different at Anfield. The Reds have brought in Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez, and this is now Arne Slot's team. The arrival of Florian Wirtz is a statement signing. But will Wirtz slot seamlessly into the tried and tested Liverpool system, or will the team be totally restructured around the German? If it's the latter, it may be a season of transition at Anfield. The chasing pack: Arsenal & Manchester City Arsenal and Manchester City are the early second and third betting favourites. Arsenal fell away at the back end of the 2024/25 season, effectively gifting the title to Liverpool as the Gunners decided to focus their resources on the Champions League. As a result, Arsenal did come in for some criticism, with boss Mikel Arteta also coming under fire from sections of the crowd and media for his failure to sign a top quality striker in the previous summer and January transfer windows. The Gunners have rectified that this year. The big money signing of former Coventry City and Sporting Lisbon striker Viktor Gyökeres means there can be no excuses for Arsenal now. They have the striker they need, and along with the equally important signing of Martín Zubimendi in midfield, the Gunners now look to have a squad capable of winning the Premier League. Manchester City's fall from grace last season was both spectacular and unexpected. To help arrest the slide, City have made significant changes to their playing squad. Big money summer arrivals include Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders, James Trafford and Rayan Ait-Nouri. Exits that confirm the changing of the guard include Kyle Walker and Kevin De Bruyne. City will also have Rodri back after the influential midfielder missed most of last season. Having the Spaniard back will feel like a new signing and should have a major impact on the team. Furthermore, if Omar Marmoush can continue to build on his impressive start to life at the Etihad, City might be able to put together a stronger title challenge this time around. Can anyone else challenge? It will be interesting to see if anyone else can gatecrash the Premier League party and challenge last season's top three. Below, we take a closer look at the three teams most likely to challenge the domination of Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City at the top. Chelsea A bright start to the 2024/25 season saw Enzo Maresca's Chelsea become one of the betting favourites to win the Premier League. However, a post Christmas slump in their away form saw the Blues fall away, and towards the end of the campaign, Maresca's job was up for debate. After landing a top four finish and the Europa Conference League title, the club backed Maresca, and with Chelsea's remarkable FIFA Club World Cup win, they were immediately rewarded. Chelsea have also been busy in the transfer market. Included in their summer haul are strikers Liam Delap from Ipswich and João Pedro from Brighton. The two will offer Maresca plenty of variation in attack and will make Chelsea harder to predict and play against. They could be the game changers Chelsea need. The Blues have a very young and inexperienced squad. They look to be growing for the future. The long grind of a Premier League campaign caught them out in 2024/25, and they are probably still not quite ready to mount a title challenge just yet. Newcastle United Newcastle had a great 2024/25 season, winning the Carabao Cup and also finishing fifth in the table, giving them qualification for this season's Champions League. There does seem to be trouble ahead for the Toon Army and Eddie Howe. The club are hamstrung by FFP and are unable to compete with the likes of Liverpool, Man City, Arsenal and Chelsea in the transfer market. Newcastle seem to be relying on Howe to keep performing miracles. A lot of his playing squad are players for the future, and if they remain patient, there could be good times ahead. However, combining the Premier League with the rigours of the Champions League could see the Magpies struggle. A finish outside of the top four looks the most likely. Manchester United Manchester United surely can't be as bad again this season as they were last. The Red Devils probably finished lower than they needed to, as they did the same as Spurs in the Europa League and Arsenal in the Champions League, by focusing all their resources on their European campaign. Boss Ruben Amorim now has a preseason behind him. He is also ridding the club of players that haven't bought into his philosophy, and has made two top-quality additions in Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo. We have seen plenty of so-called game-changing transfers arrive at Old Trafford in recent years, only for them to perform as badly as the players they were bought to replace. If Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo follow the same path, it will only reinforce the belief that Manchester United's issues run far deeper than what is happening on the pitch. My Premier League title betting tips We've looked in detail at some of the teams likely to be in the race to land the Premier League title in 2025/26. Now it's time for my betting tips: My Premier League tricast One of the best bookies for Premier League betting is bet365, and they currently offering a Premier League tricast market. This is a bet where you predict who will finish in the top three of the Premier League, and in the correct order. It's a win-only bet, but with such long odds available, we are in a position to hedge our bets and make more than one selection. For me, Arsenal look to have the more settled starting eleven and playing squad this year. The arrivals of Martín Zubimendi and Viktor Gyökeres will make the Gunners stronger, and they are my pick to win the title. Yes, Liverpool have made some exceptional signings, but I'm wondering if Arne Slot is tinkering too much with a winning formula, so I can't back them to retain the title. However, I do see the Reds finishing second. The third selection in my Premier League tricast bet is Manchester City. Pep Guardiola will have Rodri back and City should still have enough quality to finish in the top three in what should be a competitive Premier League season. One final prediction is Chelsea. The Blues have grown in stature since the end of last season. The London club could well be in the mix, and they are an alternative to finishing third to Manchester City. Arsenal/Liverpool/Man City is 16/1, and Arsenal/Liverpool/Chelsea is 33/1. A bet on both will see a nice payday if either selection wins. Such is the length of the odds, you can throw in a couple more selections of your own and still get a nice payday if one of the wagers is successful. Top on Christmas Day While the Premier League may not pause for Christmas like some other European leagues, where teams sit - at both ends of the table - at the start of the festive period is still usually a strong indicator of where they'll end up come May. Historically, very few teams have survived the drop having propped up the table on Christmas Day and, throughout the 2010s and the start of the 2020s, the team who has topped the tree has more often than not stayed there. Liverpool led the way in the 2013/14, 2018/19 and 2020/21 seasons but were eventually caught by Manchester City on all three occasions. Similarly, Arsenal were unable to fend off Pep Guardiola's side in both 2022/23 and 2023/24. Liverpool are this year's title favourites, and are therefore the shortest price in this market too, but it is expected to be a much closer fight this time. Also, unlike last season, Arne Slot will be bedding in several new signings - especially at the top end of the pitch. It's by no means a given that Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike will be able to quickly adapt from Bundesliga to Premier League football. Arsenal's long-awaited striker signing, Viktor Gyökeres is, however, already well-versed in the English game having starred for Coventry City in the Championship prior to moving to Portugal. I'm backing him to hit the ground running quickly while Liverpool attempt to figure out how Salah and Wirtz will fit in the same team. Best in the North West If the Gunners are able to end what will be a 22-year wait for a Premier League title, it'll likely be a team from the North West finishing second. Even with Rodri returning, Manchester City feel like a team in rebuild mode and their performance at the Club World Cup shows that they're still some way off where they were a couple of years ago. Cherki, Reijnders and Aït-Nouri are exciting signings but they shouldn't be expected to immediately bring what City had in De Bruyne and Walker in those all-conquering teams of the past 5-10 years. The core of Liverpool's title-winning team is still very much in place - when you've got Alisson in goal, Virgil van Dijk at the heart of defence and Mo Salah making goal contributions almost every week, you'll always be in the conversation for the Premier League title. Important dates in the 2025/26 Premier League title race The Premier League title has been decided by margins of ten, two, five and one point in recent years. In the years where the margin was small, the head-to-head showdowns between the top two teams have often been where the destination of the title was decided. Significant dates for your diary this year are August 31st for Liverpool vs Arsenal and January 7th, 2026, for the return fixture. Man City will entertain Liverpool on November 8th, with Anfield hosting Pep's men on February 7th, 2026. Arsenal and City will clash at the Emirates on September 21st and again at the Etihad on April 18th, 2026. All six fixtures promise to be pivotal in the destination of the title, and all will have an impact on the latest Premier League outright winner odds. The Liverpool vs Arsenal showdown at the end of August already looks like a huge clash that could set the tone for the season ahead. However, run-ins at the end of the season can also go a long way to deciding who tops the table. Arsenal look to have the more favourable, with matches against Fulham (H), West Ham (A), Burnley (H), and Crystal Palace (A), while Liverpool may struggle as they have to face Man Utd (A), Chelsea (H), Aston Villa (A) and Brentford (H). How to follow the latest Premier League news and results It's important to keep up to date with all the latest football news if you are betting on the Premier League title race. You will find all the information you need to keep you up to speed with the latest goings on here at The Sun. For long-term markets, such as the title winner or top four, keeping an eye on the fixture list can really help. Knowing which teams have tough or favourable runs coming up can help you make more informed decisions on the bets you place. Premier League 2025/26 FAQs For more help with your 2025/26 Premier League betting, we have put together an informative FAQ section: 1. How many wins and points will a Premier League champion typically need? Roughly 85-90 points should be enough to win the Premier League, with 26 to 28 wins required to hit that target. Liverpool won the title with 84 points (25 wins) last season. However, in the 2023/24 season, Man City won the title with 91 points, with Arsenal finishing second on 89 - with City and Arsenal both winning 28 matches. 2. How often do teams retain the Premier League title? It is not easy for teams to retain the Premier League title. Manchester United and Chelsea managed it in the early 2000s, with only Manchester City able to achieve it since. City went back-to-back in 2017/18 and 2018/19, and they also won four in a row from the 2020/21 season to 2023/24. Such a record of domination is extremely rare. 3. Does the Premier League title race often go to the final day? The first Premier League campaign was the 1992/93 season, and the title has been decided on the final day ten times since its inauguration. Manchester City's 2012 "Sergio Agüero moment" remains the most famous Premier League final-day ending of all. 4. Which team has overcome the longest odds to win the Premier League title? Leicester City won the Premier League title from odds of 5000/1 in the 2015/16 season. The Foxes were expected to be in the relegation dogfight, but stunned the world of football by going the distance and winning their first ever top-flight title under Claudio Ranieri. Remember to gamble responsibly A responsible gambler is someone who: For help with a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or go to to be excluded from all UK-regulated gambling websites.
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Stuart century sees Social Circle close gap at the top
A win for chasers Farnworth Social Circle and defeat for leaders Read returned some jeopardy to the Anthony Axford North West Cricket League Premiership title race on Saturday. Star displays from Bajan professional Jameel Stuart with the bat and Lewis Whittle with the new ball - 136 off 106 balls and 6-42 respectively - helped second-placed Social Circle brush aside defending champions Blackrod for a 10th win in 13 games. Stuart scored his third league century of 2025 and became the first man in either division to pass 900 runs this summer, underpinning 247-9 from 44 overs. In reply, Whittle was the chief protagonist in bowling hosts Blackrod out for 162, an 85-run win. Read, meanwhile, lost only their second league game - this at home to mid-table Salesbury, whose sixth win was set up by a more eye-catching century than Stuart's. Salesbury's South African pro Garnett Tarr, batting at number three, crashed 12 sixes in 164 off 104 balls as they posted 263-8 in only 35 overs. Read, who lost their Hamer Cup semi-final to Padiham last Sunday, were set a revised 198-target in 24 overs but slipped to 50-6 and 123 all out. Tarr's outstanding day continued thanks to 5-44 with off-spin. Mid-table Salesbury's sixth win - this by 74 runs - means leaders Read (126 points) and Farnworth SC are separated by only 11 points with nine games left. They play each other a week on Saturday. The majority of rainy Saturday matches were subject to reduced overs. But there was only one game which failed to finish - the battle between two teams at the wrong end of the Championship, Earby at home to Brinscall (7-0 after two overs). Both teams took five points apiece. The Premiership clash between Lostock and Tonge was the only game not reduced. Lostock won by seven wickets chasing 152, their fifth win in 13. However, they remain in ninth place. Mid-table visitors Tonge were bowled out for 151 as new-ball seamer Reece Gray picked up three wickets. Opener Matt Lamb top-scored with a patient 46 in reply. Like the Premiership title race, the Championship promotion battle is fascinating. The top five teams are separated by only 28 points. Ribblesdale Wanderers (119, 15 games) are top but were beaten at second-placed Whalley (115, 13) by three wickets. After limiting Ribblesdale to 117-5 from 26 overs, Whalley chased a revised 128. Despite losing regular wickets, they were always in control. Whalley pro Levi Wolfenden impressed with two wickets and a sharp 50 in win number nine. Mid-table Baxenden put a spanner in the works of third-placed Cherry Tree's (101 points, 12 games) progression, claiming a 33-run win on the road in defence of a 145-target in 29 overs. Baxenden's seventh win in 14 games came despite being bowled out for 144, including Matthew Austin's tail-end 33. Pro Ben Gorton then struck five wickets as Cherry Tree slipped from 59-1 to 111 all out, losing for the fourth time. Barnoldswick (99, 12) kept themselves in the Championship promotion conversation with a landslide eighth win, this one by 148 runs at Oswaldtwistle Immanuel. Openers Abdul and Amir Saddique contributed 75 and 62 respectively - the brothers shared a 104-partnership - to a 210-4 total from 31 overs before the former also claimed five wickets in mid-table Oswaldtwistle's 62 all out. Overseas amateur Deron Greaves, from St Vincent and the Grenadines, also had a good day for Barnoldswick with 50 and four wickets. Fifth-placed Astley Bridge (91 points, 13 games) were winners by 73 runs at Walkden in a 42-over game which saw the visitors post a commanding 249-5 thanks largely to Rick Northrop's fine 97 off 94 balls. In reply, captain Syd De Silva claimed four wickets with spin as Walkden were bowled out for 176. Bridge won for the seventh time this summer. Back in the Premiership, third-placed Padiham's seventh win came by 23 runs at home to Atherton, who dropped into the bottom two as a result. Padiham's 195-5 in 29 overs was led by Callum Clarke's well paced 59 before Atherton, chasing a revised 208 in 26, finished on 184-5. They had been usefully placed at 93-1 in the 14th over, but home captain Toby Burrows spun his way to four wickets. Padiham have 93 points, 22 adrift of second-placed Farnworth Social Circle and 33 behind leaders Read. Farnworth (60 points) leapfrogged Atherton (59 points) out of the bottom two to 10th place. They dented Kearsley's bid for a top-four finish with a 35-run home success, their third win of the summer. Farnworth posted 150-9 from 37 overs, captain and opener Tayler-Jay Heyes top-scoring with a patient 62. In defence, sub pro Anuk Fernando (Rawtenstall) and new-ball partner Yasir Rashid equally shared eight wickets in Kearsley's 115 all out. Farnworth also jumped above Eagley, who fell to bottom of the table despite a thrilling win at mid-table Little Lever, by two runs defending a revised target of 147 in 27 overs. Harvey Seigne's brisk middle-order 52 underpinned Eagley's 146-5 before Little Lever moved to the verge of victory, needing nine to win off the last two overs at 138-5 with Pakistani pro Muhammad Junaid unbeaten on 86. But Junaid fell for 87 to James Richards in the penultimate, and Seigne then defended six off the last over as the hosts finished on 144-7. Eagley won for the fourth time in 13 and have 58 points.
Daily Mail
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Mikel Arteta makes telling title race admission after another season without silverware at Arsenal
Mikel Arteta has admitted that he knew Arsenal would fall short in the Premier League title race before the season even started. The Gunners, whose exit from the Champions League last week confirmed yet another season without silverware at the Emirates, are primed to finish second in the Premier League for the third straight campaign following Liverpool 's title triumph. The Reds, who host Arsenal at Anfield on Sunday, won the Premier League with seven games remaining as Arteta's side continued to drop points while focusing on Champions League knockout ties with PSV, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain. The north London club, who sit 15 points behind Liverpool ahead of Sunday's match, will be looking to wrap up Champions League qualification with Manchester City, Newcastle, Chelsea and Aston Villa all within four points of the 67 they have tallied. Despite heading into 2024-25 season as one of the favourites to win the title, alongside perennial winners Man City, the Gunners have struggled for consistency throughout the campaign due in part to a wealth of injury problems. Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Magalhaes and Gabriel Jesus are among those to have suffered lengthy spells on the sidelines throughout the season, with Arsenal experiencing a shortage of options in particular up front. 'There are a lot of factors,' Arteta said after being asked about Arsenal's title challenge. 'We knew from the beginning of the season that our squad was super short. 'Being super short we had some players that had a high probability of getting injured, because that's what they had in the last few seasons. 'So we knew that and we cannot do anything about it. 'But we will do everything that we can to improve the team and especially improve the players that we already have. 'That is not something we have just started to talk about now. If we were only having those meetings now we would be doing it very late. 'Whatever the market offers to give us a better chance to win for sure we will try to do it. 'Over the season there are many things you need to go your way. 'In the clinical moments, does the ball hit the post and come out, or go in? That's the fine margins. 'What we have to try to do is to amplify the margins. The bigger the margins are, even if those things happen, then it will be very difficult for the opposition. 'We have to do it our way. We have to be authentic with ourselves and what we believe, what we can do and what we've been doing. That's it.' Arsenal were hoping to end the season with a historic Champions League honour, but the north London club were unable to surpass PSG at the semi-final stage. The upcoming summer transfer window is likely to be an extremely important one for Arsenal and Arteta, with Real Sociedad star Martin Zubimendi already understood to have agreed a deal to sign ahead of the new campaign. Arsenal are also in the market for a new striker, with Sporting Lisbon forward Viktor Gyokeres and RB Leipzig star Benjamin Sesko among those linked with a move to the Emirates.
