The difficulty of betting on soccer can vary, if you’re betting on the trophy winners, the Champions League is almost invariably won by Real Madrid and recently in the Premier League 19 teams compete for everything else whilst Manchester City romp to the title.
There are a number of reasons why Manchester City have been the best team in England for the last four years running. Their manager is arguably the best to have graced a dugout in the modern era and, in almost every position they have world class players.
If you’re looking for more reasons to explain their domestic dominance, there are 115 more that you can explore at your leisure… In the meantime, though we are going to take a closer look at their main rivals for the title this season and hypothesize whether they have what it takes to stop City from claiming their fifth successive Premier League.
Chelsea
Cards on the table here, we don’t think Enzo Maresca’s side are a credible rival to Manchester City this season. At the time of writing however they are fourth in the Premier League and, it’s better to profile three teams than just the two.
That being said, with a fair wind behind them Chelsea could find themselves engaged in the title race, even if only for a little while. The Blues looked to have totally transformed under the stewardship of Maresca who himself is a former student of Pep Guardiola.
The Italian is not only getting Chelsea to play a complex tactical system that is anathema to the West London club but he’s also getting the best out of a cast of players who have made a habit of underwhelming fans in recent seasons.
The extra spring in Chelsea’s step is their lack of meaningful European competition this season. Whilst the Conference League is undoubtedly a legitimate competition, Noah, Astana and Shamrock Rovers aren’t exactly Sporting, Juventus and PSG.
(This type of soccer doesn’t fit into the traditional ‘Chelsea way’, but it’s proving effective.)
Liverpool
Things have started well for Liverpool under Arne Slot. Currently the Reds find themselves top of the Premier League with six wins from their seven games thus far. They’ve also won both of their opening Champions League games as well.
The only caveat to that is the fact that they are yet to play anyone good. Sure, Liverpool fans might baulk at that suggestion, pointing to the 3-1 win against AC Milan at San Siro and the 3-0 dismantling of Manchester United at Old Trafford, but neither of those sides are very good.
Milan have only won three games this season and Manchester United find themselves in 14th placed in the league, just 5 points above the drop zone. Whilst we’re certainly not writing off Arne Slot’s men, we will have to reserve judgement until they have faced much sterner opposition.
(Apologies to Liverpool fans for the less than glowing appraisal of the season so far, please accept this as an olive branch.)
Arsenal
Mikel Arteta’s team have been the best non-115 charges team in the Premier League for the past two seasons running and look like being City’s closest rivals once again this season. Offensively they carry the triple threat of lightning quick wingers capable of scoring from everywhere, rapid one touch soccer and an incredible Stoke City-esque set-piece threat.
Defensively the Gunners are mean and miserly and are equally as comfortable facing counter attacking threats as they are aerial bombardments. For the past two seasons, there have been stages in the season where the bookies have made Arsenal the favorites for the title, before a few unexpected disappointing results cost them. These are the hardest sports to bet on, and it’s those shock defeats in the home straight that ensures soccer is ranked as second. Arteta has made his squad into warriors who have made a habit of rescuing victory from the jaws of defeat, he’ll be hoping that’s enough to go one better this season.
(This Arsenal team have it all, the only thing they’re missing is a Premier League title to show for it.)
In addition to that, his team buck the Arsenal trend in that they love to employ the dark arts and bully their opponents, a fact which must surely make the blood running through Arsene Wenger’s veins boil.
Will they win the league though? No. Manchester City have a far deeper squad which was the difference last season and the season before. It will once again be the difference this time round when early spring emerges and the lactic acid burning in the legs of the Arsenal players comes too much to bear.
There is one thing that could change all of that though, but unfortunately as our area of expertise lies outside of the courtroom, we couldn’t possibly speculate as to the likelihood of possible sanctions if City are found guilty of cheating FFP rules.
