On Saturday 11th August, the Premier League returns to action. Luckily for fans, this summer hasn’t been devoid of football with World Cup 2018 providing stacks of entertainment. While the quadrennial tournament has been taking plapce in Russia, Premier League clubs have been working hard at improving their teams for the upcoming 2018/19 campaign.
With so much action off of the pitch having already taken place, teams have begun to take shape and separate themselves from their league rivals, creating potential betting opportunities to capitalise on. So, now that there’s not long left until the start of the Premier League, here are a few predictions and tips.
West Ham United to finish in the top half
Source: Uber West Ham, via Twitter
After a poor start, West Ham United rallied to finish 13th in the Premier League last season. Despite making the team perform significantly better, the man brought in to rescue the club, David Moyes, left the club at the end of the campaign. West Ham now have former Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini in charge, and he’s got a lot of money to play with.
With Issa Diop, Lukasz Fabianski, and Ryan Fredericks already at the club, West Ham have been eagerly pursuing a huge range of top players to bolster their squad and have been linked to the likes of Felipe Anderson, Allasane Plea, Jack Wilshere, Joao Mario, and Xherdan Shaqiri. While Everton suffered for bringing in too many big names all at once last season, Pellegrini has a good record in such situations, which should result in the team improving on their last outing.
To finish in the top half of the table, West Ham are at 9/4 in the Premier League betting. They trail the likes of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Southampton, and Newcastle United but if West Ham land another two or three of their rumoured targets, they’ll boast a far superior squad to those teams, with a top manager at the helm as well.
Everton or Leicester to finish in the top six
Source: Ultra, via Twitter
Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, and Liverpool seem destined to land a top-six spot, but Arsenal are somewhat of an enigma coming into this season. The age of Arsene Wenger is over, and now Unai Emery has stepped up to manage the Gunners. When Sir Alex Ferguson retired at Manchester United, the club went into turmoil under David Moyes after he tried to adapt Ferguson’s team to his style while only adding two new players.
The new manager at Arsenal wants his team to play exciting and ambitious football, but has only made two signings so far – goalkeeper Bernd Leno and right-back Stephan Lichtsteiner. If Arsenal slip under new management, expect Everton at 6/1 or Leicester at 7/1 to break into the top six.
Mohamed Salah to score 25-29 goals
Source: Mohamed Salah, via Twitter
Last season, Salah dazzled the Premier League with his record-setting 32 goals in 36 games. The Egyptian paired with Roberto Firmino perfectly, with left winger Sadio Mane completing Liverpool’s deadly trio. But, if Brazil go deep in the World Cup 2018, Firmino may miss some preseason preparations and return to match sharpness later than his teammates. Firmino’s play is crucial to Salah’s scoring as he draws defenders away and supplies killer passes.
Salah isn’t expected to hit the scoring heights of last season, and if Firmino takes time to return to full speed, his rate of scoring may be hampered further. However, with more talented central midfielders brought in with Naby Keita and Fabinho, he should be getting plenty of service and still score a high volume of goals. Expect the Egyptian to score 25-29 goals, for which he’s at odds of 3/1 to do.
2018/19 is set to be another thrilling season of Premier League football, and while Manchester City are the heavy favourites to take the title, there are plenty of other betting opportunities to wager upon.
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