Betting on the Premier League winner for the 2024/25 season: who are bidders backing the most?

The new season of the English Premier League kicks off on August 16. Let's talk about the upcoming season, the top favourites, and which clubs bettors are backing the most often.

Top 5 favorites according to bookmakers

Just like before the previous season, the top 3 contenders are Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool, which improved its chances despite having a new coach. Chelsea and MU exchanged their positions perhaps due to Chelsea’s fantastic finishing sprint last season and Cole Palmers’ decent play, which made the midfielder one of top 6 contenders for the Golden Boot at 20/1. 

Below is the table with the main contenders for the Premier League title in the upcoming season.

According to Bet365 statistics, players prefer to bet on the following 6 clubs in the Premier League:

People believe in Red Devils more than bookmakers do. It’s in the third position, while according to the biggest betting sites its chances to finish even in the top 4 are not that high. You can bet on their win at 2/1. What is really mindblowing is that the sixth most popular club for betting this season is Ipswich Town just promoted from the Championship. They have odds of 250/1 to win the title. But there might be something more besides highly attractive odds that make bettors push their money.

Manchester City: Guardiola’s Swan Song?

Almost 43 percent of all bettors choose the reigning champions as their favorites. Some experts predict that there has to be a drop-off at some point after what is now four Premier League titles in a row. At the same time as being rumored this may be the final season of Pep Guardiola in Manchester. Guardiola has already stated that he would like to work with a national team. He's even considered the most likely successor to Gareth Southgate as England's national team manager. But as for now his mind will definitely stay focused on a perfect ending and an unthinkable fifth title in a row.

Last season Manchester scored tremendous 96 goals (1st place in The League). Only injuries can stop Erling Haaland from becoming the top scorer once again. Even missing plenty of huge chances he secured the Golden Boot with 27 goals. The odds for him to become the top goalscorer once again are 17/25. Man City surely won’t have such a poor transfer window as during summer 2023, meaning a fully patched-up midfield. The right wing has already been refreshed with a young Brazilian star Savinho having 9 goals and 10 assists under his belt in the previous season in La Liga.

City said goodbye to the central defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis that left to Southampton for £19 million. But the club managed to save their both defending and attacking potential including of course Kevin De Bruyne (10 assists), Phil Foden (19 goals) and the best player of the Euros Rodri (3633 passes). With their solid defense, betting on Manchester City to win to nil against mid-table teams could offer favorable odds in the upcoming season. Another good option is to bet on City not to lose at home. As there were 14 victories, 5 draws and no losses at all on the home soil last season. De Bruyne by the way is leading among those to become the top assistant. His odds are 9/4.

Arsenal: will Arteta help to achieve the team’s goal?

Arsenal are the coming force. After two title-race test runs in 2022/23 and 2023/24, this campaign may well be their time. Year on year the team has improved under Mikel Arteta, and if that happens again the Gunners will reach 90+ points. Almost 24 percent of bettors choose Arsenal as a potential winner of the league this season. And the team is a huge favourite among the teams to become the best London club. The odds are 1/4.

Last season Arsenal showed impressive results of 28 winning matches sharing the first position with Man City. Arsenal's key acquisition is goalkeeper David Raya from Brentford for £27 million. While on loan at Arsenal last season, he became the best goalkeeper in the Premier League with 16 clean sheets. No big transfers of the field players have yet been announced. However, all the key figures stayed in the club. Martin Odegaard is in the prime of his career. He is among the top 3 players that created most chances last season. With 102 chances he has only Pascal Gross (103) and Bruno Fernandes (114) ahead of him.  Bukayo Saka assisted nine goals last season, four fewer than the winner Ollie Watkins, but this season he is expected to do much more as he might be provided with a proper goalscoring centre-forward. Declan Rice impressed with his long ball accuracy last season (78) and is still progressing. The last but not the least is the French star William Saliba. With 2839 passes he is in the top five after last season.

Arsenal is the second scoring team of the League. Their average number of goals away is 2,26. Stats of home matches are even more impressive. With an average of 2.53 goals betting on Arsenal total over 2,5 is a reasonable option. Especially if they get that one much needed striker. For example, in the upcoming home match against Wolverhampton the betting odds for Arsenal to score over 2.5 are 17/20.

Manchester United: Will the period of inconsistency finally have an end?

The main issues of Man United under Erik ten Hag last season were related to squad rotation. But if the team will not be as inconsistent and ravaged with injuries as they were during 2023/24 they will surely improve. More than 7 percent of players still believe in the Red Devils.

Bruno Fernandes created the most chances in each of the last two seasons. With a better season expected from Manchester United, Fernandes should get some tangible reward for his efforts. Having lost three big names as free agents including Casemiro, Varane and Martial, MU got £22 million from Marseille for Mason Greenwood. But their expenses are much higher. The centre-back Leni Yoro from Lille and the centre-forward Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna cost them £88 million. 18-year-old Yoro is seen as one of the future biggest defensive stars of the EPL. Even now he is compared to such giants as Saliba and Ruben Dias. His Aerial Duel Success (64.79%) figures are higher than those of Saliba (59.50%) and Dias (52.22%). As well as the number of interceptions (1.3 vs 0.8 and 1.1 respectively).

With signing Yoro, Man United can finally move on from their centre-back conundrum, just as their rivals did years ago. Having Onana in the top 5 goalkeepers with 9 clean sheets, the Red Devils may expect improvement in the number of conceded goals. Last season, Manchester United conceded an average of 1.53 goals per match. But in the upcoming match against Fulham chances of the away team to score over 1.5 are pretty small. The Fulham to score under 1.5 odds are 39/100, which says a lot about Manchester strengthened defense line.

Liverpool: What will Klopp’s successor show?

The Reds find themselves under the new management. Arne Slot has a good reputation due to his achievements with Feyenoord. Slot’s appointment brings a fresh perspective to Liverpool’s tactical approach. His tenure at Feyenoord was marked by his ability to outperform more illustrious competitors, making him a suitable successor to Klopp. A bit less than 7 percent of players bet on Liverpool to win the Championship.

Very much depends on the transfers that the new manager will make. Just as Man United, The Reds lost some important veterans. Adrián and Joel Matip left after their contracts expired and Thiago Alcántara retired. So far, no new signings have been confirmed. But there are links to several promising players. Potential additions include one of top 3 assistants of the last season Anthony Gordon (10 assists) from Newcastle, Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen, and João Neves from Benfica. Mo Salah remains Liverpool’s standout player. He is in the top 7 scorers (18) and top 3 assistants (10) of the last season. With 155 goals in 250 appearances for the club, Salah’s scoring ability makes him one of the Golden Boot contenders. He is Haaland's main contender with 10/1 odds to become the best goalscorer. Not to forget about one of the Euro’s top scorers Cody Gakpo. Slot has at least two more aces up his sleeve. Wataru Endo proved his exceptional ability to read the game and break up opposition play. He completed 48 tackles and 20 interceptions last season and would be one of the most important players for the Reds in the upcoming campaign. The 21-year-old midfielder Harvey Elliott is one of Liverpool’s most promising young talents. He had a breakthrough season, scoring three goals and providing six assists. He completed 793 passes, averaging 53 per game, and created 37 chances at a rate of 2.5 per match. 

It’s hard to predict the tactics of the new manager before the squad is full. Some experts mention that Slot is known for maximising player potential and will likely build on high-pressing, attacking football. On the other hand, we need to keep in mind that Slot's Feyenoord side kept clean sheets in 50 per cent of their Eredivisie matches last season. Such an experience may push Slot to solidify Liverpool defensively. Especially having Alisson - one of the world’s very best goalkeepers. So an interesting option may be to bet on Liverpool’s clean sheet. Especially on Anfield. But even playing away such a bet makes sense. Last season Liverpool conceded an average of 1.08 goals per match. And looks like they are able to improve the stats. In the upcoming game against Ipswich the home team has 67/50 odds to score under 0.5.

Chelsea: The dark horse of the season?

Chelsea’s 2023/24 season was a tale of two halves. Despite a disappointing start, the team showed remarkable resilience and rediscovered their form in the latter part of the season. After that rollercoaster ride the team found itself in 6th place. Mauricio Pochettino was replaced with Enzo Maresca who just promoted Leicester City to the Premier League. About 5 and a half percent of players bet on Chelsea. The team is a second contender for the best London club title with 6/1 odds. 

Chelsea scored 77 goals last season (5th place) and won 18 matches (6th place). This generally corresponds to their position in the league table. Perhaps the only player standing out amid the team's average performance is Cole Palmer.  The midfielder that won the Premier League Young Player of the Year award and the Player of the Season award. He is the second best goal scorer (22) and the second best assistant (11) of the last season. He appeared in 33 out of 38 games and was only substituted 4 times. He scored almost one third of all the goals of the team. Such dependence on one player rarely turns out well for the team. The coaching staff, of course, understands this. The club is actively using the transfer window. Kirnan-Duesbury Hall, the third best Championship's assistant (14) came from Leicester for almost £30 million. Another big acquisition is an 18-year-old talent Omari Kellyman from Aston Villa. Unfortunately for the Blues team, he is still recovering after an injury and will probably miss the start of the season. The good news is that Chelsea may count on one more homegrown young player Leo Castledine, who just recently graduated from the Chelsea academy, and seems to have a bright future in the midfield. Another good news is that Chelsea still have enough money in the pocket after receiving almost £100 million for the transfers of Ian Maatsen, Lewis Hall and Omari Hutchinson.

Judging by the young attacking players that Maresca is bringing into the team, Chelsea will be focusing on an aggressive style of football. Palmer will have more options in attack that will definitely affect the number of goals. Yet the stability might be doubtful as the previous season showed. In the upcoming home match against another dangerous attacking team Manchester City you can bet on over 3,5 goals at 59/50 odds.

Ipswich Town: The new Cinderella story?

Ipswich have ended 22 years of the Premier League exile in a way few could have imagined. More than 2 and a half percent of players choose Ipswich as their favourites this season. The bet may look exotic but many remember the Cinderella story of Leicester – another team promoted to the Premier League this year. For those who read signs this cannot be a coincidence. 

Bookmakers’ figures say Ipswich is not among the favourites. In the upcoming match against Liverpool they are huge underdogs. Their odds to win are 31/5. But betting on underdogs is not such a rare thing for the players. Last season Nottingham Forest was the eighth most popular team among bettors. The club finished 17th as we remember. Yet there are some factors that make a bet on Ipswich more or less reasonable. 

Ipswich is one of the most active players on the transfer market this summer. Getting rid of 5 free agents they have already spent about £70 million on new players. First of all they announced the permanent signing of Omari Hutchinson from Chelsea in a club-record deal (£22 million). The club will be pleased to have the youngster remain at Portman Road Stadium, given the fact that his 10 goals and six assists helped them reach the Premier League. Ipswich Town remain in talks to secure Sammie Szmodics from Blackburn Rovers, the top scorer of the last Championship season with 27 goals. They also keep the top assistant of the Championship Leif Davis (18 assists).

Ipswich is the top scoring team of the Championship with 92 goals. Considering the team's attacking style and transfers, it can be assumed that bets on high totals in Ipswich matches will often pay off. For example, you can bet on over 2.5 against Liverpool at 47/100. 

Most of the above mentioned Premier League teams demonstrated an increasing number of goals scored over the last two seasons. Man City improved from 94 (2,47 per match) to 96 (2,53). Arsenal moved from 88 (2,32) to 91 (2,39). And while Man United slightly stepped back from 58 (1.53) to 57 (1,50), Liverpool and Chelsea made a huge jump from 75 (1,97) and 38 (1) to 86 (2,26) and 77 (2,03) respectively. These figures reflect the total Premier League statistics of a dramatically increasing number of goals. In the season 22/23 1084 goals were scored (2,85), but in 23/24 they scored an enormous 1246 goals (3,28). That demonstrates to us the growing competition level. In terms of betting, this indicates the advisability of betting on over 2 and over 3 in many cases.