Manchester United won the league title at a canter last year, and it looks like more of the same this time around. In spite of losing such experienced players as Paul Scholes and Edwin van der Sar, they actually look stronger as a squad this year – which must be scaring the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea! After their 8-2 drubbing of Arsenal, United are firm favourites to hold on to the title – at 6/5 with most bookies.
Second favourites are Manchester City, and you can see why. Sergio Aguero has given them a new lease of life up-front, complementing Edin Dzeko’s toe-poking, goal-snatching forward play, and helping to make City one of the best teams to watch this season. A solid defence (carried over from last season) means that City will be difficult to beat even if they do fail to score, so it’s no surprise to see the Manchester Blues at 2/1.
With Arsenal failing to live up to the hype yet again, and with Liverpool and Spurs happy just to break into the top four (and the Champions League), that only leaves Chelsea as realistic contenders. At 4/1 they might be worth a punt – especially given that they have a new coach who has yet to really see his vision on the pitch. As Andre Villas-Boas asserts himself in the dressing room, expect a more free-flowing Chelsea side to emerge, and possibly take home the trophy…