The Premier League fixtures were revealed yesterday to little fanfare due to the ongoing European Championships.
Accordingly William Hill has also released its odds for these opening games, with Leicester City priced at 10/11 to beat newbies Hull City. The more interesting odds on show though are those for the overall league winner.
Leicester themselves are priced at 25/1 to repeat their historic achievement, whilst the two Manchester clubs are the two favourites. With both clubs under new management this is set to be an exciting season, with the potential for a new Ferguson v Wenger rivalry emerging in the form of Guardiola and Mourinho.
Guardiola’s City are priced at 15/8 to be crowned champions whilst United are at 9/2. Next up is the London duo of Arsenal and Chelsea, both priced at 11/2 respectively.
The Cinderella story of Leicester City’s victory had a fairytale aspect for some punters too with more than a few stories coming out about big wins and cash outs from Foxes fans who’d placed a hopeful wager early on.
Whilst bookmakers won’t be offering odds of 5000/1 for some time, Will Hill Spokesman Joe Crilly is expecting that the Leciester effect will see a significant rise in betting on the forthcoming campaign.
Crilly said: “After Leicester’s incredible 5000/1, odds defying season, interest in the Premier League will be at an all-time high and we reckon turnover for the new season will be through the roof. Everyone will be backing their side to be this season’s Leicester.”
The highest price William Hill is offering for a team to win the Premier League is 1000/1. This is available on Swansea, Burnley, Hull City, Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Watford and West Brom.
Leicester themselves were relegation favourites this time last year and this will doubtless lead to some ill considered bets on these teams in a similar situation this time around.
Whether any of the managers in charge of these sides have the Ranieri capacity to turn is another matter entirely, but with a season which is particularly hard to call on the cards bookmakers will have a job on their hands pricing them up.