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13th Aug 2014 | Premier League

Premier League Tricast Tip

The bookies are expecting a big revival from Manchester United but last season's top three might set the standard again, but in a different order.

The only real surprise I see in the betting for the Premier League title race is that Manchester United have somehow emerged as third favourites (5/1 Betfred) despite finishing a distant 7th last time around.

The reasons for this are that everyone is viewing Louis van Gaal as a messiah and because, well, it’s Manchester United. In terms of ‘LVG’ he is a great coach, but he flopped in his most recent club season at Bayern Munich; the Bundesliga giants finished 3rd and the Dutchman was sacked in 2011. Besides which, David Moyes was not a bad manager but he struggled with a squad which lacked, and continues to lack, quality.

The bookies’ favourite for the title is Chelsea (19/10 Coral) and that looks very reasonable. Mourinho only finished four points off the pace last season without any sort of meaningful contribution from his strikers. Now with La Liga top scorer Diego Costa in his ranks, as well as Cesc Fabregas, ‘the Special One’ is spoilt for options going forward. The Blues already have the best defence by far, and I think they will prevail.

The current champions Manchester City (5/2 WilliamHill) will surely be there or thereabouts again, but may just have to settle for the runners-up spot in 2014-15. Manuel Pellegrini hasn’t done too much in the transfer market, and to be fair he didn’t need to, but I wonder if Yaya Toure can perform such heroic feats two years running. For the captain to score 20 league goals when he does so much else, was surely a one-off.

Last season’s nearly men Liverpool have been knocked down to fifth favourites (12/1 Ladbrokes) following the departure of star man Luis Suarez. The assumption is that his 31 goals can’t be replaced, and perhaps they can’t, but Brendan Rodgers still has a great deal going for him and I expect the Reds to surprise the same people all over again.

The likes of Dejan Lovren will add much needed steel to the defence and it may be that the Reds can challenge by keeping a few more clean sheets even if they aren’t quite so prolific down the other end.

With Arsenal and Spurs looking poised to battle Man Utd and perhaps Everton for the final Champions League spot, I’m predicting the same top three as last season, but in a different order. Chelsea-Man City-Liverpool is available as a tricast bet at market-leading odds of 22/1 with WilliamHill.

1pt Tricast: Chelsea-Man City-Liverpool 22/1 with William Hill
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Odds correct at time of publishing: 07:18 13th Aug, 2014 but subject to change

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