Premier League: Who Are The Favourites For The Top Four?
The 2022-23 Premier League season was one of the most unpredictable in recent memory.
Chelsea finished outside the top half of the table for the first time since the 1990s, Liverpool missed out on the top four, Arsenal led for over 90% of the campaign before ultimately collapsing under pressure to serial winners Manchester City, Newcastle United secured a Champions League spot and Brighton and Aston Villa nabbed European football by finishing sixth and seventh respectively.
That, plus the business that has been carried out during the summer transfer window, makes it very hard to call how the upcoming 2023-24 season is going to pan out — with the race for the top four in particular potentially one of the closest we have seen in recent years as there could be up to seven teams vying for the Champions League spots.
That said, let’s take a look at the EPL top four odds and see which sides are more favoured than others for the lucrative positions.
Manchester City – 1/12
A team guaranteed to feature in the top four, Manchester City haven’t missed out on Champions League football since they finished fifth in the very early days of the Abu Dhabi United Group’s tenure back in 2009-10.
They have had a relatively quiet transfer window, with only Mateo Kovacic brought in from Chelsea at the time of writing, but Pep Guardiola isn’t exactly in desperate need of new recruits as he aims to guide the Sky Blues to an unprecedented fourth-successive league title.
Arsenal – 4/11
Back in the Champions League spots for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign, not many pundits or fans would have seen Arsenal’s meteoric rise coming last year — and while they capitulated at the top late on, they look set to challenge Man City again in this coming season.
The Gunners’ hierarchy have spent a huge £210m on Kai Havertz, Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber this summer as they look to give head coach Mikel Arteta the ammunition he needs to keep up with the best sides in the league and Arsenal should find themselves in the top four once again.
Liverpool – 4/9
The 2022-23 season was a disappointing one for Liverpool. Despite a poor start, it did look like Jurgen Klopp’s men might have been able to salvage a place in the top four as they discovered some form late on. But they couldn’t catch Newcastle United as they finished four points behind the Magpies.
The Reds are expected to get back on track this season and they have been rejuvenated in the middle of the park by the arrivals of Alexis Mac Alister and Dominik Szoboszlai. It will be interesting to see if Klopp has managed to get his side back to their best during the off-season.
Manchester United – 8/13
The Erik ten Hag era got off to a fantastic start, with Manchester United clawing back into the Champions League with a third-place finish. But the Red Devils were still somewhat inconsistent last season and they will need to improve drastically if they are to climb further up the table this year.
That’s reflected by the fact Man United are the fourth favourites to claim a top four spot. There have been some big changes at Old Trafford this summer though, with David de Gea leaving the Theatre of Dreams after more than a decade while Mason Mount and Andre Onana have been brought in to help align the squad with Ten Hag’s vision.
Newcastle United – 6/4
While Newcastle United have been in fine form in the 18 months or so since they were bought by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, most notably finishing fourth last season, this campaign might be the biggest challenge yet for Eddie Howe and co.
Pressure is starting to mount for the Magpies to win one of the domestic cups and they also have to balance a busier schedule due to Champions League fixtures. Newcastle have arguably outperformed expectations under their new owners, but it will be fascinating to see whether they can keep on this upward trajectory or if they will be on the decline this season.
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Chelsea are next in line at 13/8 as they gear up to start a Premier League campaign under yet another new manager, while Tottenham Hotspur are outsiders for the top four at 4/1.
Image: Jonny Gios on Unsplash
