Premier League Preview 2017/18 – Where to put your money
The new Premier League season is almost upon us and money is starting to flood in for the outright winners market. Already there has been over £500,000 matched on Betfair.
Currently the Betfair exchange suggests that Man City are the favourites with Manchester Utd following closely behind. Last seasons winners Chelsea are only third favourites and can be backed at 5.3 (9/2) right now. Pretty good odds for the team that walked the league only a few months ago.
At the other end of the table newly promoted Huddersfield are the early favourites for the drop but Burnley fans might be concerned to see that they are second favourites behind Huddersfield to go down.
Here’s a run down of what each club has been getting up to in pre season and how it might effect the league table come May next year.
Arsenal
Transfers In:
- Alexandre Lacazette – Lyon, undisclosed
- Sead Kolasinac – Schalke, free
Transfers Out:
- Yaya Sanogo – released
- Stefan O’Connor – released
- Kristopher da Graca – released
- Kostas Pileas – released
- Takuma Asano – Stuttgart, loan
- Chris Willock – Benfica, undisclosed
- Glen Kamara – Released
- Marc Bola – Bristol Rovers, loan
With no significant departures so far Arsenal with be hoping they can hang on to star players Ozil and Sanchez. It remains unclear whether either of these will be still at Arsenal at the start of the season. Their performance this season will heavily depend on the futures of these 2 players as it will be almost impossible for them to be replaced. Alexandre Lacazette is an excellent signing and could be the goal scorer Arsenal have been looking for. Olivier Giroud is almost certainly set to leave with a number of Premier League clubs interested.
- Current Odds to win the League (Betfair Sportsbook) : 12/1
- Our prediction: 5th
Bournemouth
Transfers In:
- Asmir Begovic – Chelsea, undisclosed
- Jermain Defoe – Sunderland, free
- Nathan Ake – Chelsea, £20m
- Connor Mahoney – Blackburn, free
Transfers Out:
- Callum Buckley – released
- Jake McCarthy – released
- Alexander Neale – released
- Max Travers – Weymouth, loan
- Ryan Allsop – Blackpool, loan
Bournemouth had a fantastic season this year and will be hoping for more of the same this time around. They have so far held onto all their first team squad. They have also gambled in the transfer market, breaking their club record transfer fee by paying £20m for Chelsea’s Nathan Ake. A lot will also depend on whether Jermaine Defoe can continue to score goals at this level, though he proved last season he shows no signs of slowing down by scoring 15 league goals for a Sunderland side who finished bottom.
- Current Odds to win the League (Betfair Sportsbook) : 12/1
- Our prediction: 14th
Brighton
Transfers In:
- Pascal Gross – Ingolstadt, undisclosed
- Josh Kerr – Celtic, undisclosed
- Mathew Ryan – Valencia, undisclosed
- Markus Suttner – Ingolstadt, undisclosed
Transfers Out:
- Casper Ankergren – retired
- Vegard Forren – released
- Chris O’Grady – Chesterfield, free
- David Stockdale – Birmingham, free
- Elvis Manu – Genclerbirligi SK, free
- Christian Walton – Wigan, loan
- Rob Hunt – Oldham, undisclosed
Brighton while having no real star players were the form team for much of last seasons Championship. Falling just short of winning the league behind Newcastle who spent in excess of £50 million on their squad. Chris Hughton has show once again that he can build sides with a great work ethic and team spirit. We do feel however that Brighton will struggle badly this season and will probably make a sharp return to the Championship. They don’t have the lure or the financial clout of any of the other teams around them so are unlikely to add any star signings before the season starts.
- Current Odds to win the League (Betfair Sportsbook) : 1500/1
- Current Odds to be releagted : 5/4
- Our prediction: 19th – Relegated
Burnley
Transfers In:
- Jon Walters – Stoke City, undisclosed
- Charlie Taylor – Leeds, tribunal to decide
- Jack Cork – Swansea, undisclosed
Transfers Out:
- Michael Keane – Everton, £30m
- Michael Kightly – Southend, free
- Joey Barton – released
- George Green – released
- R J Pingling – released
- Christian Hill – released
- Taofiq Olmowewe – released
- Josh Ginnelly – Lincoln, loan
- George Boyd – Sheffield Wednesday, free
- Brad Jackson – Southport, loan
- Ntumba Massanka – Wrexham, loan
- Rouwen Henning – Fortuna Dusseldorf, free
- Paul Robinson – retired
Burnley only narrowly avoided relegation last season mainly due to how poor the other teams were as opposed to their own abilities. Their home form kept them up in the end. Sean Dyches team struggled badly on the road winning only once. Their loss of star defender Michael Keane to Everton is likely to badly affect them and unless they can reinvest some of the £30 million fee we think Burnley could be struggling badly come May.
- Current Odds to win the League (Betfair Sportsbook) : 1000/1
- Current Odds to be relegated : 13/10
- Our prediction: 18th – Relegated
Chelsea
Transfers In:
- Willy Caballero – Manchester City, free
- Antonio Rudiger – Roma, £34m
- Tiemoue Bakayoko – Monaco, £40m
- Ethan Ampadu – Exeter, free
Transfers Out:
- Juan Cuadrado – Juventus, £17.3m
- Christian Atsu – Newcastle, £6.2m
- Asmir Begovic – Bournemouth, undisclosed
- Dominic Solanke – Liverpool, fee by tribunal
- John Terry – Aston Villa, free
- Alex Davey – released
- Fankaty Dabo – Vitesse, loan
- Bertrand Traore – Lyon, £8.8m
- Nathan Ake – Bournemouth, £20m
- Tammy Abraham – Swansea, loan
- Kasey Plamer – Huddersfield, loan
- Bradley Collins – Forest Green, loan
- Charlie Colkett – Vitesse Arnhem, loan
- Ola Aina – Hull City, loan
- Mukhtar Ali – Vitesse, undisclosed
- Ruben Loftus-Cheek – Crystal Palace, loan
- Nathan Baxter – Woking, loan
- Alex Kiwomya – Doncaster, free
- Josimar Quintero – Rostov, loan
- Todd Kane – Groningen, loan
- Nathan Chalobah – Watford, undisclosed
- Lucas Piazon – Fulham, loan
- Marco Van Ginkel – PSV Eindhoven, loan
- Ike Ugbo – Barnsley, loan
Last season Chelsea strolled to the title and despite a late effort from Tottenham nobody really came close to catching them. This season they have added 2 experienced players in Antonio Rudiger and Tiemoue Bakayoko who should be perfectly adapted to the physicality of the Premier League. They have also moved on a great number of players who were on the fringes of the team, recouping a lot of their transfer outlay. Chelsea could have a lot more to do in the transfer window yet and have been heavily linked with Gonzalo Higuain with a reported £88m bid recently turned down. Whether they get him or not it’s obvious that Chelsea are willing to spend big this summer to retain their title and build a squad capable of challenging for the Champions League.
- Current Odds to win the League (Betfair Sportsbook) : 7/2
- Our prediction: 1st – Champions
Crystal Palace
Transfers In:
- Ruben Loftus-Cheek – Chelsea, loan
Transfers Out:
- Steve Mandanda – Marseille, undisclosed
- Corie Andrews – released
- Kwesi Appiah – AFC Wimbledon, free
- Jonathan Benteke – released
- Fraizer Campbell – released
- Luke Croll – Exeter, free
- Mathieu Flamini – released
- Ezekiel Fryers – Barnsley, free
- Ryan King-Elliott – released
- Joe Ledley – released
- Randell Williams – released
- Ben Wynter – Bromley, free
After the unexpected departure of Sam Allardyce Palace have spent most of the summer chasing a new manager. Frank De Boer was recently unveiled. We would expect Palace to be getting involved in the transfer market shortly but with an already strong squad they should be well clear of danger this season.
- Current Odds to win the League (Betfair Sportsbook) : 750/1
- Current Odds to be relegated : 9/2
- Our prediction: 10th
Everton
Transfers In:
- Wayne Rooney – Man Utd, undisclosed
- Jordan Pickford – Sunderland, £30m
- Davy Klaassen – Ajax, £23.6m
- Henry Onyekuru – Eupen, undisclosed
- Sandro Ramirez – Malaga, £5.25m
- Michael Keane – Burnley, £30m
- Josh Bowler – QPR, £4.25m
- Cuco Martina – Southampton, free
- Nathangelo Markelo – FC Volendam, free
- Boris Mathis – Metz, free
- Anton Donkor – Wolfsburg, loan
Transfers Out:
- Romelu Lukaku – Manchester United, £90m
- Tom Cleverley – Watford, undisclosed
- Henry Onyekuru – Anderlecht, loan
- Brendan Galloway – Sunderland, loan
- Arouna Kone – Sivasspor, free
- Conor McAleny – Fleetwood, free
- Jack Bainbridge – released
- Delial Brewster – Chesterfield, free
- Michael Donohue – Fleetwood, free
- Tyrone Duffus – released
- Russell Griffiths – Motherwell, free
- Connor Hunt – released
- Josef Yarney – Newcastle, free
- James Yates – released
- Courtney Duffus – Oldham, undisclosed
- Tyias Browning – Sunderland, loan
- Ben Pierce – West Brom, free
- Aiden McGeady – Sunderland, free
- Gerard Deulofeu – Barcelona, £10.5m
With the sale of Lukaku to Manchester United, Everton have wasted no time in splashing their cash. Bringing back Wayne Rooney and spending £30m on Jordan Pickford and Michael Keane. A lot will depend on how well these big signings can perform at their new clubs but Everton are certainly look like having a go this year.
- Current Odds to win the League (Betfair Sportsbook) : 80/1
- Our prediction: 7th
Huddersfield
Transfers In:
- Steve Mounie – Montpellier, undisclosed
- Laurent Depoitre – Porto, undisclosed
- Mathias Jorgensen – FC Copenhagen, undisclosed
- Jonas Lossl – Mainz, loan
- Aaron Mooy – Manchester City, £8m
- Tom Ince – Derby County, £10m
- Kasey Palmer – Chelsea, loan
- Danny Williams – Reading, free
- Scott Malone – Fulham, undisclosed
- Elias Kachunga – Ingolstadt, £1.1m
Transfers Out:
- Ronan Coughlan – released
- Kyle Dempsey – Fleetwood, £400k
- Flo Bojaj – released
- Joe Murphy – Bury, free
- Jordy Hiwula – Fleetwood, loan
- Tareiq Holmes-Dennis – Portsmouth, loan
- Fraser Horsfall – Gateshead, loan
- Rekeil Pyke – Port Vale, loan
Newly promoted Huddersfield will be hoping they can stay up in their first year in the Premier League but to us it looks extremely unlikely. Having chosen to spend £10m on Tom Ince, a player who has already shown he is our of his depth in the Premier League, Huddersfield could find themselves adrift at the bottom from an early stage.
- Current Odds to win the League (Betfair Sportsbook) : 2000/1
- Current Odds to be relegated : 8/13
- Our prediction: 20th – Relegated
Leicester City
Transfers In:
- Harry Maguire – Hull City, £17m
- Sam Hughes – Chester, Undisclosed
- Vicente Iborra – Sevilla, £12.5m
- Eldin Jakupovic – Hull, undisclosed
Transfers Out:
- Ron-Robert Zieler – Stuttgart, undisclosed
- Michael Cain – released
- David Domej – released
- Brandon Fox – released
- Cedric Kipre – Motherwell, free
- Matthew Miles – released
- Kairo Mitchell – released
- Marcin Wasilewski – released
- Bartosz Kapustka – Freiburg, loan
After a return to the norm last season Leicester might be looking to push on back up the league. They have so far held on to their star players but their transfer dealings will set few hearts racing. A mid-table finish beckons for the former league champions.
- Current Odds to win the League (Betfair Sportsbook) : 250/1
- Current Odds to be relegated : 14/1
- Our prediction: 9th
Liverpool
Transfers In:
- Dominic Solanke – Chelsea, fee by tribunal
- Mohamed Salah – Roma, £34.3m
Transfers Out:
- Andre Wisdom – Derby, undisclosed
- Tom Brewitt – Middlesbrough, free
- Jake Brimmer – released
- Jack Dunn – Tranmere, free
- Toni Gomes – released
- Kane Lewis – released
- Alex Manninger – released
- Adam Phillips – released
Liverpool faded away after a promising start last season. They seem to be on the cusp of putting together a decent team. Their squad depth isn’t as strong as those around them though meaning they are badly affected by any injuries. Will be battling with Arsenal for the 4th Champions League spot again. Cannot see them breaking into the top 3.
- Current Odds to win the League (Betfair Sportsbook) : 11/1
- Our prediction: 6th
Manchester City
Transfers In:
- Bernardo Silva – Monaco, £43m
- Ederson – Benfica, £34.7
- Kyle Walker – Tottenham, £50m
- Douglas Luiz – Vasco da Gama, undisclosed
Transfers Out:
- Pablo Zabaleta – West Ham, free
- Enes Unal – Villarreal, £12m
- Gael Clichy – Istanbul Basaksehir
- Jesus Navas – released
- Willy Cabellero – Chelsea, free
- Bacary Sagna – released
- Billy O’Brien – released
- Bruno Zuculini – Hellas Verona, undisclosed
- Ellis Plummer – released
- Angus Gunn – Norwich, loan
- Aaron Mooy – Huddersfield, £8m
- Joe Coveney – Nottingham Forest, free
- Nolito – Sevilla, undiclosed
- Callum Bullock – released
- Ashley Smith-Brown – Hearts, loan
- Angelino – NAC Breda, loan
- Bersant Celina – Ipswich, loan
- Ruben Sobrino – Alaves, undisclosed
- Olivier Ntcham – Celtic, undisclosed
- Joe Hart – West Ham, loan
Manchester City arguably have the strongest squad in the league. They have already strengthened their hand considerably with some big money outlays. We still think they will fall short of Chelsea in the league though. Could be a decent outside bet for the Champions League. Betfair make them the league title favourites at this stage.
- Current Odds to win the League (Betfair Sportsbook) : 19/10
- Our prediction: 2nd
Manchester United
Transfers In:
- Victor Lindelof – Benfica, £30.7m
- Romelu Lukaku – Everton, £90m
Transfers Out:
- Zlatan Ibrahimovic – released
- Wayne Rooney – Everton, undisclosed
- Regan Poole – Northampton, loan
- Adnan Januzaj – Real Sociedad, undisclosed
- Kayne Diedrick-Roberts – released
- Faustin Makela – released
- Josh Harrop – Preston, free
- Dean Henderson – Shrewsbury, loan
- Sam Johnstone – Aston Villa, loan
Manchester United have brought in Lukaku from Everton for a staggering amount of money. Is he the answer to their problems? I don’t think so. Like Pogba they have over paid in my opinion. Lukaku won’t be the man to win them the league, he doesn’t graft hard enough. They have also decided to let Wayne Rooney leave to Everton. While the goals have dried up for Rooney lately he is a leader on the pitch and I think they will miss he work rate and leadership.
- Current Odds to win the League (Betfair Sportsbook) : 7/2
- Our prediction: 4th
Newcastle
Transfers In:
- Christian Atsu – Chelsea, £6.2m
- Florian Lejeune – Eibar, £8.7m
- Stefan O’Connor – Arsenal, free
- Josef Yarney – Everton, free
- Jacob Murphy – Norwich, £12m
Transfers Out:
- Kevin Mbabu – BSC Young Boys, undisclosed
- Florian Thauvin – Marseille, £9.8m
- Matz Sels – Anderlecht, loan
- Alex Gilliead – Bradford, loan
- Vurnon Anita – Leeds, free
- Yoan Gouffran – Goztepe, free
- Lubomir Satka – Dunajska Streda, free
- Haris Vuckic – FC Twente, free
- Tom Heardman – Bury, loan
- Sammy Ameobi – Bolton, free
- Adam Armstrong – Bolton, loan
There has been talk of unrest at Newcastle and persistent rumours that Rafa wants away because of a lack of transfer activity. They haven’t yet strenghtend their squad with anyone significant and whilst they were comfortably promoted last season their squad will struggle in the Premier League. Keeoing hold of the manager will be a big factor in where they finish.
- Current Odds to win the League (Betfair Sportsbook) : 750/1
- Current Odds to be relegated : 10/3
- Our prediction: 15th
Southampton
Transfers In:
- Jan Bednarek – Lech Poznan, undisclosed
Transfers Out:
- Jay Rodriguez – West Brom, £15m
- Harrison Reed, Norwich, loan
- Cuco Martina – Everton, free
- Lloyd Isgrove – Barnsley, free
- Harley Willard – released
- Martin Caceres – released
- Jason McCarthy – Barnsley, undisclosed
- Olufela Olomola – Yeovil, loan
Southampton have been very quiet this summer. They have so far held onto Van Dijk but he is determined to leave and looks almost certain to go to Liverpool before the window closes. It remains to be seen how Southampton will react to this loss but they always seem to pull another great player from nowhere.
- Current Odds to win the League (Betfair Sportsbook) : 250/1
- Current Odds to be relegated : 22/1
- Our prediction: 8th
Stoke City
Transfers In:
- Darren Fletcher – West Brom, free
- Josh Tymon – Hull, undisclosed
- Tre Pemberton – Blackburn, undisclosed
Transfers Out:
- Jon Walters – Burnley, undisclosed
- Shay Given – released
- Daniel Bachmann – Watford, free
- Liam Edwards – released
- Harry Isted – released
- Joel Taylor – released
- George Waring – Tranmere, free
Stoke seem to have stagnated over the last couple of seasons. The club doesn’t seem interested in strengthening the team and it could catch up with them. We still think they will finish mid-table purely down the to the fact there are a lot of weak sides in the league this year.
- Current Odds to win the League (Betfair Sportsbook) : 750/1
- Current Odds to be relegated : 6/1
- Our prediction: 13th
Swansea City
Transfers In:
- Roque Mesa – Las Palmas, £11m
- Tammy Abraham – Chelsea, loan
- Cian Harries – Coventry, undisclosed
- Marc Walsh – Finn Harps, free
- Erwin Mulder – Heerenveen, free
Transfers Out:
- Jack Cork – Burnley, undisclosed
- Gerhard Tremmel – retired
- Marvin Emnes – released
- Liam Shephard – Peterborough, free
- Josh Vickers – Lincoln, free
- Owain Jones – released
- Tom Dyson – released
- Tom Holland – The New Saints, free
- Alex Samuel – Stevenage, undisclosed
- Borja Baston – Malaga, loan
- Jordi Amat – Real Betis, loan
- Bafatembi Gomis – Galatasary, undisclosed
- Daniel James – Shrewsbury, loan
- Franck Tabanou – released
- Liam Edwards – Hull, free
- Keston Davies – Yeovil, loan
- Connor Roberts – Middlesbrough, loan
Swansea are facing another relegation battle and that is probably all they will ever be able to hope for in this league. After a poor season last time out they haven’t improved the squad and are financially not in a position to compete with mid-table clubs.
- Current Odds to win the League (Betfair Sportsbook) : 750/1
- Current Odds to be relegated : 9/4
- Our prediction: 16th
Tottenham Hostspur
Transfers In:
N/A
Transfers Out:
- Filip Lesniak – Aalborg, free
- Tom McDermott – released
- Joe Muscatt – released
- Charlie Owens – QPR, free
- Zenon Stylianides – released
- Conor Ogilvie – Gillingham, loan
- Luke McGee – Portsmouth, undisclosed
- Kyle Walker – Man City, £30m
- Clinton N’Jie – Marseille undisclosed
- Federico Fazio – Roma, undisclosed
Tottenham ran Chelsea fairly close last year after a fantastic run of wins towards the end of the season. We don’t think they will lose any sleep about losing Walker to Man City as they arguably have a better player in Trippier to replace him. They have yet to bring anyone in but with such a great team already they are going to be there or there about once again.
- Current Odds to win the League (Betfair Sportsbook) : 8/1
- Our prediction: 3rd
Watford
Transfers In:
- Tom Cleverley – Everton, undisclosed
- Will Hughes – Derby, undisclosed
- Kiko Femenia – Alaves, undisclosed
- Daniel Bachmann – Stoke, undisclosed
- Nathan Chalobah – Chelsea, undisclosed
- Harvey Bradbury – Portsmouth, free
- Sam Howes – West Ham, free
Transfers Out:
- Mario Suarez – Guizhou Hengfeng Zhicheng FC, undisclosed
- Rene Gilmartin – Colchester, free
- Mathias Ranegie – released
- Ola Adeyemo – released
- Charlie Bannister – released
- Ogo Obi – released
- Rhyle Ovenden – released
- Josh Roe – released
- Treon Johnson – released
- Andrew Thomas – released
- Dennon Lewis – Crawley, loan
- Aly Malle – Udinese, undisclosed
Watford look like having a struggle this year but we think they will just scrape clear of relegation once again.
- Current Odds to win the League (Betfair Sportsbook) : 1000/1
- Current Odds to be be relegated : 13/8
- Our prediction: 17th
West Bromwich Albion
Transfers In:
- Jay Rodriguez – Southampton, £15m
- Ahmed Hegazi – Al Ahly, loan
- Zhang Yu’Ning – Vitesse, undisclosed
- Ben Pierce – Everton, free
Transfers Out:
- Darren Fletcher – Stoke, free
- Daniel Barbir – released
- Zachary Elbouzedi – Inverness CT, free
- Callam Jones- released
- Sebastien Pocognoli – Standard Liege, free
- Jack Rose – released
- Andre Wright – released
- Craig Gardener – Birmingham, undisclosed
- Zhang Yu’Ning – Werder Bremen, loan
West Brom will be looking to push on once again and seem to have escaped their yo yo tag. With the surprise addition of Jay Rodriguez from Southampton they could have a decent season.
- Current Odds to win the League (Betfair Sportsbook) : 1000/1
- Current Odds to be be relegated : 6/1
- Our prediction: 11th
West Ham
Transfers In:
- Pablo Zabaleta – Manchester City, free
- Joe Hart – Manchester City, loan
Transfers Out:
- Reece Oxford – Borussia Monchengladbach (loan)
- Alvaro Arbeloa – retired
- Sam Howes – Watford, free
- Sam Ford – released
- Kyle Knoyle – released
- Sam Westley – released
- Havard Nordtveit – Hoffenheim, £8m
- Stephen Hendrie – Southend, free
- Raphael Spiegel – Boavista, free
- Enner Valencia – Tigres, undisclosed
West Ham have made 2 very useful signings in Zabaleta and Hart. Both are solid Premier League players that will go straight into their first team. Should be well clear of trouble.
- Current Odds to win the League (Betfair Sportsbook) : 500/1
- Current Odds to be be relegated : 8/1
- Our prediction: 12th
So there you have it, a brief run down of our thoughts on each teams chances this season. You can see our predicted table below. Do you agree with our predictions? Let us know in the comments.
Predicted Table 2017/18
1 | Chelsea |
2 | Manchester City |
3 | Tottenham |
4 | Manchester United |
5 | Arsenal |
6 | Liverpool |
7 | Everton |
8 | Southampton |
9 | Leicester City |
10 | Crystal Palace |
11 | West Brom |
12 | West Ham |
13 | Stoke |
14 | Bournemouth |
15 | Newcastle |
16 | Swansea |
17 | Watford |
18 | Burnley |
19 | Brighton |
20 | Hudderfield |