Coronavirus: Plenty Still at Stake as Premier League Prepares for Return to Action
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on all the major European football leagues over the past couple of months but, finally, there is room for optimism.
The Bundesliga season recently resumed in Germany and the campaigns in Spain’s La Liga and Italy’s Serie A are expected to follow suit over the coming weeks.
In England, the Premier League hopes to restart its season sometime in June, with matches having been suspended since 13 March. As an initial step, the easing of government restrictions has enabled players to train in small groups over the past few days.
Premier League Betting
The destination of the Premier League title was all but a foregone conclusion months prior to the league being suspended, but elsewhere there are still a myriad of issues to be decided at both ends of the table.
Understandably given the uncertainty as to where games will be played if and when the league restarts, the bookies are currently reluctant to offer betting odds on any markets.
Once we have a firm date for games to be played, all the major online bookies will quickly post up their odds on outright betting markets and for individual matches. At that stage it will be essential to seek out the best betting offers prior to placing any bets.
Top 4 Finish
The race for a top four finish behind Liverpool, who you could’ve bet at odds of 13/5 to be crowned champions at the start of the season, looks likely to go to the wire.
Manchester City haven’t been at their imperious best this season and rarely looked like justifying their pre-season odds of 8/13 favourites for the title with William Hill, but they should secure second spot.
Leicester City could be backed at 16/1 for a Top 4 finish with Coral pre-season and although the Foxes lost some of their early season momentum before the shutdown, they still look good to reward those that backed them at those odds.
The final Champions’ League place looks decidedly up for grabs, with Chelsea struggling for consistency and allowing the chasing pack to close in on them. Manchester United look the team most likely to take advantage of any additional slips by the Blues, but Wolverhampton Wanderers, Sheffield United (who were pre-season favourites for relegation at 8/11 with Betfair) and the North London duo of Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal are all within striking distance too.
Relegation Betting
At the foot of the table, it looks like any three from six for relegation. Norwich City have six points to make up to reach safety as things stand, so those who backed them for the drop at Evens with Paddy Power before a ball had been kicked are looking good.
Elsewhere, Aston Villa (9/4 for the drop with Betfred pre-season) and Bournemouth (who were 5/1 with Betway) currently occupy the other places in the drop-zone, but Watford (who were on offer at 6/1 with William Hill), West Ham United (a hefty 16/1 at SkyBet) and Brighton & Hove Albion (2/1 at Ladbrokes) will all be desperate to quickly put distance between themselves and the bottom three.
For all the latest sports news follow PledgeSports on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.