Football's Best Bets: Chelsea favourites, Arsenal dark horses, promoted teams to survive

Manchester United have spent vast amounts of money on new signings

THIS weekend sees the dawning of a new football season and as the sun crests the horizon on Saturday morning, fans of clubs up and down the country will wake up with the same feeling... "This year, is our year..."

 

So what do we know?

In the Premier League, Manchester United have spent huge sums in order to bridge the gap between themselves and the sides above them, but have they spent well?

In Memphis Depay, they have a young talent but he is certainly nowhere near the finished article. Schweinsteiger and Schneiderlin should shore up a midfield that was often overrun last season.

 

With question marks still surrounding the future of David de Gea. The long and short of a busy summer is that they are 5/1 to win the league, exactly the same price as they were before the start of last season. They are, however, the best backed side of the close season.

It is Chelsea who are the favourites at 13/8, however, given that Diego Costa's hamstrings are made of poppadoms and he will probably miss around a third of their games, you would not fancy having to rely on the twin threat of Loic Remy and Falcao to fire them to the title.

Manchester City are 3/1 and should surely improve on last season, while Arsenal's performance in the Community Shield coupled with the signing of Petr Cech means they must be considered contenders at 4/1.

 

At the bottom of the table, it comes as no surprise to see the three newly promoted sides heading the betting however, there is no reason to suggest that they will struggle, in fact, I think there is a good chance that all three will survive.

The three sides have taken different approaches in the way they have gone about their business yet I think all three could reap the rewards.

There is value to be found in the likes of Sunderland and Leicester for the drop at 2/1 and 3/1 respectively.

One of the most talked about issues in the Premier League is the sack race and this year will be no different. The 5/1 favourite is Brendan Rodgers, however, I would not be backing him with anybody's money, let alone my own.

 

The club have once again brought in a lot of players and if he was ever going to get the boot, it would have been in the close season.

Instead, you have to look at the likes of Quique Flores at 6/1 and Claudio Ranieri at 10/1. The changing of managers at Watford last season was more frequent as the changing of the guards at Horseguard's Parade, while Ranieri hardly has the best record when it comes to managing in the Premier League (or anywhere else for that matter).

At 6/1 and 10/1 respectively, they certainly warrant a small investment to be the first manager to leave their job.

Further down the leagues, I am going to pick three slight outsiders for promotion (but expect this rather bold shout to come back and bite me on the backside at the end of the season).

Cardiff in the Championship are not considered one of the contenders for the title, however, at 8/1 I think they are a long priced outsider to win promotion back to the Premier League. In League One, it is Doncaster at 5/1 that I like the look of, while in League Two, I think Cambridge are worth a punt at 10/3.