Lewis Jones' Betting Notebook: Now is the time to back 10/1 Spurs for drop and Villa top 10

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Back Aston Villa for a top 10 finish, says Lewis

Five games in and the Premier League is already throwing up some fascinating betting angles. Are Spurs genuinely a relegation bet at [10/1]? And could Aston Villa's rebuild under Unai Emery make [6/5] for a top-half finish one of the prices to grab now?

Should we be backing Spurs to go down at 10/111.00?

There is a point in every season when you stop dismissing the warning signs as a bad run and start asking whether something deeper is broken.

Have we reached that point already with Tottenham?

Spurs are 10/111.00 for relegation with the Betfair Sportsbook, currently only the 10th favourites in the market. Yet after five games they have just two points, sit bottom of the Premier League and have failed to win a match. That comes after consecutive 17th-place finishes, with last season's survival secured on the final day.

The obvious counterargument is that this is an expensively assembled squad. Spurs spent around £320m this summer and Roberto De Zerbi has inherited plenty of talent.  But that is precisely why the current situation is so fascinating from a betting perspective. Money spent does not automatically translate into points.

Being bad in both boxes and having little resilience is a footballing nightmare. And that is where Spurs find themselves.

The home record is particularly alarming. Spurs have now won just five of their last 36 Premier League games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Keep that ratio up and a relegation scrap will be on the cards.

This isn't about declaring Spurs as doomed. There is far too much talent for that. But at 10/111.00, the relegation market is at least asking a question.

Given the evidence of the last two years, perhaps it is time we started taking that question seriously.


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Unai Emery factor makes Villa an outright bet

Aston Villa's rebuild is quietly coming together and the market looks to be underestimating it.

The summer was one of significant change at Villa Park. Morgan Rogers, Ezri Konsa, Emiliano Martinez, Ollie Watkins, Youri Tielemans and Lucas Digne all departed, leaving Unai Emery with a very different looking squad to the one that established Villa as a regular European presence.

Yet the early signs suggest this isn't a rebuild that needs months to click.

Johan Manzambi, Zion Suzuki and Nicolas Jackson all shone in the win at Tottenham and there was an encouraging cohesion to Villa's performance despite so many new faces. That shouldn't necessarily come as a surprise. These players are working under a manager who knows exactly what he is doing.

Let's not forget what Emery's track record actually looks like. He has not finished outside the top seven in any of his last 15 seasons as a manager.

Villa have the luxury of something many of their rivals don't: continuity in the dugout. While other clubs are dealing with managerial changes, tactical overhauls and squads still trying to understand what their new boss wants, Villa have Emery calling the shots.

And that counts for plenty.

The market doesn't appear convinced, though. Villa are 6/52.20 for a top-half finish, while 9/25.50 for a top-six finish looks interesting too. Time to ride the Emery train once again.


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