Betfair Traders Summer Series: Avoid promoted teams and back 18/1 relegation double

• 18/119.00 is juicy price for relegation double

• Wolves fans should be worried

• Season of discontent at the Cottage

For only the fourth time since the restructure of English football in 1992, all three promoted sides avoided relegation from the Premier League last season.

The betting markets aren't expecting a repeat in 2023/24 with Luton and Sheffield Utd clear first and second favourites for the drop. At the time of writing, both clubs have spent less than £10 million in the summer transfer market, paltry sums by the standards of modern football.

It's hard to be enthusiastic about prices of 3/101.30 at 8/111.73 on the Hatters and Blades respectively, however, and better value lies elsewhere with some of the more established Premier League sides sending off distress signals in recent months.

Bet 1 - Back Wolves @ 10/34.33

Wolves relegation price has been shortening due in part to the departures of Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho. The midfield duo have been the foundation for Wolves' consolidation as a mid-ranking Premier League club and are unlikely to be adequately replaced given the club's financial restrictions due to FFP.

Those limitations almost saw Julen Lopetegui nearly resign at the end of last season.

One suspects the Spaniard knows this squad needs an overhaul given their expected goals (xG) figures were that of a relegation level side in 2022/23. Instead, Matt Doherty on a free transfer remains their only addition and there are unlikely to be too many more high profile arrivals.

A bad team, who have gotten significantly worse, is the kind of ideal relegation candidate we are looking for and there is a still some value in their current price on Betfair of 10/34.33.

Tip 2 - Back Fulham @ 10/34.33

Fulham were also fortunate not to be closer to the bottom three based on their expected goals numbers and were reliant on Bernd Leno having one of the best shot stopping years of his career to lift them to 10th place.

The German scaling those dizzy heights again seems unlikely and if his performance level regresses to league average, Fulham will be looking over their shoulder.

Another similarity with Wolves is the likely departure of a pivotal Portuguese midfielder in Joao Palhinha. It was he, rather than Aleksandar Mitrovic, who was Fulham's best player in 2022/23.

Palhinha was a force of nature in the N'Golo Kante mould as evidenced by his lapping of the field in the Premier League's successful tackles statistic. He also provided necessary protection for veteran centre-back Tim Ream whose agility couldn't be described as a strength.

Palhinha seems very likely to depart this summer with West Ham the most likely destination and Mitrovic also appears on the verge of a move to Saudi Arabia.

It will be very difficult for Marco Silva and Fulham's recruitment team to find adequate replacements at this relatively late stage of the transfer window and given that, a season of discontent at Craven Cottage looks on the horizon.

Both Wolves and Fulham can be doubled for relegation on Betfair at a juicy price of 18/119.00 which should provide us with a nice interest for the coming EPL campaign.