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Liverpool, Tottenham & Crystal Palace all look worth backing in the outright
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Slot's Reds could have a field day on MD1 at Ipswich
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Watch Football...Only Bettor Start of Season Special
Betfair's free bet offer...
England's hopes and dreams may have been dashed once again but there is little time to wallow, the Premier League is just around the corner. And this is always a great time of the year for gobbling up some cracking offers as we enter pre-season prediction time and punters start to build their ante-post portfolios.
Betfair are offering punters a chance to place a £10 bet on a side to win the 2024-25 Premier League - and receive a free bet for every goal they score in August. To clarify, the fixtures that have been moved to September 1st will also be counted towards this offer, so every side should have three games!
With the average goals ratio in the Premier League last season hitting record per-game records of 3.28 the goals should fly in at similar rates in the early part of the campaign. This offer could potentially be very fruitful if finding the right team.
Over to Sky Sports' Lewis Jones - aka Jones Knows - then, to steer you in the right direction as he puts forward three teams in the outright market that look capable of giving you the best possible chance of taking full advantage of this offer...
MD1 - Ipswich (a)
MD2 - Brentford (h)
MD3 - Man Utd (a)
Let's get straight to it. The end of the Manchester City cycle of dominance could be near - and at 13/102.30 I'd be looking to oppose them in this outright market.
A hearing over the 115 charges against City for alleged breaches of financial rules is set for November, according to reports. That is set to last six weeks and sanctions if found guilty could lead to a points deduction or even expulsion from the Premier League. That makes them a hugely risky proposition at 13/102.30 but adding in the lack of clarity regarding Pep Guardiola's future whose deal runs out at the end of the season also is relevant when assessing their title probabilities.
Liverpool are one of the teams that could strike, despite losing Jurgen Klopp. Under their new boss Arne Slot, the Reds have officially the easiest opening six Premier League fixtures on paper, according to the average position of opponents' league positions last season.
The Reds' upcoming average league opponent ranked only 14.8 in the standings last term. And their two games in August look especially juicy with the free bet offer in mind. It's Ipswich up first on Saturday 17 August - a newly promoted team that won't be taking a step back under Kieran McKenna.
They will play expansive, full-throttle football and will leave themselves vulnerable defensively. Despite winning automatic promotion, they conceded 57 goals last season, leaving them with just the seventh-best defensive record in the Championship. Liverpool's attackers will fancy their chances - as they will in Slot's first home game in charge against Brentford on August 25.
MD1 - Leicester (a)
MD2 - Everton (h)
MD3 - Newcastle (a)
Yes, Tottenham are Tottenham and as a club they are the kings of falling short but of all the ante-post prices for the Premier League they look the best slice of value out there. I'd have them shorter than 28/129.00 based on their high ceiling level of performance. When Spurs were good last season, they were very good - not far off the metrics being shown by Manchester City and Arsenal in attack.
And, Ange Postecoglou showed last season his teams can peak early.
Tottenham stormed to the top of the Premier League after 10 games last season as their rivals struggled to find their rhythm and get their players into peak fitness in the early knockings of the season. Spurs are perfectly placed to be fast out of the gates once again with many of their key players fresh from a summer break.
James Maddison, Son Heung-min, Brennan Johnson, Dejan Kulusevski and Pedro Porro all should be raring to go. With games in August against Leicester and Everton, those free bets could rack up into a nice total if Spurs bring their usual attacking zest to the party.
MD1 - Brentford (a)
MD2 - West Ham (h)
MD3 - Chelsea (a)
Completing ignoring the possibility of a big boil-over in the title race could prove foolish.
With a potential Man City points deduction looming, new managers in situ at Liverpool and Chelsea, and Manchester United continuing with a manager whose underlying process last season was one you associate with a relegation threatened team, the stars might align for a shock.
Only Manchester City took more points across their last six games than Oliver Glasner's exciting Palace side last season as his style of play caused so many problems for opposition teams, beating Liverpool, Manchester United and Aston Villa in that run of taking 16 points from 18 available.
Michael Olise has departed to Bayern Munich which tempers some enthusiasm for their prospects next season but the outstanding Eberechi Eze remains and Jean Phillipe Mateta, who scored nine goals across the final six games, looks to perfectly suited to the way Glasner structures his attacks. A bit more quality added during this summer window and Palace won't be far away from being genuine top-six challengers.
Bruno Fernandes SuperBoost!
Betfair are kicking off the new season with a SuperBoost at Old Trafford, with the hope that Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes will be fouled 1 or more times.
Fernandes, who has just signed a new deal at the club, won 1 or more fouls in eight of his last 10 Premier League games for Manchester United at the back end of last season - winning 14 in total.
Fulham will know he is the main attacking threat and will have to stay tight to stop him pulling the strings.
Indeed, since his Manchester United debut in 2020, Bruno has been fouled more times than any other player a the club (180). Let's hope he can win one more, with the SuperBoosted price of 1/12.00 (up from 4/91.44)!
Back Bruno Fernandes to be fouled 1 or more times (won 14 fouls in final 10 PL games)