Super Bowl LI: New England and Atlanta set for Houston showdown

Neil Monnery
23 January 2017

Who will lift the Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl LI?

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The NFL season is 266 games down and just one to go. The Super Bowl is still 13 days away but Neil Monnery provides us with a primer to what to expect in NRG Stadium a week on Sunday...

"The Patriots have unsurprisingly opened as favourites and are trading at 1.684/6 on the Exchange to be victorious."

Super Bowl LI

So the Super Bowl LI match-up has been set. The #1 seed in the AFC and season long favourites to win it all the New England Patriots will face off against the #2 seed out of the NFC, the Atlanta Falcons.

Those Falcons, however, started the season at 80/1 to win the Lombardi Trophy, only four teams had longer odds than them. But they've rubbished those odds since day one, powered by a dynamic offense under the guidance of Kyle Shanahan the Falcons have lit up their rivals as they've powered their way to the big game in Houston a week on Sunday.

The Patriots have unsurprisingly opened as favourites and are trading at 1.684/6 on the Exchange to be victorious. They will be led by Tom Brady who is gunning for his fifth Super Bowl title, which would be the most by any quarterback in the history of the game.

There is some debate about whether he is the greatest of all time or not but one thing we know for sure is that he still has the fire and skill level to be the best active QB in the NFL.

Over on the other side the Falcons will be led by Matt Ryan, who before this season had a 1-4 record in the playoffs. He was able to masterfully navigate his way past the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night.

He is helped by the outrageous talent of Julio Jones who is one of the most potent weapons any QB has at their disposal. He is big, strong, athletic and essentially unstoppable one-on-one. Expect to see a lot of column inches dedicated to him over the next fortnight.

The points line has opened up at over/under 58 points on the Betfair Sportsbook which is value as we've already seen the majority of Sportsbooks in Vegas move that line up to 60 points. The game will open up as the highest points line in the history of Super Bowls.

It looks set to be a thriller with Brady & Co. doing what they always do and a young fresh team playing up to the nth of its skill levels. Ensure you keep checking the US Sports section here at betting.betfair.com closer to the event as our team of columnists break down Super Bowl LI.