Betting on Premier League Relegation 25/26
Wolves may be the team who are holding up the rest of the Premier League at the moment, but over at Bet365 it is Burnley who are the favourites to go down this season.
Scott Parker and his team are currently five points clear of Wolves, and currently sit two points clear of the drop-zone, but that does not matter to the bookmakers as they see the Clarets as the team most likely to face going down this season.
They are priced at 4/11 at Bet365 and at 2/5 on BetVictor, slightly lower odds than Wolves, who have had a horrid start what with only taking two points from their opening eight games.
With that form it is understandable to see Wolves are right up there when it comes to relegation odds.
They are currently 2/5 with Bet365 and 4/9 with Bet Victor.
And most of the bookmakers agree that it will be those two, who take up two thirds of the relegation places at the end of the season.
For Wolves to avoid that fate they need to do something that they haven’t done in the opening eight games — and win one.
They have drawn against Spurs and Brighton and have beaten Everton and West Ham in the League Cup, but their league form on the whole has been dreadful.
For Burnley it is a bit different as they have beaten Leeds and Sunderland, but they are both newly promoted teams along with them, and in the other games they have struggled.
West Ham and the Impact of Managerial Changes
As have West Ham, who currently sit second bottom this season.
The Hammers’ form saw them put paid to Graham Potter’s turn in charge of the team as they replaced him with Nuno Espirito Santo, who had a fantastic season at Nottingham Forest last time out.
The addition of Santo is a reflection of West Ham’s odds in terms of beating relegation as they are currently 10/11 with Bet365 and BetVictor to go down — odds that are not befitting of their current form or league position, but show that with a new boss in charge they might have a chance of beating any trouble.
Other teams that the bookmakers fancy to face a tough season include the other two newly promoted ones, as both Leeds and Sunderland are among the favourites for relegation still this season.
Surprise Names in the Relegation Conversation
The Sunderland odds, 5/2 with Bet365 and 11/4 with BetVictor, may surprise some, considering their start to the campaign, what with them sitting in seventh spot going into the international break.
But that form has not convinced all that, that means they can enjoy the remaining 30 games stress free.
True, the Sunderland odds might not make sense fully until the new year, when the Black Cats are set to lose a number of players to the African Cup of Nations.
In terms of Leeds, who are currently 11/4 with both Bet365 and BetVictor to go down this season.
Leeds beat Everton early on in the campaign and took all three points against Wolves as well, but recent defeats against Burnley and Spurs have shown that they are a long way from being comfortably clear of the drop zone this season.
One team who many would have been surprised to see among the favourites for relegation at the start of the season were Nottingham Forest.
Forest had the best season since the start of the millennium last year, going so close to booking themselves a place in the Champions League at the end of it.
But some off-field issues between boss Nuno Espirito Santo and those behind the scenes at the club led to the manager leaving the club.
Since joining West Ham, with Ange Postecoglou replacing him for eight torrid games before he too was sacked, Sean Dyche has now come in as boss — their third of the season in only the third month of the campaign.
With all that in mind, the bookies have the club as one to watch in terms of relegation still.
They are 11/4 with Bet365 and 5/2 with BetVictor to go down.
Another team who may not have been predicted to struggle this year is Fulham.
The west London club made a number of decent signings in the summer, on paper at least, and many predicted them to be fighting for a European place come the end of the year.
But it has not worked out like that, to start with at least, as eight games in they are stuck in the bottom half of the table and currently sit just three points outside the bottom three.
The bookmakers have paid notice to the start as Bet365 currently have them at 7/1 to go down while BetVictor have them at 8/1.
For those looking a bit further out, Manchester United are 40/1 with Bet365 to go down, even with that win at Liverpool, while Aston Villa are 25/1 with BetVictor.
Surprisingly Manchester City are 20/1 with Bet365 to go down and 25/1 with BetVictor.