Premier League odds, picks, predictions for 2025-26 season: Why fading Liverpool is the play
It feels like you can set your clock to the Premier League these days.
Only two teams – Manchester City and Liverpool – have lifted the trophy in the past eight seasons, and the Cityzens accounted for six of those titles.
There have hardly been any relegation surprises, with Leicester City's demotion at the end of 2022-23 being the only real head-turner.
In fact, last season was the second in a row that saw all three newly-promoted teams go right back down to the second division.
This year's newly-promoted sides, Burnley, Sunderland and Leeds United, are the clear favorites to go down, with the former two sitting at odds-on prices.
Liverpool did pull a bit of a surprise by winning the league in 2024-25, but the Reds were the third favorites behind City and Arsenal going into the campaign, and it became clear quickly that Arne Slot's side were the best in the circuit.
The betting market is treating Liverpool like it's the cream of the crop again in 2025-26, but there is very little separating the Reds from Arsenal and City in the odds.
Liverpool owns +175 odds, Arsenal, which has finished runner-up three years in a row, is +240, and City sits at +333, which represents the longest odds Pep Guardiola's side has boasted before Matchweek 1 in several years.
Chelsea is lingering as a +900 sleeper to win the title, and they've received plenty of betting support in the summer, but it's pretty clear the bookies are treating this as a three-team race.
Will the 2025-26 Premier League be as straightforward as the odds suggest?
3 Mo Salah won the Golden Boot for Liverpool last season.
Action Images via Reuters
Best bet to win the league: Manchester City (+333, bet365)
Last season was the first time since 2016-17 that City didn't win at least one major trophy, and it feels like most people project that the Cityzens will have a tough time keeping up with Liverpool again this campaign.
Not so fast.
While City were a sour disappointment in 2025-26, they should get bounce-back seasons from Erling Haaland and Phil Foden, arguably the best players in the world at their respective positions.
Add in some much-needed new blood in the middle of the field, and City are set up to fly right back to the top of the table.
And, for the first time in years, you're actually getting an OK price to back the Sky Blues to lift the trophy.
3 Beto and Everton surged under David Moyes.
AFP via Getty Images
Long-shot consideration: Tottenham Hotspur (50/1, BetMGM)
Thomas Frank has established himself as one of the best managers in all of Europe, and now he gets an opportunity to manage a club with a massive budget.
The sky could be the limit.
Best season-long prop: Everton to finish top-6 (10/1, bet365)
Everton were one of the relegation favorites for the past three seasons, but expectations have changed dramatically thanks to a refreshed squad and a terrific finish to last season under David Moyes.
Moyes, who managed the Toffees from 2002-2013, oversaw an 8-7-4 (W-D-L) stretch to close out the season, which pro-rates to a 62-point campaign if you extrapolate it over a full campaign.
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Even more encouraging is the fact that Everton's expected goal differential over that span painted them as a top-six club, on par with the likes of Newcastle and Chelsea.
This is a terrific buy-low number on a team that has every chance to shoot up the table in a hurry in 2025-26.
3 Liam Delap could be a massive boost for Chelsea.
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Best bet to win the Golden Boot: Liam Delap, Chelsea (50/1, BetMGM)
One of the rising stars of the Premier League, Liam Delap, took to the top flight like a duck to water in 2024-25, scoring 12 goals for a terrible Ipswich Town side that won just four games and scored 36 goals.
Delap now heads to Chelsea, a club with serious title aspirations and the potential to be one of the league's elite offensive units.
He'll need to share the wealth with Cole Palmer, but Delap is a different kind of goalscorer to his fellow Englishman and should provide the Blues with a threat not too dissimilar to Erling Haaland at Manchester City.
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
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New York Times
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There may be some growing pains early on as the new signings bed in — there were four new starters in the Community Shield — and their business is not done yet. New weapons that the head coach spoke about at the end of the season have been added and there is trust that Slot will be able to integrate them quickly. The biggest focus for improvement will be progressing further in the Champions League. Liverpool dominated the group phase, finishing top, but were unfortunate to draw eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16. That tie came at a time when Liverpool were running out of steam, and the hope is the versatile squad that has been built will be in better condition at that stage of the campaign. It has been a different transfer window as a lot of new faces have arrived, and plenty of money has been spent. Goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili arrived a year after a deal was agreed with Valencia and he has been joined by full-backs Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong, attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz and striker Hugo Ekitike for a combined total of just under £300million. Experienced Freddie Woodman and youngster Armin Pesci have also strengthened the goalkeeper ranks. To offset the summer spend, Liverpool have also said goodbye to Luis Diaz (Bayern Munich) and Darwin Nunez (Al Hilal), while Caoimhin Kelleher (Brentford), Jarell Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen) and Tyler Morton (Lyon) have also departed for healthy fees. They also banked £8.4m from the sale of Trent Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid a month before his contract officially expired. Have you heard of some fella called Alexander Isak? It's been a quiet summer for him to be fair… Liverpool remain interested in striking a deal for the Newcastle United forward, who The Athletic revealed has no intention of playing for them again. 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If Salah can come close to replicating his form from last season, and with Wirtz pulling the strings from central areas, they could better their previous goal tally. Full-backs Kerkez and Frimpong are also both attack-minded and further dimensions and unpredictability to Liverpool's attack. Not a lot… but there are concerns about the balance of the side. Liverpool have been susceptible to the counter-attack throughout pre-season and kept only one clean sheet — in a friendly against Championship side Stoke City. The ease with which Crystal Palace played through the middle of Liverpool in the build-up to their two goals offered in the Community Shield was a final warning sign that they need to return to the compact structure that was pivotal to their title win last season. There is also a depth issue in attack and defence, but there is time to resolve that. Slot has been encouraged by his team's attacking threat and creativity during the pre-season, but he has pointed out that there are defensive improvements required. 'I think in the whole pre-season we saw that we are able to create more and we are more comfortable on the ball, we create more opportunities, chances, we dominate maybe even more,' he told reporters following the Crystal Palace defeat. 'But the other side is also true, that we have conceded four against Milan, one against the Japanese team (Yokohama F. Marinos), two against (Athletic Club) Bilbao and again two today.' Nothing is impossible in football. Therefore nothing can ever be 100 per cent, but Slot remaining in his role is about as close to it as you can get. He has so much credit in the bank that even if things do not go smoothly this season, Liverpool's trust will remain. So we'll say 99.999999999 per cent. Wirtz wins PFA Premier League Player of the Season. It would require a Liverpool title win, but Wirtz is an incredible talent and his qualities will be key to the attempts to retain the title. (4-2-3-1): Alisson Becker, Jeremie Frimpong, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk, Milos Kerkez; Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister; Mohamed Salah, Florian Wirtz, Cody Gakpo; Hugo Ekitike — GRAPHIC COMING Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
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This issue, which pre-dates Calvo, is a matter that crosses club boundaries and can directly impact the football side, given ticket prices are set by the commercial department for supporters to watch the team. It is unlikely, however, that ticket prices come under Calvo, owing to his remit, part of which is to drive matchday revenue. Football, after all, initially became a popular sport as a pastime designed to bring escapism to for working-class people in the Victorian era. Villa were the eminent team of that age, led by William McGregor, who served as the director, president and chairman for more than two decades as well as being the founder of the Football League. A statue of McGregor remains outside Villa Park and the Trinity Road Stand. Supporters, some of whom have paid £82, will walk past it on Saturday. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
