Premier League Top Four Odds: Chelsea Favourites For Final Champions League Spot
The start of the Premier League season is just around the corner and betting sites expect another two-horse race between defending champions Manchester City and Arsenal.
Those two clubs have finished in the top two for the last couple of seasons and should be involved in another ding-dong battle for the title in the forthcoming campaign.
Liverpool finished nine points behind City in third place, 14 points clear of fourth-placed Aston Villa, but they have a new man at the helm this season in Arne Slot.
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City, Arsenal and Liverpool are all odds-on to finish in the top four and guarantee a Champions League spot for the 2025-26 campaign, but will there be another surprising team filling the final spot just like Villa last season?
Gambling.com has taken a look at the latest Premier League top-four odds and the main contenders to be playing at Europe’s top table the season after next.
Chelsea Favourites For Final Spot
The Blues ended the campaign strongly with five successive victories, but a sixth-placed finish failed to satisfy the club’s American owners who parted ways with Mauricio Pochettino after just one season and eventually replaced him with Leicester manager Enzo Maresca.
Chelsea remain in danger of falling foul of the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules, but that has not stopped them from signing several players during the transfer window.
Midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall followed Maresca to Stamford Bridge from Leicester, and the west Londoners have been strongly linked with Napoli striker Victor Osimhen, with Celtic's Matt O'Riley also touted as a replacement for Atletico Madrid-bound Conor Gallagher.
Should they manage to sign the Nigeria striker, their chances of finishing in the top four will surely improve although a move would put the future of Nicolas Jackson in doubt.
Chelsea, 2.50 with Betway to occupy the Champions League spots in May, have had a patchy pre-season campaign on their tour of the USA, losing heavily to Celtic, drawing with Wrexham, before getting their first win against Club America, although that victory was followed by an error-strewn 4-2 defeat by Manchester City.
Christopher Nkunku had an injury-plagued debut season, but he has scored in three of their four friendlies and Blues fans should see the best of the France international.
The Blues still have a young squad and they look shaky favourites to nab the final Champions League place.
Man Utd Must Improve Under Ten Hag
United finished eighth last season and Erik ten Hag’s future was in doubt ahead of the FA Cup final against Manchester City, but a 2-1 victory at Wembley secured a place in the Europa League and resulted in the Dutchman signing a contract extension until 2026.
Ten Hag has also buried the hatchet with Jadon Sancho who spent the second half of the season on loan at Borussia Dortmund after a high-profile fall-out with his manager, but the winger has been linked with a move to Paris Saint-Germain.
Furthermore, the injuries that plagued the Red Devils last season are also showing no sign of abating, with Rasmus Hojlund sidelined for six weeks and new signing Leny Yoro out for three months.
United, though, have signed striker Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna and have been linked with Bayern Munich centre-back Matthijs de Ligt as a replacement for Raphael Varane, who joined Cesc Fabregas at Serie A new boys Como.
New recruits are expected to follow, but Ten Hag will expect more from the likes of Marcus Rashford, Mason Mount and Antony this season, otherwise United’s Premier League top-four odds of 3.0 with football betting sites will soon start to drift.
Tottenham Look Light On Quality
Spurs were denied a top-four spot by Aston Villa last season and are 3.25 with betting apps to grab one of the Champions League spots under Australian manager Ange Postecoglou.
Transfer activity has been thin on the ground at Tottenham this summer, but they have been linked with several big names, including Pedro Neto, England midfielder Eberechi Eze and Bournemouth striker Dominic Solanke.
Pierre-Emile Hojberg and Bryan Gil have joined Marseille and Girona respectively on loan, but versatile youngster Archie Gray has been brought in from Leeds for around ￡30million, with Joe Rodon heading in the other direction.
Without new recruits it is hard to see the north Londoners going one better from last season and keeping Timo Werner for another loan spell from RB Leipzig raised a few eyebrows among fans.
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Newcastle Can Benefit From Europe-Free Campaign
Manchester United’s FA Cup success denied seventh-placed Newcastle a place in the Europa Conference League, but that means they can focus all their energy on the domestic campaign.
Eddie Howe is one of the favourites to replace Gareth Southgate as England manager, but he remains at St James’ Park and says he is “fully committed” to Newcastle.
There are also a couple of other positives with Bruno Guimaraes still at the club despite uncertainty over his future, and Sandro Tonali will return from a 10-month ban at the end of August.
The Magpies have made Lewis Hall’s loan from Chelsea a permanent deal and been linked with Crystal Palace's England defender Marc Guehi. Several free transfers have been brought in to comply with PSR.
However, Elliot Anderson joined Nottingham Forest and exciting Gambia winger Yankuba Minteh made a ￡30m move to Brighton.
Newcastle’s Champions League campaign clearly affected their Premier League season, so they look an interesting prospect at 3.00 with new betting sites for a top-four finish.
Villa Could Struggle To Repeat Heroics
Aston Villa defied expectations by finishing fourth and they have already made a raft of high-profile signings for their debut campaign in the Champions League.
The 1981-82 European champions have brought in Everton midfielder Amadou Onana (￡50m), plus the likes of Ross Barkley and Cameron Archer from relegated Luton and Sheffield United respectively.
However, Douglas Luiz made a ￡21m move to Juventus and Moussa Diaby joined the Saudi Arabia exodus for an undisclosed fee.
With Unai Emery’s side fighting on domestic and European fronts, it’s hard to see Villa replicating their incredible 2023-24 campaign and they are 4.5 with Betway for another top-four finish.
Brighton And West Ham Outsiders
Fabian Hurzeler is the new man in charge at Brighton following the departure of Roberto De Zerbi to Marseille and it remains to be seen how he fares in the Premier League.
The Seagulls have brought in several new faces, including Minteh and defensive midfielder Mats Wieffer from Feyenoord for ￡25m, but Pascal Gross will be sorely missed following his move to Borussia Dortmund.
Brighton are 21.0 for a top-four spot.
West Ham were the same price recently, but new manager Julen Lopetegui has brought in a couple of interesting signings and their odds have dipped to 17.0 with Bet365.
Max Kilman joined from Lopetegui’s former club Wolves and the Hammers have also added Germany striker Niclas Fullkrug and Dutch winger Crysencio Summerville to their ranks from Borussia Dortmund and Leeds respectively.
There are other transfers in the pipeline, so it could be a promising season at West Ham, who could be worth a dabble if you have some free bets.
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