{"id":554,"date":"2020-08-31T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-31T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gbc.ng\/who-are-the-favourites-to-win-the-top-five-leagues-in-europe\/"},"modified":"2020-08-31T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-08-31T00:00:00","slug":"who-are-the-favourites-to-win-the-top-five-leagues-in-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gbc.ng\/index.php\/who-are-the-favourites-to-win-the-top-five-leagues-in-europe\/","title":{"rendered":"WHO ARE THE FAVOURITES TO WIN THE TOP FIVE LEAGUES IN EUROPE?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0\u00a0Paul Seaton<\/strong><\/p>\n

With domestic football having already restarted in France, the transfer window well and truly open and leagues in England, Italy, Germany and Spain poised to renew rivalries, there\u2019s no better time than now to appraise the chances of the top sides.<\/p>\n

While last year\u2019s champions such as Real Madrid, Liverpool and Juventus will be strong, there are no shortage of teams who have the financial capabilities to challenge those current title holders in any of Europe\u2019s top five divisions.<\/p>\n

Who\u2019ll take the title next May in England, Italy, France, Germany and Spain? Let\u2019s take a look at the odds and pick some winners.<\/p>\n

English Premier League<\/strong><\/p>\n

While Liverpool won the league by an astonishing 18 points from Manchester City, the bookies aren\u2019t convinced that the men from Merseyside will have it so easy in the 2020\/21 season. While\u00a0Manchester City<\/strong>\u00a0are Evens to win the Premier League title back from their main rivals,\u00a0Liverpool<\/strong>\u00a0are a best price of 2\/1 to retain their crown. We\u2019d say that\u2019s a shade unfair on The Reds, who really did set the standard last year. Of the next two teams, both available anywhere between 9\/1 and 14\/1, it would be\u00a0Manchester United\u00a0<\/strong>who we favour for a tilt at the title rather than\u00a0Chelsea<\/strong>. While The Blues have strengthened, their set-up looks extremely imbalanced in favoure of attacking players and the 35-year-old former PSG centre-back Thiago Silva isn\u2019t going to change that fact.<\/p>\n

While Chelsea let in 54 Premier League goals last term, United were more frugal, but their chances of repeating a strong defensive record and perhaps adding some firepower hang on convincing two men to play for them next season. Jadon Sancho is yet to be prized from Borussia Dortmund and may require a nine-figure sum to do so, while Harry Maguire, served with a 21-month suspended sentence in Greece is bound to lose the captaincy, possibly to Bruno Fernandez.<\/p>\n

Of the outsiders, each available at odds of 40\/1, both\u00a0Tottenham Hotspur<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Arsenal\u00a0<\/strong>have compelling reasons to be feared. Spurs are looking at being one of the best defensive sides in the Premier League next season and if Kane and Son remain fit then additions of Pierre-Emile Hojberg from Southampton and potentially another full-back such as Wolves Matt Doherty will make them a very tricky side to overcome. Arsenal, meanwhile, are resurgent under Mikel Arteta and if the Spaniard can convince Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to sign a contract extension, then his partnership with Willian, newly-arrived from Chelsea will give them every chance of surprising people.<\/p>\n

Ligue 1<\/strong><\/p>\n

While it\u2019s impossible to look past\u00a0Paris St. Germain\u00a0<\/strong>(1\/12) for the title, how much they win it by might be your market. Handicapping futures isn\u2019t a usual bet, but this isn\u2019t a usual season and you should wait until PSG are about to kick off their first game, because they face a fortnight on the sidelines as they recooperate from their oh-so-close run at the Champions League.<\/p>\n

Elsehwere in Ligue 1,\u00a0Lyon<\/strong>\u00a0(20\/1) are tipped to have the strongest season of the clubs looking to stop a Parisian rout, while\u00a0Marseille<\/strong>\u00a0(28\/1) will be hoping to end their bitter rivals dominance against all the odds.\u00a0Monaco<\/strong>, who ran PSG much closer before the dramatic loan then sale of their most prized asset, Kylian Mbappe, to Paris St. Germain, are rank outsiders at 66\/1 yet only 4th in the betting order, proving what a one-horse race Ligue 1 truly is.<\/p>\n

German Bundesliga<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another league that looks hard to see anything other than a retention of the trophy they\u2019ve won numerous times in a row exists in Germany.<\/p>\n

While\u00a0Bayern Munich<\/strong>\u00a0have won eight Bundesliga titles in a row, perhaps the most worrying thing about their recent form \u2013 they haven\u2019t lost in 2020 \u2013 is how fresh they look. Munich come into the action off the back of winning the Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League in the same season for the first time since 2013, and will be almost impossible to stop.<\/p>\n

As such, Munich\u2019s odds of 1\/5 aren\u2019t awful, as only\u00a0Borussia Dortmund<\/strong>\u00a0(6\/1) look like they have any chance of slowing the runaway train down, and\u00a0that<\/em>\u00a0is dependent on whether they retain the much-coveted services of Jadon Sancho.<\/p>\n

Further down the list,\u00a0RB Leipzig\u00a0<\/strong>look nowhere near the side they were with Timo Werner up front, so should be avoided at 20\/1 or really at any price unless they sign a superstar striker to convert their flowing moves.\u00a0Bayer Leverkusen<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Borussia Monchengladbach\u00a0<\/strong>are the nearest challengers to that trio, but despite both being available at 66\/1, we wouldn\u2019t touch either with a\u00a0bootsstange<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Italian Serie A<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the best leagues to bet on, the Italian Serie A could be great to watch this coming season, and not just because\u00a0Juventus\u00a0<\/strong>(10\/11 favourites to win the title) come into the campaign with an icon as their manager. Andrea Pirlo is sure to ruffle some feathers, possibly while looking immaculate in whatever he wears, but we can\u2019t wait to see the cut of his threads as much as we\u2019re excited to find out what he does with Cristiano Ronaldo.<\/p>\n

Will Pirlo pack off Aaron Ramsey a year after he joined? Could Cristiano yet go elsewhere? Any rumblings of discontent are likely to be seized upon by\u00a0Inter Milan<\/strong>, who,\u00a0managed by the freshly-committed Antonio Conte, finished just a point behind the \u2018Old Lady\u2019 in Serie A last season. With players such as Lukaku, Martinez and Sanchez in a happy tandem, a couple more additions could seal the title and we don\u2019t mind taking them at odds of 9\/4 at all.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere,\u00a0Atalanta<\/strong>\u00a0(12\/1) and\u00a0Napoli<\/strong>\u00a0(14\/1) will surely have important roles in the title race, with both heavily involved last time out. While we\u2019d discount the title-winning abilities of\u00a0Lazio<\/strong>\u00a0(22\/1),\u00a0A.C. Milan<\/strong>\u00a0(25\/1) and\u00a0Roma\u00a0<\/strong>(40\/1), each of those sides is well capable of springing the odd surprise.<\/p>\n

Spanish La Liga<\/strong><\/p>\n

Possibly the most intriguing battle for supremacy will be fought in Spain as Ronald Koeman leads\u00a0Barcelona<\/strong>\u00a0(7\/4 and drifting) into a titanic struggle for superiority against Zinedine Zidane\u2019s\u00a0Real Madrid\u00a0<\/strong>(5\/6).<\/p>\n

Barcelona are in the middle of a tumultuous period in their recent history, with Koeman\u2019s arrival not the biggest explosion set to hit the club in the dying embers of summer. Lionel Messi has handed in a transfer request, and while the Argentinian is yet to leave, it all adds to the unrest.<\/p>\n

We wouldn\u2019t usually recommend taking Los Blancos at odds-on, but Madrid have some great young players coming through and have been highly consistent since lockdown ended, overhauling Barcelona to win La Liga just a few weeks ago. We don\u2019t see them stumbling as much as their Catalan rivals, and while\u00a0Atletico Madrid\u00a0<\/strong>(10\/1) and\u00a0Sevilla\u00a0<\/strong>(33\/1) are both excellent sides, they don\u2019t look to have a title run in them.<\/p>\n

From the top five club leagues in Europe, we\u2019d back\u00a0Liverpool\u00a0<\/strong>(2\/1),\u00a0Inter Milan\u00a0<\/strong>(9\/4),\u00a0Real Madrid<\/strong>\u00a0(5\/6), Bayern Munich (1\/5) and Paris St. Germain (12\/1), although leaving it a little later might nudge those PSG odds out a little. As it is, the five-fold accumulator is available at a best price of 16\/1 \u2013 a nice bet to root for during the forthcoming football season across Europe\u2019s most exciting leagues.<\/p>\n

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