Premier League outright predictions, betting odds and tips
Best bet
Manchester City to win the Premier League
2pts 8-11 general
Premier League predictions
The first Premier League fixture of 2024 saw Liverpool beat Newcastle 4-2 in an incident-packed clash at Anfield which felt entirely in keeping with a chaotic, compelling top-flight campaign.
Injury crises, increased added-time periods and VAR controversy have all added to the drama of an unpredictable season in which Luton have scored more goals than Manchester United and Christmas Day leaders Arsenal had slipped to fourth by New Year's Eve.
Fulham claimed two 5-0 victories in the space of five days in early December while Aston Villa stretched their winning streak at Villa Park to 15 matches by beating Manchester City and Arsenal, only to drop points against bottom club Sheffield United.
Tottenham are averaging 2.1 goals per game, compared with 1.84 in their final season with Harry Kane leading the line, and Brighton, so often the toast of both-teams-to-score backers, finally kept their first clean sheet of the season in a 0-0 draw at West Ham on January 2.
As the field turns for home in the Premier League title race, however, it is hard to shake off the sense that we know how this story will end.
Manchester City's run of one win in six matches in November and December gave their title rivals hope, especially as the champions blew a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with Crystal Palace in the last of those games.
But the 2022-23 treble winners put that mini-slump behind them with a comfortable Club World Cup triumph in Saudi Arabia, where they flattened Fluminense 4-0 in the final.
And City, so ruthless in the second half of their campaigns under Pep Guardiola, returned to domestic action by beating Everton and Sheffield United to reclaim their status as odds-on favourites to make it six titles in seven seasons.
Last season the Citizens averaged 2.43 points per game before sealing the league with three matches to spare. That figure has dropped to 2.11 points per game this term although star playmaker Kevin De Bruyne has played only 23 minutes of Premier League football in 2023-24.
De Bruyne returned to the matchday squad against the Blades on December 30 and striker Erling Haaland, sidelined since the first week of December, should also be back in action soon.
Haaland's last league goal came in the 1-1 draw with Liverpool, who are rated as the biggest threats to City after Arsenal's post-Christmas defeats to West Ham and Fulham.
The Reds finished 2022-23 strongly, rebuilt their midfield in the summer, and have taken an impressive 45 points from 20 games although 28 of those points came in just ten matches against bottom-half sides.
Mohamed Salah's departure to the Africa Cup of Nations is a blow as the Egyptian forward is the Premier League's joint-leading goalscorer and assist-maker this season.
Even with Salah in the side, Jurgen Klopp's Reds can lack incisiveness. They were held to a 0-0 draw by struggling Manchester United despite having 34 attempts at goal and Darwin Nunez has scored just 14 league goals from an xG of 25.51, according to understat.com, since arriving in the summer of 2022.
The Manchester City-Liverpool straight forecast, advised at 13-2 in the Racing Post's Big Kick-Off season preview, is trading significantly shorter now but City, five points behind the Reds with a game in hand, are also a backable price in the outright market.
In October Arsenal beat the Citizens in the league for the first time since 2015 but a run of three defeats in five games in December has dented the Gunners' title hopes.
City can be trusted to move through the gears as their rivals begin to tire and Guardiola's champions look primed to pull clear in the second half of the season once again.
