EPL Betting Preview for the 2026-27 Season
The World Cup has come and gone, and after a brief window to recharge the batteries, the English Premier is ready to fill our weekend once again. For me, this is one of the most exciting times of the year. The futures markets have been formed, and we compare how they align, or not, with our own thinking.
Ahead of those 38 match days, it’s time to find us some value winning tickets that we can keep safe and cheer on all the way to May 2027. My futures card this year focuses on the Premier League winner, which three clubs will get relegated and who will be top goalscorer and win the Golden Boot.
Premier League Winner: Arsenal at +125
I’m not looking to be too clever here, and although it has proven to be tough defending the title, I am betting the favorites to do just that. Only Manchester City have gone back-to-back since their city rivals were champions in 2007/08 and 2008/09, but I can’t see past Arsenal this season.
In a summer of upheaval, the Gunners have bucked the trend and not only kept stability but further strengthened their hand. Mikel Arteta remains in charge, having finally delivered that elusive title after three consecutive runners-up finishes.
Arsenal ended last campaign with 85 points, seven clear of Manchester City in second, built on a defense that conceded just 27 goals across those 38 league games. They were also just a penalty shoot-out away from adding the Champions League to their trophy cabinet but have not stood still with Bruno Guimaraes and Christos Tzolis joining over the summer and Ezri Konsa likely to follow.
This gains greater importance when you evaluate the competition, with the sportsbooks pricing only four other teams better than +2000. Chelsea +800, Manchester United +700, Liverpool +500 and Manchester City +350.
At the back end of the previous campaign, the legendary Pep Guardiola announced he was leaving the club, with former assistant Enzo Maresca named as his successor. As mentioned, City fell somewhat short of Arsenal last term, and with the World Cup player of the tournament, Rodri, following his manager out of the exit to join Barcelona, they have been severely weakened.
Maresca’s first competitive game in charge was hardly an encouraging one, being dismantled 3-0 by Arsenal in the Community Shield, who in doing so laid down an early marker for the title race. The Gunners scored inside the opening minute, controlled the game for long periods, and could easily have won by an even wider margin.
After a horrific title defense, Liverpool also has a new manager, with Andoni Iraola arriving to replace Arne Slot. The Reds have lost Mo Salah, Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konate, with the former Bournemouth boss admitting his side needs further reinforcements and until then, they look in transition.
Manchester United has turned Michael Carrick’s interim position into a permanent one, which always presents a different dynamic. The Red Devils are also back in European competition this season, the lack of which last term they exploited to finish third, so I expect a little regression from them.
In my opinion, Chelsea could be the closest challengers, with Xabi Alonso yet another new manager but without doubt an exciting appointment. The Blues finished 10th last season, so they need a massive upswing, but with no European soccer and their best player, Cole Palmer, having the summer off, I expect that to be the case.
Arsenal have climbed the mountain now; they know exactly what it takes to win this league and can do so again with all their rivals being a little way off where they need to be to challenge. That makes Arteta’s men my futures anchor.
Premier League Relegation: Hull at -400; Coventry -150; Ipswich -148 (+251 parlay);
Hull to finish bottom -121.
I am going aggressive here and fading the three promoted sides. All three to return straight back to the Championship pays +251 as a parlay, which is a good route in with their individual prices understandably prohibitive.
After all six of the promoted sides were then immediately relegated in both 2023/24 and 2022/23, Leeds and Sunderland finally stopped the rot last term. History is firmly on the side of the fade, however, with 14 of the last 24 promoted sides going straight back down.
Coventry cruised to the second-tier title last term, gaining 95 points while scoring 97 goals in the process, but the physical and technical demands at the higher level are getting greater with each year. At time of writing, only seven players in their squad have Premier League experience, and we saw how important that was for Sunderland last season with Granit Xhaka.
The Sky Blues’ first two road games couldn’t be any more difficult. Trips to Arsenal and Manchester City could see that feel-good factor well and truly dented very early in the piece.
Ipswich have spent big again, but it wasn’t enough two seasons ago, and I don’t expect it to be enough this time round. Crucially though, Kieran McKenna, the manager who masterminded three promotions in four full seasons in charge, resigned shortly after the end of last season.
Hull look the weakest of the three new boys, having only just made the Championship playoffs after a sixth-place finish, 22 points behind Coventry and with a goal difference of only +4. It would shock me if they weren’t soon cut adrift, and so although short for a futures wager, the -121 on the Tigers to finish bottom still looks value.
For those of you looking for bigger prices, I will put up two established Premier League sides who I think could be in trouble if one or more of the promoted trio can get their act together. Crystal Palace and Fulham are the pair who I think could be looking over their shoulder for much of the campaign.
Palace (+600) finished 15th and six points clear of the drop last season but are another team to have lost their manager, with Oliver Glasner, the man who oversaw their remarkable trophy-winning period now at Nottingham Forest. Ligue 1 manager of the year Pierre Sage could be a fantastic piece of recruitment after his success at Lens, but he must find his feet in the Premier League while competing in the Europa League.
Fulham (+500) finished 11th last season, but Marco Silva left the club after five years with two of their better players in Raul Jimenez and Harry Wilson also departing. Replacement Álvaro Arbeloa is relatively inexperienced in management, meaning one of the division’s more established mid-table clubs is suddenly in transition.
Premier League Top Goalscorer: Joao Pedro at +1600; Cole Palmer +4000
This is the futures market where I am deliberately going against the obvious answer.
Erling Haaland is the rightful favorite and yes, he will probably win it if he stays relatively injury-free. He was the market leader last term and duly obliged after hitting 27 goals, but he was +125 then and is around -150 now, which is simply too short for me.
There is no question the Norwegian is one of the best strikers on the planet, but that transition at City concerns me, as does the fact he is coming off his first summer international tournament. Then he looked leggy as he cut a peripheral figure in that 3-0 defeat to Arsenal in the Community Shield so at -150 I would rather fade than buy.
I don’t want to leave the Golden Boot book empty, although pinpointing who may be able to take advantage is not easy. In the end, I have landed on two players who play for the same team but could benefit from how the season shapes up for them.
As already mentioned, Chelsea is a team I expect to improve substantially under Alonso. The lack of European competition means they don’t have to rotate or rest their key players, giving them laser focus on the Premier League.
Joao Pedro looks nailed on to spearhead the Blues attack and therefore looks an attractive option at +1600. The Brazilian easily beat his previous best return last season scoring 15 goals and is another big-name player who had the summer off having not made his nation’s World Cup squad.
My final selection is a player I was bitterly disappointed with last season but one who I think, with a point or two to prove, will bounce back in some style. Cole Palmer plundered 22 league goals in 2023/24 and followed that up with a respectable 15 in the next campaign. He still scored 10 last term, even with long-running injury issues.
He could look a massive price at +4000 if he starts the season well and rediscovers that goalscoring form from a couple of years ago. Fully rested from not traveling to the World Cup and on penalties, it is exciting to think what Alonso could extract from him, and the new signing of his best bud Morgan Rogers only adds to the positivity ahead of kickoff.
