A look at the 16/17 Premier League- early pace setters

The Premier League is now in full swing again for another season, meaning fans are going to the grounds and the pubs, or tuning in live at home, to watch and punt on the games – as well as on who will win the overall title. Six rounds have been completed, and we at TSB take a look at the early pace setters

One side who definitely will be challenging for the title is Manchester City, who have a 100 percent league record under new boss Pep Guardiola (the only team in the league to have won all their games so far!) and players like Kevin De Bruyne in outstanding form. Last season was poor for City, who only just secured fourth place, but everything is different now – as reflected in their hot favourite status at 4/6.

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Rivals United were expected to be real contenders as well, but early defeats to City and Watford have exposed their weaknesses. They finished a disappointing fifth last season and Jose Mourinho spent big on Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba, which led pundits to make them City’s main title rivals during the summer, but the manager has yet to find the formula for getting the best out of the players. Mourinho has an embarrassment of riches to choose from in midfield, but his continued selection of the out of form Wayne Rooney has baffled fans and pundits. However it appears that the Special One is learning from his mistakes, with United scoring four goals in their recent game against Leicester after Rooney was dropped to the bench. Early indications suggest suggest they will challenge but fall short of actually winning their first post-Ferguson title.

Rooney has been in poor form this season- Video

Moving then to Leicester City, who stunned everyone by winning the league title for the first time in their history last season, the Foxes have struggled to reproduce last season’s form. This is partly because the big teams are expected to be more consistent this year and partly because Leicester will have the added demands of the Champions League to contend with. Even with the departure of N’Golo Kante, the Foxes have a more than capable squad, so Leicester should certainly be challenging for a top ten finish, if not European football.

Chelsea had a horrible season in 2015/16, with Jose Mourinho being fired halfway through and a mid-table finish. Antonio Conte is the latest new manager at Stamford Bridge and his signings included N’Golo Kante from Leicester and Michy Batshuayi. They looked promising early on, but failed their first big test when they couldn’t cope with Liverpool’s pace and power in the game at Stamford Bridge, and then lost 3-0 to Arsenal, making 10/1 odds seem a little optimistic. Liverpool are rated 11/2, based on strong early season form, and they will benefit from not having European distractions making them genuine contenders. If there are doubts about them it is on the defensive side, as the early season loss to Burnley showed, and whether they can overcome teams who defend deep against them. It is still very early in the season to make a title winning prediction right now and the Soccer Safari slot game is a similar, but alternative, football betting option available from an online casino that may suit you better right now. It has an attractive jackpot and great payout chances, and you could be rolling in money at the end of the season.

The surprise packages this season have been Everton, who had a terrific start to the season before being brought down to earth at Bournemouth over the weekend. The Toffees are still 5th in the table- on the same number of points as Arsenal and Liverpool but below the duo on goal difference.

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