Premier League top-four betting: A look at the odds ahead of the 2020-21 campaign

Bookmaker’s bet365 have released prices on which sides will make the top-four next season.

With the league title wrapped up so early last term thanks to Liverpool’s consistent dominance, the real talking points throughout the previous year surrounded this enthralling market, as a number of teams found themselves in realistic contention of achieving a space in it right up until the final ball was kicked last weekend.

In the end, both Manchester United and Chelsea joined champions Liverpool and league runners-up Manchester City in securing their spot in the 2020-21 Champions League, while Leicester’s monumental late collapse in form saw them fall from the safety of third-place all the way down to fifth thanks to a string of extremely poor performances after the restart.

The Foxes will have to make do with the Europa League next season, where they will be joined by Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham, who ended the campaign in sixth. 

The north Londoners have been priced up at 7/4 to make the grade next season, however, with Leicester currently at odds of 6/1 to make the top-four and thus earn qualification into the 2021-22 Champions League. 

Manchester United are being heavily fancied to retain their position in the top-four in 2021, priced at a rather slim-looking 4/9, though if they can add just one of the many players currently being linked with a move to Old Trafford next season then they will certainly prove to be a strong force and could even emerge as potential title-contenders.

Jadon Sancho, Harry Kane and Jack Grealish have all been mooted as potential new arrivals to the North West powerhouses, as United finally look to challenge rivals Liverpool and Manchester City for top-spot in the Premier League.

Arsenal could be the value pick, if no European commitments 

Arsenal’s price of 10/3 could be viewed as an interesting one, depending on how their FA Cup final clash against Chelsea pans out this weekend. If they lose to the Blues, then they will miss out on qualification to next season’s Europa League; win, however, and they will enter the competition in the group stage phase.

The Gunners endured a miserable campaign this time out, finishing lower than they have done in each of the previous 25 seasons (eighth).

A severe lack of consistency ultimately cost Mikel Arteta’s side throughout the 2019-20 season, but with potentially no European football to distract them next season the north Londoners would be much fresher on a weekly basis, in turn giving themselves a better chance of breaking into the top-four once again. 

They certainly have fantastic individual talent at their disposal, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang again proving his quality in the Premier League last season by scoring 27 goals in all competitions. 

Nicholas Pepe showed glimpses of what he can do and is expected to really kick on next term, while the likes of Kieran Tierney and Bukayo Saka have also given fans plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the future with their recent performances.

At 10/3, Arsenal could be the value pick to secure a spot in next season’s top-four, but they will definitely have to reinforce their disastrous defence - which conceded as many goals as they scored last season (56) - to mount a serious challenge. 

Newcastle worth a punt at 33/1?

Another interesting angle is Newcastle’s mammoth price of 33/1. Talk surrounding the club’s potential takeover have seemed to have flatlined a little but there is still hope that their prospective multi-billion pound investors from the Middle East will complete the deal before the start of the new season on September 12. 

If this does come to fruition then Newcastle’s price in the Premier League top-four betting will be slashed massively, so jumping on it now at 33/1 in case it does happen could prove to be a shrewd move long-term. 

Former Southampton and Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is still 6/4 favourite to take over from Steve Bruce with Betfair, but such a drastic change would only take place if the aforementioned takeover were to be completed. 

With Pochettino at the helm and the potential for an array of top quality new signings making their way to the North East - including Gareth Bale (currently 4/1 to sign for Newcastle) and Philippe Coutinho (9/1) - the Magpies could be a huge force next season.

Of course, this is all circumstantial and if things remain as they are then you would be hard-pressed to find many people backing Newcastle to break into the Champions League spaces next season, just like they did in the early-to-mid-noughties. 

However, 33/1 seems like a very appealing price with all things considered, and it could be worth a small stakes bet at this early stage. 

Bookies seem confident in Everton

Wolves have impressed in the Premier League since their promotion to the top-flight in 2018, recording back-to-back seventh-place finishes and they are being given odds of 7/1 to go one step further and break into the top-four next season by bet365.

Indeed, if Chelsea beat Arsenal in this Saturday’s FA Cup final, Wolves will again be awarded the Premier League’s final space in the 2020-21 Europa League. And, as the West Midlanders know all too well, this would bring with it a significant increase in their fixture list next season, in turn making their chances of a top-four finish even trickier. 

Sheffield United flirted with the top-four for large parts of the campaign just finished, but ended up finishing ninth after an inconsistent end following the restart. Chris Wilder's men are 40/1 longshots to shock the footballing world and make it into the Champions League spaces next season, while Yorkshire rivals and Premier League newcomers Leeds are a 33/1 chance.

Southampton can be found at 25/1 to better their best ever Premier League finish of sixth, which came under Ronald Koeman back in 2015-16. The club Koeman departed The Saints to join - Everton - are almost half those odds at 12/1, which does seem quite short on first reflection given the Toffees have just finished 17 points outside the top-four in 12th.

David Moyes’ West Ham battled relegation all season but are expected to improve next season, with bet365 giving The Hammers odds of 33/1 for a top-four finish next term, while Burnley are exactly double that price at 66/1.

A full list of the odds can be found below.