Revisiting Premier League Top 4 Odds After 6 Weeks

6 weeks into the Premier League season, the table looks a bit unusual. Favorites like Manchester City are at the top, along with a resurgent Arsenal, Conte’s Tottenham, and a surprise appearance from the south coast of England – Brighton Hove Albion.

While it would be a delight to have the Seagulls play in Europe, oddsmakers do not see that as a highly likely possibility. Brighton has never finished higher than 9th in the Premier League. At the beginning of the season, they were going off at +2500 to make the top 4.

Last season’s top 4 were Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Tottenham. At the beginning of the season, these four had the best Premier League potential odds to return to Champions League play. 6 weeks in, that table looks a little different.

Stock Up: Arsenal

Beginning of season: +175
Now: -250

Arsenal spent last season making a series of tough decisions for their football team. Mikel Arteta’s target for the team was to return to Champions League football in 2022-23. To reach that goal, he decided to part with star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubamaeyang and send him to La Liga.

Arteta plucked two former Man City players, Gabriel Jesus, and Oleksandr Zinchenko, and brought them to Arsenal. Their experience being on Premier League winning teams should benefit the squad, who finished 5th last year, just slightly out of the top 4.

Arsenal’s incendiary start to the season should help them get into the top 4 – they’ve opened the season winning 5 of their first 6 games, scoring at least 2 goals in each of their wins.

Stock Down: Chelsea

Beginning of season: +175
Now: -250

Chelsea has started off the season with a couple of controversial moments – the tension of their 2-2 match with Tottenham led to Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel and Spurs (former Chelsea) manager Antonio Conte being sent off after multiple altercations on the touchline, and a clash at the post-game handshake.

I’m a little down on Chelsea as a top 4 team until they can get more consistency in their lineups. Thomas Tuchel seems to be revising the 11 game to game, with players jumping back and forth between midfield and the back line. Until there’s more consistency in his starting lineups, I’m not liking Chelsea’s chances to cruise into a top 4 spot.

Hold The Line: Liverpool

Beginning of season: -833
Now: -500

Liverpool has spent the last few years battling back and forth with Manchester City in a battle of two squads that will be remembered for ages.

After the first 3 weeks of the season, it was a SHOCK to many Premier League followers that Liverpool opened the season with 2 ties and a loss to Manchester United.

While they have rebounded since then with a record-setting 9-0 victory over Bournemouth and a last-minute miracle against Newcastle, they’re going to have to start playing the usual brand of football we’re used to seeing from them to keep pace with the rest of the pack vying for a spot in Europe next year.