Despite being one of the top names in English football, Liverpool fans had to wait 30 years to watch their team lift a long-awaited league title in 2020. Soured to some extent, of course, by the current climate at the time, the Reds could not celebrate with their fans in their usual fashion, with tens of thousands of their supporters lining the streets of their home city, just like they did when they lifted the Champions League in 2019.
How Dependable Are Outright Odds?
Outright odds are tricky; theoretically, they can change pretty sharply week after week; they are entirely results-dependent. However, a pattern is emerging in the Premier League. Arsenal have fallen behind the pace significantly, especially compared to how they’ve performed in the last two seasons, and even Manchester City and the ever-dependable Pep Guardiola are falling woefully behind their usual standards, with City losing four games on the spin.
The bookmakers now have City and Arsenal a fair distance behind Liverpool, and the rise of alternative payment sportsbooks might branch out the range of available ways to play – but they’re also of the volition that Arne Solt’s men could be the team that lift’s the EPL in May.
With Thunderpick and other sportsbooks offering cryptocurrency betting markets and the industry experiencing a boom period in the latter stages of 2024, including new all-time highs, sportsbooks are benefiting – both traditional and niche alternative payments such as crypto.
Although Liverpool might be taking an early lead in the outright odds, they are dependent on a variety of variables, such as:
● Injuries and suspensions.
● Head-to-head record against other title challengers.
● Upcoming fixtures and the difficulty of their final away games.
Not only are The Reds flying domestically, but they are also doing business in Europe. It’s hard to think of a more in-form team in Europe at the moment, and if Slot can keep the Reds juggernaut purring and firing on all cylinders – it’s hard to see how Arsenal or Man City can catch them.
At the beginning of the season, Manchester City and Arsenal were considered the main favorites to win the EPL. However, with both teams suffering significant setbacks on and off the pitch, especially Manchester City and their looming 115 charges, Arne Solt, happy to initially take a backseat in this conversation, has propelled Liverpool to the forefront.
Manchester City have gone into the last five Premier League seasons as favorites for the title, and Arsenal and Liverpool have taken turns playing second fiddle. Many thought that JurgenKlopp’s leaving his long-term role as the spearhead of Liverpool’s revival would pit them miles behind City and Arsenal.
The managing director of Bayer Leverkusen stated the Reds would have trouble replacing the talismanic German. While hindsight is a wonderful thing, Arne Slot is in the process of proving this prediction to be spectacularly wrong.
The Key Factors Behind Liverpool Emerging On Top
It’s not just the fact Arne Slot has hit the ground running. It has Liverpool operating at the peak of their powers, with only Nottingham Forest getting the better of them in their first 11 games, but Manchester City and Arsenal both appear to be in freefall.
Well, freefall might be a tad drastic given that City are still second, but Arsenal are already 10 points behind The Reds after 11 games. This already seems like a tough ask to catch them – and we’re not even at the Christmas period yet.
Slot’s men possess the cohesion, tenacity, desire, and winning mentality that all top teams possess. However, most importantly, they consistently grind out results, even if it’s a hammering or a difficult battle of attrition like their 2-1 win against Brighton, another team gunning for Champions League qualification and having beaten Manchester City already this season.
The big question for Reds fans is whether they have enough to keep this momentum going. The last time they won the league, in 2020, they were streets ahead of the competition. In fact, it was one of the most dominant individual seasons in EPL history—they had the league wrapped up by March.
It’s just as important that other teams are struggling around them. The idea of a Manchester City team losing four games in a row is unprecedented, especially in the 2020s, and with their charges and Guardiola’s exit all but confirmed at the end of this season, they’re in disarray. They’re not a team to write off lightly, but the warning signs are all there.
Likewise, Arsenal has had some great seasons under Arteta. Still, they have developed a reputation as the nearly-men, and with them losing already this season to Newcastle and Bournemouth, they are not displaying the form of champions. There’s only one team in the EPL, and that is Liverpool. Do the sportsbooks have it correct at the moment? Most definitely. But let’s see what these odds look like in early 2025.