The new Premier League season is under two weeks away now and the outright betting markets are ramping up as the 2021/22 campaign approaches.

Manchester United aside there have been relatively few big moves in the transfer market but with a well-stocked Manchester City squad, a full season of Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea and Virgil van Dijk back on the pitch for Liverpool it promises to be an engaging battle at the top of the table.

Ahead of our full Premier League season outright predictions next week I’ll be rounding up some of the big players in the outright winners and top four markets and giving an early overview of their chances.

Premier League outright winner odds

• Manchester City – 4/6
• Liverpool – 5/1
• Chelsea – 5/1
• Manchester United – 8/1
• Tottenham Hotspur – 40/1
• Arsenal – 50/1
• Leicester – 50/1

The four favourites

There’s a huge gulf between last season’s Premier League top four and the also-rans in the pre-season market, with Manchester United bringing up the rear of the four favourites at 8/1 before a massive jump to 40/1 for Spurs.

Manchester City are clear favourites and it’s no surprise after their 12-point winning margin last season, but with Sergio Aguero leaving the club they are lacking in the out-and-out striker department. That being said, Aguero did only manage 12 Premier League appearances and four goals last season so it’s clear the Citizens have plenty of firepower. Expect their odds to fall even further if they complete the signings of Jack Grealish or Harry Kane in the coming weeks.

Liverpool and Chelsea are joint second favourites at 5/1 despite both of them finishing below Manchester United last season and making very few waves in the market, but there are a couple of very good reasons for this.

For Liverpool the return of Virgil van Dijk is almost like a new signing after his season-ending injury last autumn, and they have further strengthened at the back with the capture of the talented Ibrahima Konate. Attacking reinforcements are crucial, however, with both Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane heading to the African Cup of Nations in January.

Chelsea’s only signing of the summer so far is Marcus Bettinelli but a full season of Thomas Tuchel and the continued improvement of Kai Havertz make them an attractive bet. Tuchel transformed the Blues into Champions League winners since his arrival in January and Havertz has only been getting better since the German manager’s arrival. If they can find a top-class number nine to complement Havertz, Werner, Pulisic and Ziyech they could be a real threat to Manchester City.

Manchester United are without a doubt the current leaders when it comes to transfer dealings thanks to the exciting captures of Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane. The Red Devils overperformed last season but Varane and Sancho are genuinely world-class players and they should bridge some of that gap to their rivals. Add a defensive midfielder to the mix and you can expect to see their odds fall in line with Liverpool and Chelsea.

The underdogs

It’s hard to argue that Arsenal don’t deserve to be so far adrift after an eighth-place finish last season and while they have strengthened with the signings of Ben White, Nuno Tavares and Albert Sambi Lokonga they are still lacking that cutting edge. This is particularly apparent in midfield after Dani Ceballos and Martin Odegaard returned to Real Madrid. I don’t see them threatening the four market leaders.

There is more of a chance for 40/1 Tottenham Hotspur and 50/1 Leicester, though. Pierluigi Gollini can put pressure on Hugo Lloris in the goalkeeping department and Bryan Gil is a really exciting signing on the wing. They absolutely need to keep hold of Harry Kane to stand any chance but with a new manager on board they have a chance of improving on last term’s seventh-place finish.

Leicester look by far the best value in this section of the market. They have been within a hair’s breadth of finishing in the top four in each of the past two seasons but a lack of depth saw them fall at the final hurdle on both occasions. They have made good headway in remedying that this summer.

Patson Daka is a fantastic signing to provide cover for the ageing Jamie Vardy, who often tails off in the second-half of the season, and the 22-year-old could easily challenge for a starting spot after scoring 34 goals for Salzburg last season. Midfielder Boubakary Soumare is no less of a coup, joining for around £17 million after helping Lille win Ligue 1 last season. Can Leicester’s excellent record of recruitment continue?

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FST’s 2021/22 season outright predictions hub

The experts at Free Super Tips aim to get their predictions out as early as possible, so you can check out Tomorrow’s Football Predictions as well as Football Predictions for today. Get a head start with your football betting with our Free Bets page to compare all the latest betting offers.