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Remind me next time

This year’s off-season is one of the shortest in many years so Premier League sides need to be quick to get their signings in and ready for the new campaign. The betting markets are coming in thick and fast and Tom Powell has three early selections to share…

Tom Powell’s Recommended Tips:

Chelsea To Win @ 6/4 – BET NOW
Leicester To Be Relegated @ 5/1 – BET NOW
Bournemouth Top Promoted Club @ 8/5 – BET NOW

There’s nothing to suggest that Chelsea won’t retain their Premier League title this season so they are well worth backing at 6/4. The only threat I can see will come from Man City. Arsenal are perennial third or fourth place finishers, Man United have too much of a gap to make up and the rest are well below the pace so once again this will be a two horse race.

Chelsea will have one or two personnel issues to address during the summer. Didier Drogba’s departure and Diego Costa’s constant injury problems mean Jose Mourinho will need a striker but he has the resources to bring one in capable of scoring goals at this level. Man City also have money to burn they have a manager whose transfer record is less than stellar with Eliaquim Mangala (£32m), Fernando (£12m) and Wilfried Bony (£25m) evidence of that from last season.

In the relegation betting market I like Leicester at 5/1. Admittedly, they were superb at the end of last season but their squad is still poor and I can’t see them being able to attract too many big players. Nigel Pearson spent £17m on Leonardo Ulloa and Andrej Kramaric last season and just £3m elsewhere, more reckless spending like that and the Foxes are in trouble. Also remember, there was no change of manager during the season so as well as Pearson did to get Leicester out of a hole, it was him that put them in that hole in the first place.

Lastly, I fancy Bournemouth to go well next season. They look value at 4/6 to simply stay in the division but I’ll take a bit more of a risk and back them to be next season’s top promoted club. Player for player they are arguably weaker than Watford and Norwich but a lot of the Cherries’ players are unheard of and that could help them. Eddie Howe is a decent manager and has already brought in three signings (as of June 1) so I expect them to go well. As for Norwich, they haven’t fared well in the Premier League in recent times while Watford are a fairly inconsistent side.

Visit our dedicated Premier League betting centre for all the best outright odds and tips