TODAY'S the day we kick off in the English league and my antepost tips on the Championship were posted earlier.
The Racing Post's excellent stats and info-packed pullout is out and I've been studying that before making my final calls.
I'm not the world's biggest fan of anteposts because I don't like waiting nine months to be paid out but I know some people who make them their main bet of the season.
It can be fun to follow your season bets and of course there is the chance of picking some big-priced winners. Remember all those who were on Leicester at four figures.
Leicester actually kick off the season at Arsenal on Friday, August 11 and the Gunners are around 1-2 to make a winning start.
The Gunners are fifth favourites for the title at 12-1 behind Man City, Chelsea, Man City and Spurs. Everyone bar Spurs has spent a fortune so it promises to be an interesting campaign.
Aston Villa finished the Championship campaign well and are uneasy 15-2 favourites ahead of Middlesbrough, Fulham, Sheffield Wednesday and Norwich.
Blackburn are hot League One favourites at 5-1 ahead of 8-1 Wigan and 10-1 Portsmouth which looks extremely short.
In League Two Mansfield and Luton are well fancied ahead of Coventry, Lincoln and Swindon.
Celtic are again pretty much unbackable at a best 1-9 and Paddy Power have already paid out on them making it seven in a row.
Rangers are second favourites at 12-1 but could again be pipped by 20-1 Aberdeen with Hibs and St Johnstone fighting out the minor places. The Dons remain in Europe and look a strong side.
Dundee Utd look a little short at 2-1 to win the Championship but Scott McDonald's signing is a good one and they be given a run by Falkirk and Inverness. St Mirren are expected to go well but haven't impressed in the Betfred Cup until last weekend.
In League One Raith again are maybe too short at 13-10 while Ayr, who reached the Betfred Cup last 16, are 5-2 ahead of 7-1 Alloa.
Peterhead are 9-4 favourites to win League Two and showed their quality by beating Hearts in the Betfred Cup. I've said it many times but striker Rory McAllister is too good for this level and will score 20 plus.
Let's hear what everyone's thinking at this stage – British or European on any market.
Resident football tipster at Scotland's most read newspaper, the Daily Record, for over 20 years and proud host of one the best betting communities on the web with daily betting tips.
Always place two healthily staked antepost bets ahead of the incoming football season – last year came up trumps with a 4/1 double on Hull to be relegated and Newcastle to win the Championship.
Not decided on a second pick but having watched events unfold over the last week, I’ve seen enough to confirm my early thoughts on the main antepost punt!
WEST HAM TO FINISH TOP HALF…11/8
?????
Great thread to head into the glorious kick off run-in…cheers
Mr F and good luck ?
Going to wait til nearer the time, but right now I’m leaning towards a Chelsea, Aberdeen (without Celtic) and Falkirk.
Treble pays 47/1
Grimsby’s main man Omar Bogle has been a belter to bet on these last couple of seasons and a move ‘up’ in class to Wigan ought to maximise his potential in front of goal even further.
I can see the Latics doing well in League One (alongside fellow NW relegation casualties Blackburn) and Bogle looks a great pick (?) to chip in with plenty of goals.
LEAGUE ONE LEADING SCORER OMAR BOGLE…14/1
???
The main ante post I fancy at the moment is Wolves to achieve promotion. 7/2 seems the general at the moment which has shrunk considerably.
It feels like for the first time in god knows how long we have a bit of direction and have added some real class to the team.
I think promotion is a must this season and if we fail to achieve it then serious questions are going to be asked of the whole setup.
From watching the pre season my main thoughts are that the only piece of the jigsaw missing is an out and out 20+ goal striker. With a striker I’d be putting a smaller stake on winning the league.
This isn’t me being biased as a wolves fan as I haven’t backed us for quite some time in honesty but there’s a much better feeling around the club of late.
Wolves promotion 7/2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Third and final Antepost sees a Gigg Lane link with former Shaker James Vaughan joining The Mackems this summer.
Small stakes this one but despite the doom and gloom, Sunderland will cause plenty of sides grief over the coming months and if Vaughany gets the chance, he will rack up a few goals and break a few corner flags in the process!
He single-handedly kept Bury up last year and might just be worth a sneaky bet.
CHAMPIONSHIP LEADING GOALSCORER JAMES VAUGHAN…50/1
?
*E/W
Love the thread!
My thoughts…
Liverpool win prem
(10/1 3 places) whilst I don’t see us winning it I think 2/1 for a top 3 finished is good value
Dwight Gayle top prem goalscorer (80/1)
Just a feeling if he stays injury free he could be up for another good season, will be there no 9 and scored virtually all their goals last season and should be a similar story this season (works out 20/1 for a top 4)
West Ham top half finish
11/8
Already mentioned by hull shaker and have spent/loaned wisely so far and should be im for a good one
West Ham to finish higher than West Brom
Only 4/6
But think it’s virtually a banker, going along with a top 10 finish for the hammers, west brom haven’t really signed anyone and losing Darren fletcher on a free must hurt
Good luck pal!
Looking at the Europa league for next year and AC Milan are 9/1 2nd favs behind Arsenal, we all know how they’ve been spending and the team they’ve clustered together, it’s simply a question of ‘gel’ing together, if they do they could have a very good year, in my eyes no danger lies in the current teams in it, such as Lyon, lazio and Villarreal who have all sold probably there best players, Arsenal could lose Sanchez and Gibbs, elneny, the ox and wilshere could all be gone could end of August and could lack the depth of maintaining a challenge this season so any challenge for AC Milan will be the champions league exit’ers, normally 2/3 decent teams but 4.5/1 for a final place is again great value in my eyes
** All my bets skybet and EW bets
As you say you worry about teans coming out of the Champions League.
The other worry is if Milan are challenging for a Champions League place in Serie A they will prioritise that over Europa League.
It’s a brave tip at this stage.
I know mr F but I can see the top 4 in Italy being juventus, Roma, Napoli, AC Milan and quite comfortably…
im looking at last years standing and they only finished 8 points off 4th spot Atalanta and Milan were poor in a lot of games last season and struggled in games against weaker teams because they had a poor side compared to this years, Atalanta surely can’t repeat last season and as I said Lucas biglia is a big lose for lazio who were 5th last year, inter I can’t see doing well again either because their good days seem a distant memory and probably need something like what’s happening at Milan
All that said Milan should have already qualified for the champs league and can focus on a title (Europa) to kickstart there cabinet
Fair enough – I will watch their progress with interest.
No reasoning but my thoughts:
Man city
A Villa
Wigan
Coventry
Dundee utd
Alloa
Peterhead
———————
EW Acca
Posting tomorrow, probably one of the best antepost bets you will get
So close last season to seriously denting the bookies bank account with my Hibernian to score 10 in a game “they should have easily done it against the Rose but at least the Nap won last season
I’m a united fan and I see Chelsea and man city being a class apart.
Tight wad spurs have not invested, have no cover when kane is out, and play at Wembley so this brings them closer to Liverpool and united.
These 3 are battling for 2 top 4 spots and much depends on how long they stay in Europe.
United won’t score enough and it pains me to say 75 million for lukaku is 35 million too much.
Liverpool still have no keeper worthy of mention, will still concede too many and their pressing game will catch up with them over a more demanding season then last year, and if they sell coutinhio forget about top 4. He is their biggest asset, coutinhio 70 million, lukaku 75 million ??, I know which one I prefer but looks like he is off to Spain.
So its
Chelsea/man city reverse forecast.
United, spurs, Liverpool, can’t split them.
Arsenal, oops, same old same old I’m afraid.
They will be further away, even with no champs league, and I expect Wenger won’t be staying in the Europa too long as well, he thinks its beneath him.
The boo boys will hound him out before next may and about time too.
Everton is becoming a menagerie, but will beat anyone on a given day, could go well in cups and push arsenal down to 7th.
Coutinho won’t be going for 70 mil elvis, already had 72 mil rejected and set our price at £134 million, is a lot of money but at the same time if he left we’d struggle to replace him and klopp isn’t one to rush out and get someone for the sake of it…
If he went for that much we’d probably just overpay for van dijk and naby Keita and that’s it, but a price tag being set at that is obviously to attempt to put barca off…
In regards to a keeper there has been nout all spoken, looks like it’s migno again, whilst he’s been terrible in the past, he had quite an alright season last year probably because of our pressing style opponents didn’t have the same amount of opportunities against us as they have in the past, given they still did get quite a few chances!
Left back I’m quite content will Andy Robertson, pointed him out about 10 months ago and said he could be a good fit, and virtually a straight swap with Kevin Stewart (a free transfer from Spurs who’d get no action next year) it’s very good business in today’s market…
Talk of emre Can going to juventus for 34 mil I’d be happy with, Liverpool have too many of a similar quality in midfield… Lallana, can, Henderson, wijnaldum… We could easily part ways with one such as Can whos deal expires next summer anyway, and that’d allow us to spend the required money of Keita who would work out at £50 million, and then have a midfielder whose a class above the rest
I think your a bit harsh on Lallana . He’s a fair bit better than the others you mention.
Lallana just looks better than the rest in klopps system, it requires running and work rate which he’s the best at giving, a bit like dirk kuyt, a fan favourite for tenacity but never a world class player
Lallana, can, Henderson, wijnaldum.
one thing links these, none are world class and other top 6 clubs aren’t falling over themselves to poach them.
cant honestly see any of these 4 in a premier winning team
Personally think Lallana is on the same level, as elvis says none of them are world class and that’s why we struggle, that’s what my point was… If the 34 mil Can rumour is true then take it and invest in naby, put 50 mil towards it and we have a world class midfielder
Robertson came down from Scotland to Hull with a good young name and certainly upheld it in his time with the Tigers – pace to burn, will run all day and rarely loses possession – can see why Klopp targetted him for his system.
one for any accumulator is hibs to finish top 6 at odds of 8-15.
if I had £1500 quid down the side of my sofa, that’s what I would invest it in.
Premier league Champs : Man City @ 15/8 skybet
Finished last season behind Chelsea { no european distractions last season} and Spurs { Home games wembley this season} Shelled out 200 million plus already on Keeper Ederson , Benjamin Mendy, Kyle Walker from spurs, and Danilo ,they have also signed the brilliant Monaco winger Bernardo Silva.Spurs have been very quiet in this transfer window and may struggle to match last seasons title push having already lost Walker to City and Chelsea looking likely to lose Costa { unproven morrata replacing him} and likely to lose matic also.
Prem league top 3 any order
Man City/Chelsea/Man United. @ 9/2 skybet
Just cant see Spurs { Wembley homes},Liverpool { Coutinho leaving} or Arsenal { Europa league distraction }Breaking the top 3 this season.
Championship Promotion
Aston Villa @ 12/5 Managed by Steve Bruce who knows what it takes to get out of this division having done it 4 times already.
League 1 ..Haven’t decided yet, looks a tough one to call but Scunthorpe top 6 could be a shout @ 3/1 william hill.
League 2
Promoted Mansfield @ 13/10
Boss Steve Evans knows how to get a side promoted having done it 4 times with his last 3 clubs { twice Rotherham & Crawley}Brought 13 new players in at the end of the season many of which have experience well above lg 2 which shows this club really mean business this year.
Not sure why but my previous comments wont post on the thread
Sorted – too many links possibly.
Season long Bets
Premier league Champs : Man City @ 15/8 skybet
Finished last season behind Chelsea { no european distractions last season} and Spurs { Home games wembley this season} Shelled out 200 million plus already on Keeper Ederson , Benjamin Mendy, Kyle Walker from spurs, and Danilo ,they have also signed the brilliant Monaco winger Bernardo Silva.Spurs have been very quiet in this transfer window and may struggle to match last seasons title push having already lost Walker to City and Chelsea looking likely to lose Costa { unproven morrata replacing him} and likely to lose matic also.
Prem league top 3 any order
Man City/Chelsea/Man United. @ 9/2 skybet
Just cant see Spurs { Wembley homes},Liverpool { Coutinho leaving} or Arsenal { Europa league distraction }Breaking the top 3 this season.
Championship Promotion
Aston Villa @ 12/5 Managed by Steve Bruce who knows what it takes to get out of this division having done it 4 times already.
League 1 ..Haven’t decided yet, looks a tough one to call but Scunthorpe top 6 could be a shout @ 3/1 william hill.
League 2
Promoted Mansfield @ 13/10
Boss Steve Evans knows how to get a side promoted having done it 4 times with his last 3 clubs { twice Rotherham & Crawley}Brought 13 new players in at the end of the season many of which have experience well above lg 2 which shows this club really mean business this year.
Personally i think odds of Evens with PP for Spurs to finish outside the top 4 is a banker, we will try but it’s just not going to happen….i know we don’t have the problem of getting a settled team together but our squad depth is pants so i shall be going big on us not finishing in the top 4
Scotland
Premiership
Top goalscorer
SIMON MURRAY (Hibernian) 66/1 bet365
we have Lenny to thank for this selection, a couple of weeks ago I wouldn’t have contemplated backing this player, I thought he looked another Jason Cummings in that he was wasteful with chances but thanks to Neil Lennon having a word with him he now looks a different player who is high on confidence just now with 5 goals in his first 3 games
Looking at Simon Murray he would drift into positions that weren’t dangerous
Last season he scored 18 goals for Dundee United but he admits himself that the service he received was poor and that he had to make a lot of his own chances, the service he has been receiving at Hibernian and will continue to receive is on a different level to last season, with the players Hibernian have, John McGinn, Martin Boyle, Steven Whittaker, Danny Swanson, Lewis Stevenson, David Gray and others all have the ability to get that ball into and around the six yard box for Murray, with that service he looks lethal, I know it’s only 2 goals against Montrose and 3 against Arbroath but over the last three seasons we have proved we can make plenty of chances against the top league teams, we just needed someone to put those chances away consistently
Thanks to Neil Lennon we now have a goalscorer capable of getting 30+ goals, Lennon’s advice was he didn’t need to drop off and try and make something happen himself, he has told him to simply stay between the posts and the chances will come, Murray did that against Arbroath and got his reward, Murray told us what Lennon said so he knows what he has to do and he has admitted the service he is receiving is different class to what he got last season and he knows it’s working, he is high on confidence and 66/1 is simply far too big
This is my largest ever antepost bet on football
I have my season long ante post bet done:
Leicester- top midlands club ( got to finish above stoke and wba) 5/4
Reading top 6 finish 9/4
Portsmouth top 6 finish 11/10
luton top 6 finish 8/11
tranmere to be promoted 11/8
Salford to be promoted 9/4
rangers ( spl without celtic) 10/11
psg ligue 1 winner 4/11
juventus serie A winner 8/13
Barcelona la liga winner 1/1
Dortmund (bundesliga without Bayern Munich ) 8/11
£20 returns £59486.04 @betway
Just looked again at my posts yesterday and saw that…
West Ham to finish higher than West Brom (4/6)
Is now priced at 4/7, bookies must be catching on the trends as a few of these prices have changed since yesterday!!
Good to see as this is my biggest EVER bet
Needs to be worth it when you have to wait 9 months to collect.
Sky bets handicap leagues are now up.. These have provided me some nice wins over the years as the prices are either 16/1 or 18/1 ideal for top 4 e/w bets..
My tips e/w
Man city 16/1 all the reasons mentioned in the above posts
Aston villa 18/1 John terry factor plus good end of season form
Blackburn 18/1 bought goal scorers and good pre season form
Luton 18/1 consistent team unlucky in play offs and recruited well
Tranmere should bully the national league and are a great price at 3/1 .. Just pipped last season and where plagued by injuries..
wayne rooney 15+ prem goals 12/1
A C Milan serie A winner without juvenus 11/4
double pays 47/1 @bet365
Season long bets are not everyones cup of tea. Best advice I can give is to keep your stakes reasonable and your returns large (hopefully). Waiting 9 months to pay out on an odds on shot is not worth the risk as so much can happen in that time. Keep your accumulators short, 3-5 selections is generally a good range. Picking 9 or 10 selections very rarely pays off, it only needs one team to be out of the running by the end of September or October and your whole bets down the pan. So consider backing something that hopefully gives you a season long interest. Top six and top half finish bets will give you plenty of scope so try looking for value there. My personal choice is 5 EW selections, I cover this with 10 trebles, 5 fourfolds, and the 5-fold, totalling 16 bets. This allows for 2 failures, and with decent prices available a treble will provide a good return. For the record my selections this year:
Aston Villa
Blackburn
Mansfield
Tranmere
Lorient (France Ligue 2)
Good luck everybody
ive had some good cash outs on season long bets,as mentioned small stakes big returns is the way to go.
leyton o to be promoted
stoke to be relegated
sunderland to be promoted
shrewsbury top 6
crewe top 7
ac milan serie a without Juventus
£2 acc pays 232k
:-)
Rangers 12/1
Rangers (without Celtic)
Juventus
Psg
Madrid
15/2
The odds on Manchester clubs and Chelsea to finish top three look good, might have a dabble o that. Will be looking through different bets over the next week, will be some good prices rabs
I usually put on 4 or 5 small stakes long shots, I’ve started tonight with:
West Ham top half finish
Aston Villa top 6 finish
Bradford top 6 finish
Hibs top 6 finish
Acca pays just under 16/1
Fairly confident but Bradford could be the risk
Man City
M’boro
Wigan
Celtic
E/w Yankee on the handicaps
I’m also now on:
Huddersfield to be relegated
M’boro top 6 finish
Wigan top 6 finish
Luton top 7 finish
Hibs top 6 finish
Atletico Madrid with Barca and Real
Acca pays just under 20/1
*Atletico WITHOUT Barca and Real
Have also gone for:
Brighton to be relegated
Fulham top 6 finish
Blackburn top 6 finish
Coventry top 7 finish
St Johnstone top 6 finish
Acca pays 23/1
Middbro top 6
Luton top 7
2/1
This is printing money
I’ve been investing in a short price 5 fold all summer.
Man City top 4
Celtic win PL
Wolves finish top half of Championship
Wigan finish top half of League 1
PSG win french league.
nothing spectacular but pays over 7/4 and I really can’t see where it goes wrong.
Huddersfield to finish bottom 9/4
Just cant see any other position for them
Everton to win Europa League 20/1 (with a view of cashing out)
They have spent a lot and will want some sort of return for it. Everton have a tough start to the league season and will take time to gel so this could become their main focus
coral got a special on man city, Chelsea, man utd to finish in the top 3 any order 4/1
max £100
can see this happening
Probably Arsenal can only stop that with Spurs playing home games at Wembley so looks a decent shout.
Posted this on the other thread during the week
Lucky 15 antepost
Sunderland to be relegated
Falkirk to win championship e/w
Stirling Albion to win league 2 e/w
Sevilla top 4 finish
2083/1 bet 365
Top goalscorer ew lucky 15
Kane EPL
S. Murray Spfl prem
Messi la liga
Lewandowski bundesliga
£15 returns £1886
Top goalscorers:
Lewandowski
Lukaku
Mbape
Huntelaar
J Vaughan ( Hullshaker ) 4 places
O Boyle ( Hullshaker ) 4 places
S Murray ( Johnb ) 3 places
Top Goalscorer EW Treble
£4.50 EW Returns £156,424 or £2659
Nice interest for season.
That should read BOGLE ^^^^^^
He’s transfer listed and wants out.
He’ll be in the championship if he’s not at Celtic this season I reckon.
Guys..what do you think about rangers plus 16 points to win the league.. 9/1 ..and you can do it each way..1.2 &3. @ 1/4 odds…Bet365. .I’m on….cheers
Mr Jack…..No chance.Save your money.Celtic will romp it again and will be AT LEAST 24 points clear.
Sasaharv62..That’s fine..but they should be in the first 3..still a winner??
My season long attempt to hit the bookies for a nice sum is as follows.
Crystal Palace – top half finish
Derby County – top 6 finish
Fleetwood Town – top 6 finish
Luton Town – top 7 finish
Hibs – top 6 finish
107/1 with 365.
Man city
Barcelona
A.c. Milan
Dundee Utd
Ayr
350/1 fivefold ?
I have a few anteposts on but this one stands out the most to me.
Harry Kane spurs top Spurs scorer 1/4
Wayne Rooney top Everton scorer 15/8
Hernandez top West Ham scorer 4/6
Middlesbrough top 6 finish 5/6
Bradford top 6 finish 13/8
Mansfield league 2 top 7 1/2
Dag and Red top 7 finish 5/6
PSG ligue 1 winners 1/6
Salford City 11/4 National League North winners
Juventus 8/11 Serie A winners
Hibs top 6 finish
397/1 stick a fiver on it your looking at near enough 2 grand good luck everyone :)