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If you’re betting in this year’s Premier League title race, you could be forgiven that it’s all over just four games in at the time of writing. The odds suggest it’s a two-horse race to be fought out between the holders Manchester City and the only side now left with a 100% record, Chelsea.
The Stamford Bridge club are somewhere around the 8/11 mark currently, whilst their rivals from the pale blue eastern side of Manchester can be backed at somewhere around 3/1 or 7/2 in some places.
There’s then a substantial gap to their rivals Manchester United who can still be backed at a best-priced 8/1 with bookmakers including 32Red, Unibet and others. But that surely won’t last long.
United may have got off to a pretty awful start but their comprehensive 4-0 drubbing of Queens Park Rangers will have done a huge amount to restore confidence. Obviously, one swallow doesn’t make a summer, and QPR are hardly realistic title rivals, but it was more the manner in which United won that spoke greater volumes than anything else. The team played with confidence and style and never really looked shaky at the back – despite Louis van Gaal having a given debuts to a number of players.
Van Gaal’s new signings Angel Di Maria, Daley Blind and Marcos Rojo were included in the Man United starting team with loanee Radamel Falcao on the bench.
The club’s record signing Di Maria was hugely impressive throughout the match and managed to settle many nerves around Old Trafford when scoring from a free-kick on 24 minutes. The equally impressive Ander Herrera made it two soon after – whilst Wayne Rooney’s third effectively ended the match shortly before half time. Meanwhile, Radamel Falcao was given a relatively gentle introduction to Old Trafford in the 67th minute.
But it’s the bigger picture we’re looking at for the Premier League value – so let’s have a think about the 34 games still to come. On that basis, anything is still possible and United’s rivals have huge Champions League campaigns to add into the mix and these always slightly weaken league campaigns.
Van Gaal has no such problems, as much as this irks the fans, and he also has a track record of starting slowly and finishing strongly. After a couple of months of taking the helm at Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich back in July 2009, Van Gaal had managed to steer the club to just eighth position by late November. But then Bayern suddenly seemed to get going as they got used to the Dutchman’s ideas and 3-5-2 system and the rest, as they say, is history. Bayern went on to win the Bundesliga that year and only missed out narrowly on adding the Champions League. Perhaps ominously, they were beaten in the final of the 2010 Champions League by an Inter Milan side managed by you know who; Mr Mourinho himself.
And perhaps a Mourinho –managed Chelsea will prove too strong and perhaps Man United have already given themselves too much work to do. But that 8-1 looks to be the obvious value bet so early in the season for the biggest club in the land that has just splashed the cash at a record level, with a guy at the helm whose abilities are proven at the highest level. Van Gaal always gets off to what appears to be a bad start – then the clubs he manages start winning. If you don’t believe this; ask the fans of Ajax, Bayern, AZ Alkmaar or Barcelona. The same pattern is repeated each time; bad start, followed by league title wins.
So maybe the 8-1 is worth a punt and maybe there’s a way that can be for free. Most major bookies have free bets, but the casinos give away bigger bonuses. Places like Skyvegas, 888 and others have big introductory bonuses. But if you visit the 32Red mobile casino, you’ll find free bonuses with the simultaneous potential to invest that money in the sports-book. Currently, 32Red is giving away a straightforward £10 to new casino players, plus £32 for each £10 deposited.
Yes, there are then conditions as to how many games you need to play before withdrawing the cash – but you could decide to transfer it to the same operator’s sports book instead, if you have a decent amount left.
Whether you then decide that should be placed on Man United for the Premier League title is quite another matter. But they certainly look to be the value bet at this early stage.
