What The Bookies Think

The betting agencies are a good place to look for information on the lower teams. Who do they think is likely to keep the most clean sheets - Wigan or Fulham? Which team is expected to finish higher - Sunderland or Derby?

Here is bookmaker Paddy Power's odds for Most Clean Sheets:

Chelsea 2.25
Man Utd 3.50
Liverpool 3.50
Arsenal 10.00
Tottenham 41.00
Aston Villa 67.00
Newcastle 81.00
Portsmouth 81.00
Everton 81.00
Bolton 101.00
West Ham 126.00
Blackburn 126.00
Sunderland 151.00
Man City 151.00
Middlesbrough 151.00
Reading 201.00
Fulham 301.00
Birmingham 501.00
Wigan 501.00
Derby 751.00

The surprise here is that Sunderland are half way up the list, ahead of the likes of Midlesborough and Man City. They are also expecting Chelsea to keep significantly more clean sheets then Man Utd, so if you are looking for premium defenders, Chelsea might be a good place to start.

The odds for Top At The End Of August give us an idea of who the bookies think will get the best start. Betfair has Tottenham third favorite to be on top of the Premiership at the end of August, ahead of Arsenal and Liverpool. Clearly they are expected to score goals in the first few weeks, so some Tottenham firepower might not be a bad investment for the opening weeks of the League. Here is Betfair's complete list.

Man Utd 3.65
Chelsea 4.7
Tottenham 11
Liverpool 15
Arsenal 14
Everton 22
Newcastle 26
Middlesbrough 24
West Ham 24
Aston Villa 30
Bolton 34
Sunderland 36
Blackburn 44
Portsmouth 50
Man City 46
Birmingham 80
Fulham 85
Wigan 70
Derby 90
Reading 95

Finally we will look at goalscoring head-to-head match-ups between the two premium attackers: Rooney vs Drogba. The Fantasy League has them identically priced; but which one is favorite to return more goals (and therefore points)?

Bet365: Drogba $5.5, Rooney $11
Tote Sport: Drogba $6, Rooney $11
Paddy Power: Drogba $5.5, Rooney $12
Coral: Drogba 5, Rooney $8
Ladbrokes: Drogba $5.5, Rooney $11

Clearly, the bookies think that Drogba should be in your starting line-up. A week out from the start of the season Drogba is the fourth most popular striker in Premier Fantasy teams, so this is of further benefit - a lot of other players do not have Drogba, so if you have him and he does well, you will make a big leap in the standings.