As soccer returns across Europe, all eyes are on the top divisions and competitions, including the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, and the UEFA Champions League. Those are the major attractions where the most famous teams battle for supremacy, with the highest-paid players strutting their stuff. Tune into this weekend’s games live on TV to enjoy Manchester City, Barcelona, and Napoli.
Which teams will claim silverware this term? The leading online bookmakers offer generous odds, eye-catching welcome bonuses, and show-stopping specials on this weekend’s top sports, including soccer. Study the stats, make your predictions, and wager on the result. You could boost your balance with a wise bet, while a financial interest can make even a dull fixture more interesting. Find a leading betting app, claim the welcome bonus, and pick a winner.
The EPL is the most-watched and bet-on soccer division worldwide, with the top bookies putting their leading traders on the case. The Premier League is one of the gambling industry’s primary earners, along with horse racing and American Football. But that doesn’t mean it’s the division you should always bet on.
Keep reading as we dig deeper to help readers identify and claim the top soccer gambling value.
Championship holds secrets
Our team of soccer pundits loves the English Championship, considering it one of our favorite leagues in the world. It doesn’t boast the same talent as the division above, with the EPL being the wealthiest league in the world, but it’s full of character. The Championship is viewed by many as the most competitive league, with experts at a loss to predict the winner in pre-season.
The Championship’s unpredictable nature attracts millions to watch or attend games each month of the season. But there’s another reason it’s our go-to competition when making predictions. Sportsbook traders don’t give it the attention it deserves. The top firms put so much energy into covering the Premier League, Champions League, La Liga, and Bundesliga that it leaves little time for Championship coverage.
Combine those two factors, and the division’s appeal is obvious, especially when making predictions or placing bets. It’s difficult to predict, and the traders are often rushed or sloppy with their prices. That means if you’re willing to put in the effort to research a game, you’ll often find some great odds. Study the Championship and collect the information needed to make intelligent predictions.
The top performers
The Championship is already a few games old, and the league wasted no time taking shape. Ipswich Town and Leicester City are the two early front-runners, winning their first two games. But will they hold their ground? The Foxes were relegated from the Premier League last season and are intent on bouncing back at the first time of asking.
The leading English soccer pundits made predictions in pre-season and selected the teams they expected to challenge for the main places. Leicester was the most picked team to win the league, ahead of Southampton, Ipswich, and Leeds. The Saints and Leeds were playing top-tier soccer last term, also. Leicester has taken an early lead, but plenty of twists and turns are still to come.
Leeds United were winless in their first three Championship games, taking just two points from a possible nine. Southampton collected seven and are already pushing for the promotion places. The Saints fans demand their club return to the EPL, and how they achieve it isn’t essential. It’s a points-over-performance situation.
Teams to avoid
We now know the teams expected to challenge for the title, automatic promotion places, and a playoff finish. But what about at the other end of the table? The race to avoid relegation to League One is as interesting as the battle to win the title. Teams know slipping down another level of English soccer could be a disaster.
Again, respected pundits have put their heads together and published a list of the teams they expect to struggle this term. Four teams are relegated at the end of the season, and the sides currently in the drop zone are Rotherham United, Middlesbrough, and Sheffield United. Those teams have taken no more than one point in their first three games but can break free and climb the rankings.
The teams expected to struggle and spend most of this campaign at the bottom of the league are Rotherham, QPR, Huddersfield, Plymouth Argyle, and Cardiff City. Some surprising teams are on that list, including Queens Park Rangers, who were briefly challenging for promotion last year. Then there’s Cardiff, who has been playing Premier League football recently, and fans hope they will do so again.
Golden Boot contenders
We’ve covered the teams to follow and those best avoided, but now let’s see which players will contest the Golden Boot and be declared this season’s Championship top scorer.
It’s another tightly packed field with some familiar names in the running, including Adam Armstrong, Che Adams, and Jamie Vardy. Does Leicester’s goal-machine Vardy have another big season left in the tank? He has played at multiple levels, including lower league in England and the Champions League.
It’s a surprise Jamie didn’t sign for a team to remain in the Premier League, but he’s back in the second tier and will want to make an impact. A fit and firing Vardy is good enough to propel Leicester up the Championship and into the Premier League.
Others worth mentioning and players capable of winning the Golden Boot are Kelechi Iheanacho, Felipe Andre Vidigal, Patson Daka, Joel Piroe, Nathan Tella, and Josh Sargent. It won’t be a surprise if either player listed finishes as the top scorer in the spring.
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