It seems quite recent that Manchester City was triumphantly claiming a sixth title in the last 11 seasons in the Premier League. It was done more dramatically than in some of those other seasons, with City staging a frantic rally to defeat Aston Villa and hold off Liverpool at the top of the league. Already though, that victory and the ensuing celebration are things of the past –– and a new Premier League season is suddenly upon us.
Naturally, this leads us to the one crucial question English Premier League fans around the world ask in the latter stages of summer: Who are the favorites this time around?
Answers to this question can shift over time due to anything from injuries, to managerial changes, to transfer window pickups. And of course, as Leicester City demonstrated some years ago, just about anything is possible. As the season starts off though, the following five clubs look to be the most serious contenders for EPL glory in 2023.
It’s only fitting to start with the defending champions. Manchester City is the favorite to claim the EPL title again, not only among most in-the-know fans and analysts but with the sportsbooks as well. As of this writing, up-to-date Premier League odds at Ladbrokes peg City at 8/15 to come out on top, with only Liverpool particularly close at 7/2.
And why wouldn’t the odds look just like this? The city saw some losses in pre-season –– most notably in the form of Gabriel Jesus (who signed with Arsenal) and Raheem Sterling (who found his way to Chelsea).
But they retained the bulk of their championship side, and added two stars in defensive midfielder Kalvin Phillips and wonderkid Erling Haaland (who announced himself with two goals in the opening match). On paper, Man City is the strongest club in the league.
We alluded to the fact that Liverpool was in the hunt until the end of last season, as well as that the oddsmakers see them as the only team on a tier with Man City. Despite the Reds’ opening week misstep, this looks to be a fair assessment.
Jürgen Klopp’s club returns two of the top scorers in the league from 2021/22 in Diogo Jota and Mo Salah. And while the third musketeer of the Liverpool attack, Sadio Mane, has moved on, newly acquired Darwin Nunez looks to be a fitting replacement.
The defence will need to prove itself through some mild turnover, but even there the superb goalkeeping of Alisson Becker provides plenty of reassurance.
Liverpool is certainly good enough to give Man City a fight at the upper echelons of the league once again.
Having worked their way up to pseudo-powerhouse status at times in recent seasons, Tottenham has the third-best odds to take the Premier League as of this writing.
Following a fourth-place finish in 2021/22, Spurs had a busy summer. Antonio Conte (brought in last November) got to begin shaping his own squad and did so by way of a spending spree addressing multiple positions. Djed Spence, Yves Bissouma, and Richarlison will boost the defense, midfield, and attack respectively, with Spurs getting rid of Steven Bergwijn who very rarely played last season.
This club still doesn’t quite have the same raw talent on paper as the presumptive league leaders. But there’s enough in place to keep Tottenham in the hunt deep into the season, and as SI noted in a season preview, the aforementioned moves have led to a strong sense of optimism around the club.
We mentioned above that Raheem Sterling made his way to Chelsea during the summer, and he wasn’t the only major addition at Stamford Bridge. The Blues will also add midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka and defensive stars Kalidou Koulibaly and Marc Cucurella to a core that still includes the likes of N’Golo Kante, Thiago Silva, Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, and the impressive African keeper Edouard Mendy.
It has now been more than five years since Chelsea won the EPL, and they’re far from the favorites to do so this season. But their squad is arguably as strong as it’s been since that 2016/17 title season, and if the Blues come together they’ll be a fearsome side.
It has been even longer since Arsenal were truly relevant. But here too there are signs of improvement that could lead to some degree of contention. Arsenal snatched up the aforementioned Gabriel Jesus as well as left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko from Man City, and reinforced their midfield with the acquisition of young midfielder Fabio Vieira –– all without particularly significant losses.
Now, expectations should still be measured; as Yahoo Sports hinted at in a breakdown of Arsenal’s chances, the real goal should be a return to Champions League qualification. But that much seems possible, even if EPL contention is likely still a stretch.
Beyond these five teams, anyone hanging around the top of the table will be a surprise. As always though, we’ll see how things play out over the next several months. We hope you enjoyed this preview, and please check back on our sports section for additional updates on Premier League football and world sport in general.
