We’re two weeks into the 2019/2020 season and bookies have updated their odds on who they believe will be relegated from the Premier League come May.
Two matches shouldn’t be enough to determine which teams will finish in the bottom three and become a Championship side next season but indicators such as current form, summer signings and the managers in charge have all played a part in calculating the current odds.
Bookies have made Newcastle United as current favourites to make the drop into the Championship after a poor start to the new season which resulted in two losses to Arsenal and newly promoted Norwich City. Many expected Newcastle to come away from the match against Arsenal at St James Park with nothing but were expected to put up more of a fight against Norwich a week later. Instead, Newcastle performed poorly and saw themselves 3-0 down thanks to a hattrick from Finnish national Teemu Pukki who bagged 29 goals for the Canaries in the Championship last season and has found the net a total of 4 times so far in the top flight in Norwich City’s first two games. Despite the late arrivals of Allan Saint-Maximin, Emil Krafth, Andy Carroll and Joelinton, who signed for £40m from Hoffenheim, only two of these players featured on Saturday and Newcastle only managed 3 shots on goal and were left extremely vulnerable at the back.
Ex Sunderland, Aston Villa and Sheffield Wednesday manager Steve Bruce replaced Rafa Benitez in the summer break but the Geordie has yet to get the most out of his players in the first two games. Bruce may not have long to turn things around with the bookies having him as the favourite in the Premier League manager sack race.
Bruce and his side won’t be looking forward to two tough away fixtures against Tottenham and Liverpool over the next month which leaves must-win games against Leicester and Watford. Should Newcastle not pick up points in those matches, we could see their odds on being relegated shorten even further.
Despite some winnable fixtures, Newcastle face a relatively tough fixture list to start the season with. Things may get a bit easier come November & December when they will face the likes of West Ham, Bournemouth, Aston Villa, Sheffield United, Southampton, Burnley and Crystal Palace which could provide a good betting opportunity to those who believe Newcastle may start to pick up points towards the end of the year.
There’s a good chance Newcastle will find themselves towards the bottom of the table at the start of November with their relegation odds likely to be slashed further. At this point, they could be worth a punt to stay up and if they pick up points in the matches mentioned above, their odds may drift allowing a profit to be locked in by laying your bet.
If you wish to enhance the value of your bets even further, you can claim some of the new customer offers available at a number of bookmakers. There are dozens of them about as seen on bonuscode.co.uk with many of them offering free bets and money-back specials for customers who register and place a bet.
