English Premiership 2020: the Favorites, the Outsiders, and the Underdogs

The English Premier League is one of the most exciting and competitive football leagues in the world. The 2018-19 Premier League finished with Manchester City winning back to back titles after squeaking a victory over Liverpool by just a single point. Tottenham, Arsenal, Machester United, and Chelsea were all also involved in a fierce battle for third place.

What draws fans to the EPL is the fact the "who will win the title" rarely has a cut and dry answer. The lack of one dominant team, the quality of the Premiership teams overall, the huge quality of the player talent group and the EPL's history of having smaller team defeat some of footballs greatest, can make it hard for fans, pundits, and even the bookies to put accurate odds on who will win the 2019/20 English Premier League.

In this article, we’ll be looking at predictions for next year’s season, who the favorites are to win, which outsides might challenge them, and who are the underdogs that might still be the black horse in this race.

The Favorites

Two teams from the EPL are currently front runners to win the 2019-2020 Premiership. Manchester City are looking to win their third title in a row in 2020 and have proven for the last two years that they have the heart, the talent, and the leadership in Pep Guardiola to outmatch some of the best teams in the world.

However, despite eventually winning the 2018-19 season, Manchester City never had a comfortable lead. Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool pushed them all the way to the end and finished just one point shy of winning.

The Reds have won all but one of their games so far, have scored 54 goals and conceded just 15 and have dropped only two points in 23 games. They are currently looking to add another victory to their list by beating West Ham. Currently, they stand at 5/1 to win the season with Man City training a little further behind at 34/1 (at the time of writing).

The Outsiders

So dominant were Liverpool and Man City last season that some of the best teams in the Premiership were left to scrabble for third, fourth, and fifth places.

Chelsea came in third last season with a reputable 72 points and were still 26 points away from first place. The top of the premiership is stacked with teams like Tottenham, Arsenal, Machester United, and Chelsea. These teams certainly have the ability to win the 2020 season and even if they don’t they could represent a real roadblock for the two current favorites.

In order to ensure there is no repeat of the significant distance between second and third place next season, one of these outsiders will need to pull themselves up out of the scrabble and separate themselves from the pack in the same way that Liverpool and Man City did last season.

The Underdogs

Currently, two teams are in the mix that could be the dark horses in this Premiership race. Brendan Rodgers' Leicester City are currently third in the standings, having risen as high as second place despite losing James Maddison. They might be 19 points off the current leaders Liverpool, but they are well within striking distance of second-place Man City and have an 8 point lead over 4th place Chelsea.

Wolves currently boast the second-best defense in the EPL and, despite being in 7th place currently, they have also shown that they have teeth by doing the double on Man City. While the chances of them winning the EPL are very slim indeed, they certainly have the talent to be a real problem for teams looking for an easy win to pull away from the pack.

A Close and Exciting Season

With two teams in close contention for the top spot, a scrum of some of the biggest names in football just below them and some talented dark horses lurking on the fringes, this year’s EPL is shaping up to be an exiting a close run race to the finish.