A regular English Premier League season starts in August and goes on till May of the next year with one team lifting the title as champions of the league. Finishing at the top of the table gives teams bragging rights, financial benefits, and a direct ticket to feature in Europes most prestigious soccer tournament – the UEFA Champions League. The same goes for the second, third, and fourth-placed teams.
Following a radical restructuring in the early 1990s with the sole aim of developing the game in England, the 22 English First Division clubs resigned from the Football League to establish the English Premier League in May. The campaign officially started with 22 football clubs on August 15, 1992.
The 1994-1995 season saw the number of teams in the EPL cut-down from 22 to 20 as four teams was relegated while two were promoted. Since then, only six teams have been ever-present in the League: Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Everton, and Tottenham Hotspur. Manchester United holds the record for the team with the most PL wins with 13. It is also worth stating that they were the first team to win the coveted EPL title after its inception in 1992.
More recently, Manchester City and Liverpool have dominated the league and look more likely to win the title in the 2020/2021 season. It is still very early in the season to decide as teams as still trying to find their footing; however, Everton and Liverpool have hit the ground running.
Best Way to Bet on EPL
There are numerous ways of betting in EPL that can prove profitable for bettors. There are a lot of options but we would focus on a few of the popular ways.
Outright Bet: This is likened to a future bet where you will place your wager on something that will happen in the future. With the EPL, you can decide to place your bet on who will lift the coveted title after all 380 games have been played.
You should however note that odd changes are common as the season progresses. Some sportsbooks also allow bettors to bet on teams that will finish in the top four and those that will end the season in the bottom three.
Individual Events: Here, you can wager on any number of events you think is most likely in any fixture. There are unique outcomes you can choose from like ‘both teams to score’, ‘player to score’, etc. Some of the more popular ones are;
Match Result – This is the most straightforward way to bet on EPL games as all you have to do is pick a winner for the game. You have to be very careful making a bet like this as the dynamic nature of the EPL might not guarantee that the favorites will always win. You also have the opportunity to bet on the match ending as a draw. The match result bet will have odds like:
Chelsea -150 Draw +250 Crystal Palace +170
Under/Over – This strictly relates to the number of goals that will be scored in the match. According to the sportsbook, you can choose between under/over 0.5 – under/over 5.5. The odd for a bet of this nature will look like this:
Under 3.5 -256
Over 3.5 +201
Half-Time Result – This will have you wagering on how the first half will end. You can decide to go with either of the teams or choose an option of ‘draw’. You might see something like this:
Chelsea -130 Draw +175 Crystal Palace +260
Correct Score – This is a very tricky one as the options are widely varied but it also comes with a lot of value odds. A bet of this nature means that you are predicting the correct score of how the match will end after 90 minutes of play. An example of how the bet looks are:
Chelsea 1-0 +470 Draw 0-0 +1600 Crystal Palace 1-0 +2100
Chelsea 2-0 +470 Draw 1-1 +900 Crystal Palace 2-0 +3400
This can go on for any number of combinations possible. If you can analyze and predict correctly then you will nearly break the bank.
Tips for Choosing a Sportsbooks to be on the EPL
The process of choosing a sportsbook is a very crucial one as you want to make sure you give yourself the best chance of winning. Here are a few things that should be seriously considered.
Reputation
The reputation of a sportsbook is crucial in the decision-making process. You need to be able to trust that your sportsbook will pay your winnings as soon as possible. Also, great customer service and competitive odds are vital. When going through reviews, look out for these factors as you do not want to go into business with one that you cannot freely communicate with when you have an issue or one that offers poor odds, thereby reducing your winning potential.
Live Betting
Live betting can be so much fun and profitable for bettors. You have an opportunity to see how the game is progressing before deciding to place a bet. Most of the bigger sportsbooks already offer this service while a few of the new ones are still in the set-up phase.
Bonuses
Different bookies offer different types of bonuses to their customers. These bonuses mostly come in the form of an initial deposit bonus and can be claimed differently. Some might match your initial deposit up to a certain percentage and you can start betting immediately while others might decide to give you access to your bonus only after you have wagered a certain amount from your main account. Always find the one that works for you, making sure you get the highest possible bonus for your deposit.
EPL Betting Strategies and Tips
In the EPL, head-to-head statistics plays a very crucial role in determining the outcome of a game. The EPL can be one of the easiest leagues to bet on but at the same time, can be the riskiest of them all. Whatever you do, always research the teams as the favorites are not always winners in this league. Another factor worth considering is the home advantage. The atmosphere in the home teams’ stadium is always different and this can influence the outcome of the game.
You are guaranteed to see goals in the EPL which is why the best strategy is to bet on the ‘Under/Over’ category. Over 1.5 goals seem like a very good bet considering that the 2019-2020 season ended with an average of 3.79 goals per game. As earlier stated, always research the fixture before you place your bets.