Betting odds & analysis for the 2021-22 Premier League season

It's a matter of when not if Manchester City win the Premier League title and it could come this weekend as the runaway leaders will be confirmed champions if they win at Crystal Palace and Manchester United lose at home to dethroned champs Liverpool.

Even a United draw would leave City as champions barring a mathematical goal-difference miracle, with only a Red Devils victory realistically stopping Pep Guardiola from sitting on the top-tier throne after storming the Palace.

Interestingly, Liverpool are likely to go off as favourites to beat United at Old Trafford on Sunday but it is a different story in next season's title betting.

Jurgen Klopp's Reds are desperate for a victory this weekend to boost their top-four chances and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could rest some of his star players in a fixture that comes between the home and away legs of United's Europa League semi-final against Roma.

Those factors may give Liverpool an edge in Sunday's clash but they are bet365's 5-1 third favourites, behind United at 9-2, to win next season's Premier League.

City are clear market leaders at 4-6, Chelsea are 7-1 and it is 40-1 bar the front four in the market.

Despite finishing 18 points behind champions Liverpool in 2019-20, City went off 4-5 for the title this season with Klopp's men 9-4, big-spending Chelsea 12-1 and United a general 14-1 but as big as 20-1 with one firm.

Pep Guardiola's men, whose xG stats were superior to Liverpool's last term when they were distant runners-up to the Reds, have rewarded the faith shown in them by odds-compilers.

Liverpool backers may point to the serious injuries suffered by centre-backs Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip as mitigating circumstances for such a disappointing title defence.

However, bet365's early show for 2021-22 suggests there may be deeper problems at Anfield and next term's title betting is also something of a vote of confidence for United manager Solskjaer.

The Norwegian was a prominent figure in the sack-race betting for the first 18 months of his Old Trafford reign and United's first four home league games this term were defeats to Crystal Palace (3-1), Tottenham (6-1) and Arsenal (1-0) as well as a forgettable 0-0 draw with Chelsea.

Since then, however, the Red Devils have lost just once in 27 league matches, stretching their unbeaten run away from home to 24 games, and reaching the last four of the Europa League.

Liverpool's aura of invincibility was dented by their 7-2 defeat at Aston Villa in October, although that was their only loss in 16 league games before the turn of the year.

The Reds suffered six straight league defeats at Anfield between January and March and despite subsequent improvement they still have ground to make up on fourth-placed Chelsea.

There are plenty of known unknowns, to borrow Donald Rumsfeld's famous phrase, for punters analysing the 2021-22 Premier League market at this stage.

Will Liverpool lose any of their star players if they miss out on Champions League qualification? How will the return of supporters to Premier League grounds affect results – Manchester United's long unbeaten run away from home has, of course, coincided with games being played behind closed doors.

And will there be any significant fallout from the European Super League debacle in terms of financial sanctions or changes of ownership for the six Premier League clubs who signed up to the attempted breakaway?

All six, plus 40-1 shots Leicester, are in the top seven of the bet365 market with Tottenham, in search of a new manager, also 40-1 and Arsenal 66-1.

But another London club, Chelsea, could be an intriguing each-way price at 7-1. It is worth remembering that the Blues' odds for this season's title were as short as 9-2 after their 3-1 home win over Leeds in the first week of December.

Less than two months later, Frank Lampard was sacked and his replacement Thomas Tuchel has taken the Blues into the FA Cup final, the Champions League semi-finals and the top four of the Premier League.

Chelsea have been excellent defensively under Tuchel while more can be expected from Kai Havertz, Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech in their second seasons in the Premier League as well as from Christian Pulisic, whose campaign has been disrupted by injuries.

The Blues are arguably more progressive than United or Liverpool although the betting suggests the rest of the field may be scrapping for second place behind Manchester City once again in 2021-22.

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