Napoli title backers ready to collect but 50-1 Arsenal face tense Premier League run-in

The Premier League returns this weekend after the final international break of a stop-start campaign so it's time to focus on 'le run-in', as it's known in Ligue 1. Probably.

The winter World Cup means the start of the domestic season feels a long, long time ago, especially when you look back at some of the ante-post bets available in July. Here are five pre-season selections that you wouldn't mind being on at this stage of proceedings:

Arsenal to win the Premier League
Let's start with an obvious one. Arsenal were sixth in the Premier League ante-post market at 50-1 but with ten games to go they're just 8-13 to win their first title since the days of Henry, Vieira, Pires and, er, Pascal Cygan.

The Gunners didn't look like 50-1 shots for long once the action started, winning 12 of their 14 matches before the World Cup. They had a brief blip at the start of  February but are 2-7 to extend their winning streak to seven games by beating Leeds on Saturday.

Speaking as an incredulous Arsenal fan, though, I'm still not ruling out the possibility of losing fourth place on the final day due to an injury-time Rob Holding own goal against Wolves.

Brentford top-half finish
The Bees were 9-2 for a top-half finish when the Racing Post's Big Kick-Off came out on July 25 but they have demonstrated a robust immunity to second-season syndrome under impressive manager Thomas Frank.

Brentford start the weekend in eighth, level on points with sixth-placed Liverpool, and they have lost only one of their last 15 top-flight games. Given the 11-point chasm between Aston Villa in 11th and Crystal Palace in 12th, the top ten looks well within the Bees' scope – as does finishing as top west London club, ahead of Chelsea and Fulham. 

Erling Haaland to win the Golden Boot
No foreign player has won the Premier League Golden Boot in their first season in England but that stat, along with many others, looks set to be demolished by Manchester City striker Erling Haaland.

The Norwegian, 3-1 favourite at the start of term, scored 15 times in his first nine league appearances and his Golden Boot backers won't even mind him 'wasting' eight goals in recent Champions League and FA Cup routs of RB Leipzig and Burnley.

Only Harry Kane is within a dozen goals of the City hitman although 100-1 Arsenal youngsters Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka are hot on the heels of Ivan Toney and Marcus Rashford in the race for the places.

Southampton to finish bottom
This season's relegation scrap is an intimidating and mystifying nine-headed beast so nothing can be taken for granted but the pre-season 10-1 about Southampton finishing bottom – a point bigger than Brentford – looks a big old price now.

Saints are on to their third manager of the campaign, having lost seven of their eight league games under Nathan Jones during a bleak midwinter. They have shown signs of improvement since Ruben Selles took charge but face Arsenal and Manchester City before the end of April and finish the season away to Brighton and at home to Liverpool.

Napoli to win Serie A
Over in Italy, Napoli are 19 points clear after 27 rounds of fixtures – a handy lead for a team who were 19-1 shots for the Serie A title, behind 7-4 Inter, 2-1 Juventus and 7-2 Milan, before a ball had been kicked.

Luciano Spalletti's entertainers have won 23 of their 27 league matches and punters who leapt aboard the bandwagon early could be in for an exciting finish to the season as Napoli's odds of winning the Champions League are now just 7-2 – from 150-1 at the start of the group stage.

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