Who Are the Premier League Top 4 Favourites?

2024-25 Mid-Season Review​

“Finishing in the top four is like a trophy.”

Those were the famous words of Arsène Wenger back in 2016, who was relentlessly mocked and ridiculed for saying such a thing at the time. However, flash forward almost a decade later and Wenger’s words have aged like fine wine. Not only is a place inside the top four the main priority for every team in the Premier League, some would even take it over winning an actual trophy like the Carabao Cup or FA Cup. After all, it’s where the big money is.

Any team that successfully qualifies for the Champions League can expect to earn anywhere from £200 million to £300 million from the combined broadcasting rights, prize money, and sponsorship deals that come with it. Not to mention, the Champions League is a golden ticket for attracting top European talent and growing your club’s brand exposure, so a place in the top four has, indeed, become almost a non-literal trophy.

Every owner of a Premier League club knows this, which is why there’s a huge push from top-half teams to get one of those coveted top four positions. And if you can’t do that, try and get a fifth or sixth position so that you can be in the UEFA Europa League. From a purely financial perspective, it’s a total no-brainer, hence why competition levels in the Premier League have spiked over the past several years.

So, how is the top four race for the 2024-25 Premier League season looking? At the mid-way point of the season, it’s been a mixed bag. Some teams have massively over performed, but there have also been some shock drop-offs, too. The biggest surprise of them all has been the awful form of Manchester City, who have just one win in their past seven games, which has led to a crazy title race opening up between Liverpool and Chelsea that nobody saw coming.

With that said, let’s take a closer look at who the current Premier League top four favourites are at the start of 2025.

Current Premier League Top 4 Favourites​

Heading into the New Year, the current Premier League top four favourites are:

• Liverpool (1/50)
• Arsenal (1/20)
• Chelsea (1/12)
• Manchester City (1/2)

Other favourites to potentially land a spot in the top four are Manchester United (7/1), Tottenham (15/2), Newcastle (10/1), Aston Villa (11/1), and Brighton (18/1). Seagulls fans will naturally be hopeful that Brighton can pull off the shock of all shocks by qualifying for the Champions League this season, but it’s highly unlikely. This is despite the fact that new head coach Fabian Hürzeler is having an excellent season with Brighton after joining them in the summer, guiding the club to its best start to a top-flight campaign after earning 22 points from their first 12 games. Things are looking great — but there’s still a long way to go before Brighton get anywhere close to cracking the top four.

Whichever team you want to bet on to qualify for the Champions League this season, it’s highly recommended you use expert betting site bettingtools.com to calculate your future bets. You can enter the odds, how much money you want to wager, and then quickly understand what the profit margin is, making life easy for both experienced and beginner football bettors.

Liverpool​

Liverpool are having a storming season under new manager Arne Slot. Before the 2024-25 campaign started, not even the most die hard Kopites believed that Liverpool would be sitting comfortably at the top of the Premier League and Champions League tables, yet here we are. Many thought that Jürgen Klopp’s farewell would ultimately lead to Liverpool collapsing — much like Manchester City post-Alex Ferguson — but the exact opposite has happened. All over the pitch, ‘The Reds’ have been absolutely unstoppable, with Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai and Virgil Van Dijk having excellent seasons so far. And even though there’s a strong chance that Liverpool could lose momentum in the second half of the season, they are nailed on for Champions League football next year.

Arsenal​

Mikel Arteta is now in his fifth full season in charge at Arsenal, spending close to £600 million since 2019. The Spaniard is loved by Gunners fans, but the pressure is starting to mount. In five years, Arteta has only won one trophy — the FA Cup in 2020 — and there’s a growing sense amongst supporters that this is very much a make or break season for him. So far, things haven’t gone too great, either, with Arsenal struggling in the Premier League and relying almost exclusively on set pieces to score goals. Will they still make the top four? Yes. But even a top four finish might not save Arteta, as the Gunners boss needs to find a trophy from somewhere if he wants to keep his job secure.

Chelsea​

Chelsea have been one of the surprise teams of the season. After several years of disappointment under new owner Tood Boehly and the dismissal of former manager Mauricio Pochettino at the end of last season, some Chelsea fans had started to lose hope. However, fresh manager Enzo Maresca has come into the club and got Chelsea playing like true title contenders. The squad is more efficient now, there’s less individualism, and the likes of Cole Palmer and Enzo Fernández continue to shine. As things stand, Chelsea probably aren’t quite good enough to win the league, which Liverpool look most likely to do, but ‘The Blues’ are safe bets for the top four.

Manchester City​

Lots of pundits had Manchester City down to win their fifth — yes, fifth — Premier League title in a row this season. After an initial strong start, though, this has turned into nothing short of a nightmare season for Pep Guardiola. City are currently on a run of form that’s seen them win just one of their past 11 games, which sounds like a made up stat. It’s very real, though, with Pep himself bemused at City’s current state. They’ve dropped out of the title race, have 115 FFP charges looming over them, and things are not looking good. But it is Manchester City, so don’t be surprised to see them turn this around in the second half of the season and secure one of the 2nd to 4th-place spots.

Manchester United​

It’s been a disastrous season for Manchester United so far. As many expected to happen, Erik ten Hag was sacked following United’s worst start to a Premier League campaign in the club’s history. Following his dismissal, Ruben Amorim was quickly drafted in as new Head Coach to fix the mess. And so far, Amorim has done a pretty good job, with United looking much more organised out on the pitch. Amorim has also made it his number one priority to clear out players that he doesn’t deem up to standard. The first victim? Former fan-favourite Marcus Rashford, who has been shown the door by Amorim and will almost certainly leave in the January transfer window. This impressive showing of power by the new boss could lead to an inspired run of form for Manchester United in 2025, allowing them to sneak into the top four by the skin of their teeth.

Tottenham​

Tottenham have been a mixed bag under Ange Postecoglou. After an excellent debut season, “Big Ange” has since shown his managerial weaknesses, refusing to put the handbrake on and demonstrating complete defensive stubbornness. In the eyes of Ange, it’s attack or nothing. In a way, it’s admirable, as not many modern managers commit to a philosophy the way that he has. However, it’s harming them in terms of consistent results and the likes of Timo Werner are not performing to Champions League qualification standard, so there’s an extremely strong chance that Spurs will once again not be playing in the UCL next season.

Newcastle​

Eddie Howe is under huge pressure at Newcastle. When the highly regarded English manager first came in, he stabilized the Magpies under their new ownership, got them into the Champions League, and even reached a Carabao Cup final. The honeymoon period has since ended, with Newcastle struggling for consistency and no longer looking like a top four team. It’s even possible that Howe could face the sack before the season ends, especially now that Newcastle are the richest club in the world and only have so much patience when it comes to qualifying for the Champions League.

Aston Villa​

Unai Emery is one of the greatest managers in Europe and has absolutely transformed Aston Villa since taking over from flop manager Steven Gerrard in 2022. In just a couple of years, Emery has taken Villa from relegation candidates to a certified Champions League team, earning qualification via fifth place. Sadly for Villa, though, they’ve struggled this season due to their busier European schedule, like many analysts predicted would happen. This ultimately means that Emery’s men will likely miss out on a top four place this season, although there’s still a chance they could go on an end-of-the-season run in the Premier League if their fixture list starts to free up.

Summary​

Who will finish inside the top four and qualify for Champions League football next season? Only time will tell. For now, it’s worth putting your money on Liverpool and Chelsea, who are the current ‘safe’ bets. You can also expect Arsenal and Manchester City to pick up form during the second part of the season, while the likes of Spurs and Newcastle could also go on late-season runs. One thing for sure is that it’s going to be very exciting to watch everything unfold.