Anticipated and Disappointing Wagers for the 2024-25 Soccer Campaign
Soccer Upheavals: The 2024-2025 Season's Wild Fluctuations
Let's take a gander back at the recent European soccer season - it was chock-full of jaw-dropping moments and unexpected shifts, just like a rollercoaster ride! With an array of trophies claimed by outsiders, it's time to examine the bookies' hits and misses last season.
Premier League Champion
The bookies pinned Manchester City and Arsenal as the top picks for the Premier League crown, with City slightly leading at 6/5 over Arsenal's 13/8. But as fate would have it, Liverpool, the third-favorite at 8/1, cruised to an uncontested title as City stumbled mid-season, and Arsenal's campaign faltered.
Record-Breaking Premier League Top Scorer
Mohamed Salah took the pitch with some rather generous odds to claim the Premier League's top goalscorer award. This was mainly due to Erling Haaland's fearsome form throughout previous seasons, making him a near-certainty at 4/6. Salah, however, lit up the league with his scintillating performance, making for a fantastic betting win at 10/1.
The Submerged Triumvirate
The predicament of the three newly-promoted teams was as evident as ever, with all three sinking far below 17th place during the season. This grim fate was already discernible in the odds at the season's inception, with Leicester, Ipswich, and Southampton pegged at 4/9, 10/11, and 6/5, respectively, to descend to the lower division.
Champions League Champions
Paris Saint-Germain's first-ever Champions League triumph was certainly earned, as they bested their adversaries at every turn to ultimately demolish Inter Milan in the final. Despite their impressive performance, the trophy-lifting Parisians started the season as outsiders at 18/1, an oddity that failed to reflect their triumph.
Victors in Other Leagues
The most insightful bet, perhaps, could be found among league winners. Napoli, thanks to Scott McTominay's heroics, stunned everyone by wresting the Serie A title from the grasp of the predicted winners. Even though Napoli's slim chances, as indicated by statistics, weren't mirrored by the bookies' relatively high odds, they could still be wagered upon at 7/1 before the season commenced.
In contrast, PSG were obvious favorites, though the 1/4 odds might seem like a bankable bargain in retrospect, given their dominance over the season. Real Madrid and Barcelona, meanwhile, garnered the majority of the betting action in Spain, with Barcelona being listed at 7/2 pre-season. In Germany and France, heavy favorites, such as Bayern Munich, prevailed as anticipated.
The Biggest Win of the Season
A wager on Liverpool to win the Premier League, Barcelona to claim La Liga, and PSG to emerge victorious in the Champions League appears more than reasonable in hindsight, although all three started out as outsiders. Placing $10 on this treble would have netted a humongous $7,695 at season's end.
The Biggest Swings and Misses
Rooting for the underdogs seemed to be the wisest strategy for the 2024-2025 season, considering that only PSG and Bayern Munich managed to claim major trophies among the pre-season favorites. As a result, several low-odds bets were left wanting throughout the season. Some infamous losing picks included Erling Haaland taking home the Golden Boot at 1/8 and Real Madrid winning La Liga at 4/9.
However, bets on Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, priced at 21/10 and 9/4 to finish in the top four, respectively, look particularly awkward in hindsight. In reality, these teams languished just above the relegation zone after enduring truly woeful seasons, avoiding a relegation battle only due to the uninspiring performances of the bottom three.
In light of the unexpected league winners, it would have been prudent to bet on less favored teams such as Napoli, who defied odds and won the Serie A at 7/1. Conversely, some of the biggest swings and misses came from backing the pre-season favorites, like Erling Haaland for the Golden Boot at 1/8 or Real Madrid to win La Liga at 4/9, which ultimately did not materialize.
