Premier League 2011/2012 odds already available

It seems only yesterday that Manchester United clinched the Premier League title for 2010/2011, but here we are in June and football gamblers are already being offered odds on the 2011/2012 season. Clearly gamblers on football can nearly always find a match somewhere in the world on which to place a bet, but in Ireland and the UK the Premier League is probably the most heavily backed league. Many sports gamblers will tell you that now is the time to place bets on your favourite football teams because the odds are usually the best you will get all season, but if you are a football gambler who likes to look at the contenders in detail and does not necessarily back their own team, perhaps you would rather wait at least until the transfer market is drawing to a close. Football pundits seem to be anticipating that Liverpool for instance will be spending quite heavily this summer, and what about Chelsea who are currently without a manager. Manchester City are clearly in the market for new players, but the general opinion is that they will need to offload players first in order to satisfy the imminent financial fair play rules for European football. Then we come to the champions, who at the very least need to replace two retiring stalwarts and do appear to have funds available to further strengthen their squad. For football gamblers who are ready to forecast the 2011/2012 Premiership winners, most online bookmakers again have Manchester United as favourites to retain the title, with Paddy Power offering odds of 15/8 with Ladbrokes at 7/4. Both also have Chelsea as second favourites at 13/5 and 5/2 respectively, followed by Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool. Liverpool may in fact be a good outside bet at 10/1 following their remarkable resurgence at the end of last season under their new manager, if only they can sort out their recent early season poor form. Can they at least get a top four finish?.