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In the Premier League, there is what’s known as the “Big Six” (although its stranglehold has weakened in recent years due to clubs such as Aston Villa and Newcastle), and those are six clubs that are considered the biggest and most financially capable in the league.
Those clubs are and have long been: Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, and Manchester City.
Because of Manchester City’s oil-stated funded blood money, however, they’ve created a Top One in the Premier League, having won six of the last seven titles, with only Liverpool stopping them along the way (and whose manager, Jurgen Klopp, just retired).
City made history over the weekend as they became the first time in the history of the league to win four straight championships, which should surely make them favorites to win the 2024/25 Premier League title, too (they are, with odds of -110 at the time of this writing).
But what Manchester City also shockingly have are middle-of-the-road betting odds to be relegated next season, with their odds of doing so being listed at 25/1 on SkyBet, one of England’s biggest sportsbooks.
This, of course, is because City have long been facing the looming prospect of the 115 charges filed against them for breaching Financial Fair Play rules. These charges are why, despite the historic nature of their success, more people were watching Klopp’s farewell than they were City’s title celebration: because their success is irrevocably tainted.
Premier League 2024/25 odds on relegation:
Leicester 4/9
Everton 10/11
Ipswich 1/1
Nottm Forest 2/1
Wolverhampton 10/3
Brentford 7/2
Fulham 9/2
Crystal Palace 6/1
Bournemouth 7/1
West Ham 14/1
Chelsea 20/1
Brighton 20/1
Man City 33/1
Aston Villa 100/1
Newcastle 150/1
Man Utd…— FootyTone (@FootyTone) May 20, 2024
Not what I expected to see in the relegation odds for next season 😅👀 pic.twitter.com/jTbyvBRU3Q
— The Redmen TV (@TheRedmenTV) May 21, 2024
To put those odds into context, Manchester City — and similarly Chelsea — have better odds of being relegated than Aston Villa, a club who was only promoted back to the Premier League in 2019/20 and narrowly escaped relegation the following season (for what it’s worth, Villa did finish 4th this year and qualify for the Champions League).
Conversely, fellow heavyweights Arsenal and Liverpool, this season’s second and third place teams, have odds of 2000/1 to be relegated.
These odds suggest the bookmakers believe that both City and Chelsea could be hit with such massive point deductions that it will be enough to either automatically relegate or create far too insurmountable of a point deduction for them to overcome.