The 2022/23 English Premier League soccer season kicks off this Friday, August 5th with Crystal Palace hosting Arsenal in a London derby and wraps up next spring on May 28th.
This is the 31st Premier League campaign and the 124th overall of top-flight English soccer. Manchester City enters the season as the defending champions after winning the title in 2021/22 as well as 2020/21 with the other 19 teams hoping to knock them off their perch.
There is a major rule change this season as clubs will be allowed to make five substitutions during a game rather than three. In addition, the Premier League will break for several weeks in mid-season for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Clubs will play their scheduled games on the weekend of November 12/13 and then return to action for the traditional Boxing Day fixtures on December 26th.
There are three newcomers to the Premier League this time around as Norwich City, Watford and Burnley were all relegated at the end of last season as the bottom three teams in the league. They have been replaced by Nottingham Forest, Fulham and Bournemouth, who were all promoted from the second-tier Championship division.
Newly-promoted clubs haven’t fared too well recently however as two of the three have been relegated the very next season in each of the past two years.
As usual, most Premier League clubs have spent an enormous amount of money during the offseason, trying to improve their squads. It’s been estimated that transfer fees this summer have reached approximately $1.2 billion.
Major acquisitions include 22-year-old Norwegian striker Erling Haaland joining Manchester City from Borussia Dortmund of Germany. In addition, Liverpool acquired Uruguay striker Darwin Nunez from Portuguese side Benfica; English forward Raheem Sterling left Chelsea for Manchester City; Tottenham acquired Brazilian forward Richarlison from Everton and Brazilian striker Gabriel Jesus left Manchester City for Arsenal.
There was also one managerial change during the offseason as Ralf Rangnick’s spell at Manchester United came to an end and he was replaced by Erik ten Hag.
If two teams finish the season level on points, the first tie-breaker will be goal difference and then goals scored. If the teams are still tied, the head-to-head record between the clubs will be used followed by away goals scored in the head-to-head games. In the unlikely event the teams are still level, a playoff game will be used to decided a champion or relegated team etc.
The current bet365 odds for winning the Premier League this season are as follows:
Manchester City (-163), Liverpool (+250), Tottenham Hotspur (+1200), Chelsea (+1600), Arsenal (+2800), Manchester United (+3300), Newcastle United (+10000), West Ham United (+15000), Leicester City (+20000), Aston Villa (+25000), Brighton & Hove Albion (+15000), Everton (+50000), Wolverhampton Wanderers (+50000), Crystal Palace (+50000), Leeds United (+50000), Southampton (+75000), Brentford (+75000), Nottingham Forest (+75000), Fulham (+1000), Bournemouth (+200000)
Don’t forget you can also bet on each individual Premier League game at bet365, including live in-play wagering. Also, other popular season-long outright bets include top 2, 4, 6 or 10 finish, the top goalscorer, which teams will or won’t be relegated, the PFA player of the year, to finish bottom of the league, to finish top or bottom of the league at Christmas, points total, outright wins and Golden Glove winner etc.