Fancy a Premier League punt? Paddy Power have you covered

The all-consuming Premier League is getting ready to take over your life again from next weekend and Paddy Power have a world of bets that might make it even more interesting.

May 19, 2013 sounds a long way away but before you know it the final day of the Premier League season will be upon us yet again. Last term, Carlos Tevez went on a mid-year golfing holiday, there were more handshake controversies than you could shake a limb at and it all culminated in a truly epic finish.

None of it was predictable and we fully expect this season to be equally hard to script. That said, every football fan will have hunches and feelings and deeply considered thoughts on how it will all turn out and Paddy Power are on hand to allow you to put your money where your mouth is.

The big one, of course, is the winner. Last year’s champs, Manchester City, are available at 13/10 to retain their crown and as they have kept their squad intact, they will be hard to beat. Manchester United are 2/1 and with the added goal threat of last year’s stand-out player, Robin van Persie, they have a good chance of reversing last year’s placings. Paddy punters think so too as that bet is the most popular with the Irish bookie.

Below them the odds lengthen. Chelsea are 5s, Arsenal are at 12s while Spurs and Liverpool are both at 25/1.

The just transferred Dutchman is also the favourite to be top scorer, at 7/1, but we like the look of Fernando Torres at 10/1. He is the main man at Chelsea now that Didier Drogba is gone and with Stamford Bridge packed with players whose role it is to set up goals (Mata, Hazard, Marin, Oscar) the Spaniard won’t be short of help. A return to anything close to his Liverpool pomp and Torres could bag a hatful this season. Darren Bent and Papiss Cisse could be a bit of value at 25/1 too.

With all three promoted side avoiding the drop last year, picking relegation candidates looks tricky. If you fancy that trend to be bucked big style, you can back all three promoted sides (Reading, Southampton, West Ham) to go straight back down at 33/1. Swansea, with Michael Laudrup replacing Michael Rodgers at the Liberty, might be the best bet of all at 15/8. Sunderland are 8/1, so maybe Paddy knows something we don’t about Martin O’Neill’s squad.

The sack race is a grim market but one that will definitely produce a winner at some stage. Southampton’s Nigel Adkins is the favourite at 4/1, with Sam Allardyce (West Ham) second best at 7/1.

And with the Olympics just finished, you can back someone to do the Usain Bolt celebration at 5/2 this weekend while Mo Farah’s ‘Mobot’ is backable to make an appearance in a post-goal sequence at 12/1. We reckon these are very generous odds, especially if any of the Premier League’s strikers read this.

There’s more than enough options there for every fan to ponder but with 10 months of action ahead, a sneaky few quid on any of these should make every weekend one to savour.