Is there a changing of the guard in the Premier League with the supposed underdogs now snapping at the heels of more established clubs and taking their chance to bask in the spotlight?
It is no real surprise Arsenal top the table as they traditionally excel but Bournemouth are second and Sunderland are fourth. What’s that all about?
The Cherries are 11/2 with Ladbrokes and Coral to stay there with the Wearsiders 66/1 with the same bookies. Hmmm?
And then there’s the other end of the league ladder where Wolves, West Ham and Nottingham Forest occupy the bottom three, with last season’s clubs promoted from the Championship – the aforementioned Black Cats, Leeds and Burnley – all looking pretty good with basically a quarter of the season already in the books.
The last time all three promoted clubs stayed up was just three seasons ago but that was only the fourth time they had all avoided the drop and before this term kicked off most fans would have only given Daniel Farke’s Leeds any chance of avoiding an instant return to the second tier.
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Mind you, in this topsy turvy season fortunes can change in a relative heartbeat. Ruben Amorim was favourite to be the next manger to lose his job if Manchester United lost at home to Sunderland at the start of the month but that victory has been followed by the massive win against Liverpool at Anfield then an Old Trafford romp against Brighton and all of a sudden everything is rosy.
The doom has disappeared and United are sixth in the table on the same points as Manchester City in fifth, just six points behind leaders Arsenal who are the one true consistent so far.
The Gunners were once again the big winners at the weekend with their victory over Crystal Palace emboldened by the defeats suffered by Liverpool, who lost 3-2 at Brentford, and Chelsea, beaten 2-1 at home by Sunderland,
The bookies make it a one-horse race for the title with Mikel Arteta’s team as short of 1/3 with Sky Bet to win their first championship in almost a quarter of a century with City 5/1 second favourites with 888Sport and Liverpool now 8/1 with Betway.
United have closed in to a widespread 9/4 for a top-four finish but the Cherries look the better option as things stand at that 11/2 with Ladbrokes and Coral.
Relegation odds
As for relegation, basement club Wolves are the favourites to go down at 2/7 with Betfred and BetVictor and despite gaining a steady ten points so far, Burnley are 4/7 with BetVictor, SpreadEx and Sporting Index to join them back in tier two.
It is a small sample size but woeful West Ham look little better under Nuno Espírito Santo than they did with Graham Potter in charge and they are just 1/3 with Paddy Power, Betfair and Sky Bet to be relegated.
The best bet in this market may well be Nottingham Forest, who have failed to score in their last four league games, at 11/4 with Ladbrokes and Coral.
Cricket odds
England, our ante-post selection, are general 4/11 odds-on favourites to reach the Women’s Cricket World Cup final in Navi Mumbai by beating semi-final opponents South Africa on Wednesday.
Tammy Beaumont, who has clobbered 78 and 40 runs in her last two visits to the crease, is 5/1 with Paddy Power and Sky Bet to be top batter for England.
Greyhound odds
Patrick Janssens’ Greyhound Derby winner Droopys Plunge broke the 500metres track record at Hove on Sunday when speeding to a 28.69second success in his first-round heat in the Coral Golden Collar.
But the new standard lasted just 57 minutes as the Mark Wallis trained Proper Heiress turned heat four into a procession, trouncing his rivals by over 12 lengths to win in 28.57.
The pair are pitted in the first of three semi-finals at the seaside track on Sunday with impressive Derby semi-finalist Slick Sentinel also in the line up and that’s why Proper Heiress, who loves the fresh air at the seaside after going unbeaten when winning both the Olympic in December and the Sussex Cup in August, is available at 11/8 with the sponsors to win his third major trophy at the track.
Droopys Plunge is big at 5/1 with Ladbrokes and Coral while Janssens’ Romeo Tomcat also enters the conversation at 7/2 with the same firms after going close to breaking the clock for the third time in just over an hour and a half when winning the final heat in 28.66. Sunday can’t come soon enough.