It’s not long until European domestic football gets back underway, and fans all across the continent are beginning to get excited about the return of the biggest leagues. With the World Cup splicing the season into two distinct halves, it’s going to be a strangely truncated campaign, but that should make things all the more interesting in the football betting market.
Read on, as we take a look at each of the top European leagues and assess the major stories ahead of the new season getting off and running.
Premier League
Defending champions Manchester City have been at the centre of much of the major transfer business taking place in the Premier League this summer. As well as splashing the cash to bring in Erling Haaland and Kalvin Phillips, City have also waved goodbye to two stalwarts in the form of Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus.
It will be interesting to see how quickly Haaland adapts to life in the Premier League, but judging by his goalscoring record throughout his career so far, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he took to English football like a duck to water.
The quest for the other teams is to usurp City, and it will be intriguing to see what kind of challenge Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and the rest of the chasing pack can mount.
La Liga
The major story of the summer as far as La Liga is concerned is Barcelona’s free-spending shopping spree. They have brought in the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, and Jules Koundé for big money, along with capturing Franck Kessié and Andreas Christensen on free transfers, flying in the face of the mammoth debt the club is facing.
All that business will be geared towards trying to bridge the gap between themselves and last year’s champions Real Madrid. Carlo Ancelotti will be confident he can make it two La Liga titles on the spin, so we could have a mouth-watering title race on our hands in Spain.
Bundesliga
The Bundesliga’s summer has been defined by two outgoing strikers — Lewandowski leaving Bayern Munich and Haaland leaving Dortmund. Bayern have attempted to replace the Polish superstar by bringing in Sadio Mané from Liverpool, and it will be interesting to see whether that change affects the team’s fortunes.
Bayern’s title win last season was their 10th consecutive Bundesliga triumph, so once again the gauntlet has been laid for another team to challenge them for the title. However, if the football betting tips from Betfair are anything to go by, it should be another stroll in the park for Bayern this year.
Serie A
A cracking title race last season has heralded the dawn of what could be a hugely exciting era in the top tier in Italy. AC Milan clinched their first Scudetto in 11 years, and it’s been great to see the two Milan sides back on top form over the past few seasons.
Of course, Juventus will be eager to regain their position of supremacy at the top of Serie A, and the likes of Napoli and José Mourinho’s Roma can’t be ruled out either. Expect plenty of fireworks in Italy this campaign.
Robert Griffith is a content and essay writer. He is collaborating with local magazines and newspapers. Robert is interested in topics such as marketing and history.
