With a record 20 league titles, joint-record 12 FA Cups, four League Cups, a record 21 Community Shields, three European Cups, one UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, one UEFA Super Cup, and one Intercontinental Cup, Manchester United are one of the most decorated club football sides in the world.
It’s why they are often the first team people look for when they are placing a football bet.
Since Sir Alex Ferguson retired at the end of the 2012-13 season, Manchester United have finished seventh, fourth, and fifth in the Premier League, winning the Community Shield in 2013-14 and the FA Cup in 2015-16 in an otherwise barren spell for the club.
Optimism is high around Old Trafford these days thanks to the appointment of Jose “The Special One” Mourinho as manager; the Portuguese genius has a knack of winning trophies wherever he goes. But is this the year that Manchester United wins their 21st league title?
Bookmakers, such as Bovada, price Manchester United as +1400 to win the league, or fifth favourites behind rivals Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Tottenham Hotspur. United were second favourites before a ball had been kicked but defeats to Man City and Watford, and a 1-1 draw at home to struggling Stoke City have seen their title odds blown wide open.
What does that all mean? It’s a great time to put a bit of cash behind Utd, at +1400, to win the league.
Despite a shaky month in the Premier League and UEFA Europa League, Manchester United will definitely secure a Champions League place, so that’s another bet you should make.
Mourinho has a wealth of talent at his disposal – including the world record signing of Paul Pogba and the amazing free-signing capture of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the latter being the third favourite, at +700, to finish as the league’s top goalscorer. Try to get an each-way bet on that happening and there’s a good chance you’ll be counting some cash come the end of the season.
United will likely be huge favourites to win at home against the majority of opponents, and are likely to be odds-on when away from home.
To amplify your returns, look for players-to-score-at-any-time bets, particularly Marcus Rashford, whose pace frightens defenders half to death, especially if the central defensive duo are on the wrong side of 30 years old. As Rashford is often deployed as a substitute, it’s often not the best idea to back him to score first.
Manchester United have a terrific record in the FA Cup and we wouldn’t be betting against them going all the way again this season. Mourinho is desperate for some silverware in his first season, and the FA Cup could prove most fruitful. United are +800 joint-third favourites to lift the FA Cup for a record 13th time, even before knowing whom they’ll play.
It is a similar story in the EFL Cup where United are +650 fifth-favorites. We don’t, however, see Mourinho taking this particular competition too seriously so you might want to reconsider taking this futures bet.
Mourniho will focus on the UEFA Europa League. United are pegged as +500 favorites to win the title, with the next lowest priced team being AS Roma at +1200, which shows you what the bookmakers think is going to happen.
United are favorites, at -200, to top Group A, which includes Fenerbache, Feyenoord, and Zorya Lugansk. We’ll pile on the bets at that price. Once out of the group, United must fancy their chances against any team in the competition.
So, when betting on Manchester United this season back Ibrahimovic as top goal scorer, take United in Europa League games and futures market and considering a flutter on their FA Cup exploits. Be careful about backing United to win the Premier League, but we still think you should chuck a bit of cash behind their +1400 line.
