The last time we checked in on Liverpool FC, the Reds were on the verge of clinching the 2024-25 English Premier League – which they did, topping the table at 25 wins, nine draws and four losses to win the EPL championship by 10 points over Arsenal, and 13 points ahead of Manchester City. It was a remarkable year for Liverpool; they cashed in as +800 third-favourites here at Bodog Sportsbook, preventing City (–125) from winning their fifth straight title.
With most of their top players returning for 2025-26, it was only natural we ask the same question we did back then: Can anyone stop Liverpool? Despite losing the 2025 Community Shield match to Crystal Palace on penalties, the Reds are +180 favourites at Bodog after opening the season at +200. Arsenal are +225; they have second place on the EPL futures market to themselves after temporarily falling from +225 to +320.
Liverpool may already be establishing themselves as the leading contender in this three-horse race, but the rest of the field is closing in quickly. Let’s see what makes the Reds such a tough team to beat this year, and whether they’ve done enough to repeat as EPL champions.
Slot Pays Off
Reds fans can be forgiven if they were worried about incoming manager Arne Slot being fit to steward the club that Jurgen Klopp successfully built over the previous decade. Things did look a bit hairy at first; Arsenal had the early-season advantage, but Liverpool went on an epic 26-week undefeated streak to pull away from the Gunners, while City were hamstrung by injuries and Father Time.
There are indeed some key differences between Klopp’s gegenpress tactics and Slot’s more structured approach, but in the end, both managers love to attack – and they love their players to be versatile. The tweaks that Slot made upon his arrival allowed Liverpool to get the most out of their best players, all while keeping them healthy and on the pitch as teams like City fell apart.
Salah, Van Dijk Return
The biggest beneficiary of Slot’s evolutionary tactics was Mohammed Salah, the veteran forward who led the Premier League with 29 goals to win his fourth Golden Boot for Liverpool, and his first since 2021-22. Now age 33, Salah was asked to spend more time in the attacking third than he did under Klopp, reducing his distance covered from about 10.1 km to 9.7 km per 90 minutes. That allowed the Egyptian King to stay fresh despite playing the full 38-game EPL slate for just the third time in his impressive career.
With his second title under his belt, Salah eagerly signed a new two-year contract extension with the Reds – as did defender Virgil Van Dijk, who turned 34 last month. They’ll anchor Liverpool’s title defence this season, but they’ll miss forward Diogo Jota, who died in a car accident on July 3. This will also be their first year since 2015-16 without defender Trent Alexander-Arnold, who transferred to Real Madrid.
The championship window for this iteration of the Reds won’t be open for long, so chairman Tom Werner and everyone else at Fenway Sports Group have changed their tactics as well, spending the big bucks to add forward Florian Wirtz and defender Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen. If that’s not enough to fill the void, forward Hugo Ekitike (Eintracht Frankfurt) and defender Milos Kerkez (Bournemouth) are on board as well. It’s entirely possible Liverpool will end up out-performing last year’s squad when all is said and done.
EPL Competition Gets Tougher
Even if they do add to their stellar 2024-25 record, the Reds could find themselves looking up at Arsenal and/or Manchester City once the dust clears. The Gunners are coming off back-to-back seasons in second place; they’ve got one of the world’s top managers in Mikel Arteta, who finally has some scoring punch with the arrival of forward Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting CP. And City should be dangerous once again after their latest overhaul, which saw longtime midfielder Kevin De Bruyne exiled to Napoli and replaced by Tijjani Reijnders (AC Milan).
Meanwhile, the Premier League peloton has closed on the leaders since the first 2025-26 EPL odds hit the board at Bodog. Chelsea have made the most prominent push from +1800 to +650, adding defender Jorrel Hato (Ajax) and forward Estevao (Palmeiras) this past week alone after unloading for strikers Liam Delap (Ipswich Town) and Joao Pedro (Brighton & Hove Albion) in June and July respectively.
Then you have Manchester United, who just made arguably the biggest splash of them all by securing forward Benjamin Sesko (RB Leipzig) on a five-year contract. The Red Devils are this year’s wild card, a franchise in transition under the stewardship of part-owner Jim Ratcliffe and head coach Ruben Amorim; with Sesko beaming up to replace Marcus Rashford (on loan to Barcelona, maybe permanently), United have improved to +3000 on Bodog’s Premier League futures market.
Which leaves us with this year’s top value pick to unseat Liverpool: Newcastle United (+4000), now the fifth favourites behind Chelsea (+1000). Now owned primarily by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the Magpies are running essentially the same game plan as Manchester City, and those efforts could finally bear fruit in 2025-26 now that forward Anthony Elanga (Nottingham Forest) is part of the picture.
Ah, but what will the Toon do if striker Alexander Isak makes his long-expected departure – possibly for Liverpool, who have already had one nine-figure bid rejected by Newcastle? If that transfer happens, the Reds will no doubt see their EPL championship odds get even shorter; keep hitting that refresh button at Bodog Sportsbook for the latest lines, and may the best team win in 2026.