Manchester City Favored at Arsenal in Premier League Season Opener

The Highlights

• Defending champions Manchester City are small -105 favorites at Arsenal in the season opener on Aug. 11.
• The line for newly promoted Wolverhampton (Wolves) has moved considerably in their home opener against Everton.
• Liverpool are the biggest favorites (-304 vs. West Ham) in the game with the highest total (3).

While fans are buzzing about the 2018 World Cup in Russia, odds for opening day of the 2018-19 England Premier League season have been released by Pinnacle sportsbook.

Here's a look at all 10 matches on the slate for Saturday, Aug. 11.

The marquee match features Manchester City as slight -105 road favorites at Arsenal. The Gunners will be playing under a new head coach, Unai Emery, for the first time since 1996 after former manager Arsene Wenger recently parted ways with the club. As an Arsenal supporter myself, I've never seen them without Wenger but am excited for a new approach. I'm sure he'll be watching from somewhere, too.

It will be a massive first test for Emery and Arsenal, even with home-field advantage at The Emirates. Manchester City are coming off a historic season and enter this year with -150 odds to defend their crown. They broke numerous records in 2017-18 including most points, most goals, most wins, best goal difference and so on. They also started the year on a 22-game unbeaten streak and put the title race to bed early. A road win over a quality opponent in Week 1 would be the perfect start toward another trophy in 2018-19.

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Around the league, Liverpool (-304) are the biggest favorites over West Ham United, while Manchester United (-267) and Chelsea (-196) are also expected to start the year with victories. Tottenham (-119) are the other odds-on favorites, but the opener at Newcastle could be a tricky one.

Two newly promoted clubs, Wolverhampton (+140) and Fulham (+131), are actually the favorites in their respective home openers. The other newly promoted squad, Cardiff City, begin the year as +292 underdogs at Bournemouth in a winnable match.

There are still plenty of transfers and transactions to be made, but the season will begin before you know it. When the World Cup wraps up on July 15, the Premier League will kick off in just 27 days, so it's never too early to track lines. We'll have you covered all year long at The Action Network.