The English Premier League was formed in 1992, when the top 22 First Division clubs broke away from the Football League, in order to give themselves the chance to negotiate their own rates for TV / media coverage and increase revenue. The number of teams was reduced to 20 in 1995 to comply with FIFA regulations on reducing the number of games played. The underlying philosophy was to attract the best European players, to enable Premiership sides to be competitive in European competitions. This has turned out to be something of a "shooting in the foot" exercise, given the recent weeping, wailing and moaning about the number of foreign players in the Premiership, to the detriment of home-grown talent. Since its inception, only 4 teams have captured the Premiership title. Reigning champions Manchester United won the inaugural title and have been successful a further nine times. Arsenal have three titles to their name, Chelsea two (consecutively in 2004-05 and 2005-06) and Blackburn Rovers one (1994-95).


Latest Premiership News
The latest Premiership results on the last weekend in November `08, has seen a shakeup in the Premiership betting. Chelsea`s unexpected 2-1 home loss to Arsenal made Liverpool`s 0-0 draw with West Ham sufficient for them to top the table. Manchester United`s 1-0 win in the Manchester derby has seen them move to within 6 points of the leaders, with a game in hand. As a result, Chelsea have drifted to 5/4 (from 6/5) with Stan James, while United have shortened to 15/8 (from 9/4) with William Hill. Despite heading the table, Liverpool are now 4/1 (from 10/3) with the same firm, who seem to think that Arsenal have resurrected their challenge, cutting the Gunners to 16/1.


Popular Teams
Outside the "Big 4", the teams with the largest fan base are probably Newcastle and Tottenham, Spurs having the third-highest all-time average attendance behind Manchester United and Liverpool. Touted as potential European candidates, both have endured a torrid start to the 2008-09 season, occupying positions in the bottom five. Under former Sevilla Juande Ramos, Spurs made their worst-ever start to a league campaign, propping up the table with a mere 2 points from their first 8 games. Ramos and assistant Gus Poyet were sacked, with Harry Redknapp taking over at the helm. His influence was immediate with spurs beating Bolton 2-0 at White Hart Lane within 24 hours of his appointment. Spurs won their next four league starts, along with a 4-2 Carling Cup defeat of Liverpool and a 4-0 UEFA Cup success over Dynamo Zagreb. However, their away form remains fragile, as demonstrated by recent losses to NEC Nijmegen and Everton.


Popular Players
Spurs striker Darren Bent, a product of Ipswich Town`s youth academy, joined Tottenham from Charlton for a club record £16.5 million in June 2007. He has proved an invaluable asset in 2008-09 scoring 11 times from 21 appearances in domestic and European competition. 6ft 2in Russian international centre forward Roman Pavlyuchenko joined Spurs for a reported £14 million from Spartak Moscow in September 2008. He is effective as a strike partner with Bent or as a loan striker, scoring 6 times in 12 domestic appearances.


Tips and Hints on Premier League Betting
Successful Premier League betting requires planning. While there is no guaranteed profitable strategy, there are several crucial tips that will make a significant difference to profits. Premiership betting is likely to be more successful for those punters concentrating on a few selected teams. It is impossible to accumulate a sufficiently in-depth knowledge of 20 teams and their respective histories to be able to identify betting trends and find value betting opportunities. Specialising in a maximum of 4 or 5 teams allows for a far deeper knowledge and identification of significantly better value bets. It is also important to set aside a "betting bank" for the sole purpose of Premiership betting. Similarly a staking strategy is crucial. Regardless of the type(s) of bets placed, the long losing run is inevitable and any staking strategy must enable such a run to be endured without exhausting the bank. Opinions vary greatly, but it is advised that no more than 3% of the bank be staked on each bet. Another factor to consider is whether to stake the same amount on each bet, or vary it according to the match and odds on offer. The "level stakes" approach is recommended for long-term profits from football betting.

Premier League Results - 29.11.- 01.12.08

A. Villa   0-0   Fulham
M'brough   0-0   Newcastle
Stoke      1-1   Hull
S'derland  1-4   Bolton
Wigan      2-1   West Brom
Chelsea    1-2   Arsenal
Man City   0-1   Man Utd
P'tsmouth  3-2   Blackburn
Spurs      0-1   Everton
Liverpool  0-0   West Ham 

       Barclays Premier League
 
Pos Team        P  W  D  L   F  A  GD  Pts
 
 1  Liverpool  15 10  4  1  21  8  13  34 
 2  Chelsea    15 10  3  2  33  6  27  33   
 3  Man Utd    14  8  4  2  26 10  16  28
 4  Arsenal    15  8  2  5  27 19   8  26 
 5  A. Villa   15  7  4  4  22 16   6  25  
 6  Hull       15  6  5  4  22 24  -2  23
 7  Everton    15  6  4  5  20 22  -2  22
 8  P'tsmouth  15  6  4  5  18 22  -4  22 
 9  Bolton     15  6  2  7  18 17   1  20
10  Fulham     14  5  4  5  12 11   1  19
11  Wigan      15  5  4  6  18 19  -1  19 
12  M'brough   15  5  4  6  15 21  -6  19
13  West Ham   15  5  3  7  17 22  -5  18
14  Stoke      15  5  3  7  15 25 -10  18
15  Man City   15  5  2  8  29 23   6  17
16  Spurs      15  4  3  8  17 21  -4  15  
17  Newcastle  15  3  6  6  17 22  -5  15 
18  S'derland  15  4  3  8  13 24 -11  15
19  Blackburn  15  3  4  8  16 28 -12  13 
20  West Brom  15  3  2 10  11 27 -16  11

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