Season Handicap Betting 2024/25

On May 20th of this year, I closed out the Season Handicap Betting 2023/24 Results post by noting that Bet365 had stopped paying out doubled odds on single wins in their 'Lucky' multiples. I felt this change could potentially ruin all future Season Handicap Betting posts because I always use Lucky 15 wagers for the four selections I choose.

I have reluctantly opted to bet elsewhere from this season and have made different approaches for this season's selections. I'll explain the methods as this post continues.

If you don't know what I am going on about, in regards to Season Handicap Betting, you can view previous posts dating back many years BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK.

League 2

In order to get a finishing order for League 2, I asked ChatGPT to give me a predicted final table with all the teams set to compete in this division.

The AI interface came up with the following order.

Potential Promotion Contenders: Doncaster, Gillingham, Bradford, Crewe, Notts County and Chesterfield

Play-Off Contenders: Port Vale, Salford City, AFC Wimbledon, Carlisle Utd, Harrogate Town and MK Dons

Mid-Table Battlers: Cheltenham, Newport, Accrington, Fleetwood, Grimsby

Potential Relegation Battle: Morecambe, Swindon, Walsall, Tranmere, Barrow

And that's all it gave me. It was evidently missing two teams in Colchester and Bromley. I ranked those names in the bottom two of the table.

After putting all the teams in order, and applying both the league average for their respective final position, I included their handicap points to sort the projected finishing handicap table.

Crewe Alexandra - who are fourth in the AI's predicted table - topped the season handicap prediction table. The average for fourth place in League 2 is seventy-nine points. The bookies have given the team a sixteen-point head-start, so - added together - that brings a total of 95.

League 1 and Championship

I tried to use ChatGPT once again for League 1, and the Championship for that matter, but it kept giving predictions using the teams from last season. Therefore, for the aforementioned couple of leagues, I went with the predicted tables that have been offered by the team at Opta.

My spreadsheet for League 1 lists Bolton Wanderers as the predicted winners with their handicap of 8 points added to the projected points of 94 which is the average for the league winners. 

Opta had Bolton at first in their predicted table. They're followed by Birmingham City, Huddersfield and Peterborough.

As you'll see in the table immediately below, Middlesbrough is the team which sits at the top of the predicted finishing season handicap table for the Championship's 2024/25 league year.

The selection for Boro has been given a nineteen-point head-start by the oddsmakers. Opta believes the team will finish second in the real Championship table. That position has an average of 88 points. Therefore, the total, including the handicap points, sees Middlesbrough at 101. That's a clear six points ahead of West Bromwich Albion which has a total of 95 made up of their sixteen handicap points and seventy-nine league average points for a projected fourth place finish in the real table.

Premier League

It was back to AI for the final season handicap prediction table for the Premier League.

This time, I asked Gemini (the new name for Google Bard) to come up with its finishing order for the Prem's 2024/25 season.

It predicted a top five finish of Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool. In my opinion, United are too high. So could Chelsea. With that said, I ran with what it predicted and applied the average points for the finishing position with the numbers that the bookmakers have applied and, for this league, it has Manchester United at the top with a combined number of 93. 

My Bet

I'm not going to cherry-pick one team from the top four for my each-way wager this season. I'm going to simply go with each team at the top of the respective leagues. Therefore, I have a Lucky 15 with the following selections

1) League 2 - Crewe Alexandra +16

2) League 1 - Bolton Wanderers +8

3) Championship - Middlesbrough +13

4) Premier League - Manchester Utd +18

As I always state at the conclusion of these annual posts - I place these season handicap wagers for fun to have something in my back pocket to follow along during the season. I don't go in expecting to win much, it's all just for a laugh. I advise taking a similar approach.