Good evening to all managers of TOP100 and welcome to a new season. We have reached Season 17 already and it only seems like yesterday when this idea came to fruition and a legendary Game World was born. To last 16 seasons and still have a 100% take up is an incredible feat and here is hoping it continues for seasons to come.

We are at the pre season stage as everyone scrambles around the transfer market looking for the player(s) that can make the difference between a title/promotion and being an also ran.

Once again GinoBET has teamed up with TOP100 to bring the odds for the new season. Each Division will be revealed as we get closer to the opening league games on Sunday. I am one day behind what I had hoped for so Division 1 and 2 will be revealed on Saturday. The book will then open for anyone who wants a small flutter on the season. There will be a small note before each Division’s odds saying how close I think it will be. I will also include how accurate the betting was in that Division for Season 16.

So, let’s not fanny about and we will get this show on the road, starting with Division 5

DIVISION 5

Last season Cruziero cruised to the Division 5 title at odds of 25/1. Manager Roberto Downinho had the meanest in the division, conceding just 30 goals in 38 games. That was the catalyst for his win and the odds for Cruziero in Division 4 this season might not be so generous.

Title favourites, Sao Paulo, finished 2nd and of the teams tipped to finish in the top 7 by GinoBET, five of them obliged. The two odd ones out were Internazionale (9th) and FC Twente (15th) so five out of seven to finish in the promotion/play off places is surely not too bad.

On to Season 17 and the odds have been calculated. This is expected to be a very close battle and I think that the fight for the automatic promotion places and the play off spots will go down to the last day. It is that close that trying to get at last seasons five from seven is going to be very difficult. So, guys, here are the odds for Season 17

DIVISION 5

5/1 RUBIN KAZAN

11/2 INTERNAZIONALE

7/1 ACF FIORENTINA

8/1 ATALANTA BC

9/1 OLYMPIQUE LYONNAISE

9/1 FC TWENTE ENSCHADE

10/1 OLYMPIACOS

12/1 SPARTAK MOSKVA

14/1 AS SAINT ETIENNE

14/1 MONTPELLIER HSC

14/1 OLYMPIQUE MARSEILLE

16/1 BOCA JUNIORS

18/1 ATHLETIC BILBAO

22/1 MALAGA CF

28/1 AZ ALKMAAR

28/1 INDEPENDIENTE

28/1 TORINO

33/1 VFB STUTTGART

40/1 1FC KOLN

50/1 SHAKHTAR DONETSK

And that is us off and running for Season 17. As I said, I expect Division 5 to be very close but just have the feeling that the top two of Rubin Kazan and Internazionale will be in the promotion places come the end of the season. A dark horse? Montpellier look good value at 14/1 and I would give odds 7/2 to earn promotion by any means.

Next up we have Division 4 and looking at last season’s odds, you would have got 15/2 on VFL Wolfsburg winning the title and it was the same price for 2nd placed Celtic. Fenerbahce SK were the surprise of the season as they earned promotion after starting the season at 25/1 to win the title. Of the teams that GinoBET tipped to finish top 7 (promotion and play off positions) only 3 managed to do that while one of them, Atalanta BC, were actually relegated so not a fantastic prediction there.

So let’s move on to this season and it looks just as tough, if not tougher, to work out the favourites. Another very tight season is ahead so here are the odds for the fourth tier in TOP100

DIVISION 4

4/1 LEICESTER CITY

9/2 SAO PAULO

5/1 SWANSEA CITY

7/1 CRUZEIRO

8/1 CELTA VIGO

10/1 CSKA MOSKVA

12/1 LILLE OSC

12/1 CLUB BRUGGE KV

16/1 WEST HAM UNITED

18/1 PSV EINDHOVEN

22/1 GIRONDINS BORDEAUX

22/1 DYNAMO MOSKVA

25/1 SUNDERLAND

28/1 CHIEVO VERONA

33/1 VILLARREAL CF

33/1 DYNAMO KYIV

50/1 FC BASEL

50/1 LOKOMOTIV MOSKVA

66/1 SS LAZIO

And that is Division 4 odds for the coming season. For the second season in a row, Leicester City are installed as favourites but more interestingly is the fact that the 3 teams that were automatically promoted from Division 5 take up the next three places. This would suggest that Division 5 was stronger than Division 4 last season. Likewise, of the four teams that came down from Division 3, three of them are favourites to land back-to-back relegations. Looks like a very interesting season in Division 4.

Division 3 gives us our first clear favourite so far which is probably a pressure all on it’s own but let’s have a quick look at how last seasons odds compared with the outcome. Flamengo were the hot favourites last season and although they did not win the title, they did earn automatic promotion. Dinamo Zagreb were tipped for automatic but they finished a disappointing 12th. FC Augsburg, however, were tipped to go up automatically and they won the division to make it 2 out of 3 tipped for automatic to actually get. Of the four teams tipped for the play offs, two made it into the play offs, one missed out by one point and the other were five points short. Overall, not a bad effort to which I hope you agree. Of the four teams tipped to go down, only Borussia Monchengladbach escaped so 3 of 4 were relegated.

On to Season 17 and as I said, we have clear favourites for the division while the rest queue up to try grab either an automatic place or a play off spot. Ok, here are the odds for the third tier in TOP100

DIVISION 3

7/4 WEST BROMWICH ALBION

5/1 UDINESE CALCIO

6/1 GALATASARAY SK

8/1 FK PARTIZAN

8/1 SAMPDORIA

8/1 DINAMO ZAGREB

10/1 CRYSTAL PALACE

12/1 TSG HOFFENHEIM

12/1 SASSUOLO

14/1 VFL WOLFSBURG

16/1 HAMBURGER SV

16/1 FENERBAHCE SK

18/1 CELTIC

22/1 ZENIT ST PETERSBURG

22/1 SEVILLA

25/1 NEWCASTLE UNITED

33/1 BORUSSIA MONCHENGLADBACH

33/1 FEYENOORD

40/1 AS ROMA

40/1 SSC NAPOLI

So, West Bromwich Albion are easy favourites and anyone that backs against them are either very brave or very stupid. They missed out on the play offs last season by finishing 8th but it is felt that this will be their season. AS Roma and SCC Napoli are tipped as the main strugglers but we know that anything can happen.

Last season, Division 2 was the most difficult to predict. There were teams where managers claimed were too high up in the betting and ones that said they were too low. As it turned out, favourites were Everton and while they were always in the top half, they ended up finishing 5th before crashing out in the play offs. The actual winners were 25/1 shots Werder Bremen with a great season. My other tips for automatic promotion were Aston Villa (11th) and Levante UD (3rd). Levante were tipped for 3rd so we got that one right. Two out of four was the stat for the play offs as Internacional and Southampton were correct. It was the same as the bottom as two out of the four tipped were relegated.

Moving on to this season, I think it will be more accurate with the relegated teams from Division 1 looking strong. The promoted teams from Division 3 will find this division a huge step up in class. Here we go then:

DIVISION 2

4/1 GENOA CFC

5/1 RSC ANDERLECHT

13/2 EVERTON

7/1 BAYER LEVERKUSEN

8/1 VALENCIA CF

10/1 ASTON VILLA

12/1 FLAMENGO

12/1 SPORTING CP

14/1 PARIS SAINT GERMAIN

16/1 MANCHESTER UNITED

16/1 RIVER PLATE

18/1 SOUTHAMPTON

22/1 FC AUGSBURG

25/1 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

25/1 SANTOS FC

25/1 AJAX AMSTERDAM

28/1 LIVERPOOL

33/1 FC SCHALKE

40/1 DNIPRO DNIPROPETROVSK

50/1 AS MONACO

So, the relegated teams are probably worth following. As far as I know, there has never been a season where the four relegated teams were promoted back in the following season. This season could see it happen for the first time if things went the right way. I am willing to offer that bet as a special and would give 100/1 for it to happen.

Only one division to go and it’s the big one. Nowadays, Division 1 is a tough league to win once but to win twice is very difficult but Barcelona have managed to do it last season. They were clear favourites at 6/5 and they duly obliged. GinoBET got the top three bang on with Benfica being the first team to fail to reach expectations. At the bottom, 2 of the 4 teams tipped to go down, did so with rank outsiders Stoke City having a fantastic season to finish 12th. They find themselves with the exact same chances again this season so can they repeat it. Hertha Berlin seems to have been overlooked as they finished an incredible 5th after being tipped to be relegated.

Onto this season and the question is can Barcelona make it three in a row. They already hold the record of four titles in a row so it wouldn’t be new ground although, arguably it is harder to do now. GinoBET, after having a good look at things, have not installed Barcelona as favourites but instead think there will be a brand new name on the trophy. After the top two, the rest will be playing for third place. Here are the latest odds:

DIVISION 1

13/8 JUVENTUS

7/4 BARCELONA

8/1 BORUSSIA DORTMUND

10/1 FC PORTO

11/1 SL BENFICA

12/1 CHELSEA

14/1 ARSENAL

14/1 BAYERN MUNICH

16/1 REAL MADRID

22/1 HELLAS VERONA

25/1 ATLETICO MADRID

28/1 MANCHESTER CITY

28/1 STANDARD LIEGE

33/1 SC INTERNACIONAL

33/1 HERTHA BSC

40/1 LEVANTE UD

40/1 RCD ESPANYOL

50/1 WERDER BREMEN

66/1 AC MILAN

80/1 STOKE CITY

And that is us all set for Season 17 getting underway tonight.

Anyone wanting a bet, the rules are the same. Single bets to a maximum of 200cr are accepted without question. Any other bets like doubles or any special bets can be requested. I will then decide if it is acceptable and will offer separate odds for the bet. I wish everyone good luck for the new season and to anyone who lays a bet

CIAO