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Relegation favourites suffer opening defeats

The ante-post Premier League relegation betting rated Cardiff and Huddersfield as the most likely teams to go down this season and the pair both suffered defeats in their opening fixtures.

Promoted Cardiff, 4-6 favourites for relegation and 9-4 to finish bottom before a ball was kicked, lost 2-0 at Bournemouth while Huddersfield went down 3-0 at home to Chelsea in Maurizio Sarri's first league game in charge of the Blues.

Chelsea are 14-1 to win the title – the same price as Tottenham, who claimed a hard-fought 2-1 win at Newcastle in Saturday's early game.

Jan Vertonghen, a 45-1 chance to score first, put Spurs ahead before Joselu swiftly equalised for Newcastle. Dele Alli scored the winner, leaving Newcastle 7-2 for relegation.

With Manchester United beating Leicester on Friday night and Watford seeing off Brighton 2-0, five of the first six favourites of the 2018-19 Premier League season obliged for punters.

The exceptions were 2-1 chances Crystal Palace, who won 2-0 at Fulham thanks to goals from Jeffrey Schlupp and Wilfried Zaha. The big-spending Cottagers are 5-2 to be relegated.

Wolves twice came from behind to draw 2-2 at home to ten-man Everton. Centre-back Phil Jagielka was sent off for the Toffees after 40 minutes, but two goals from Richarlison had Everton in front until Raul Jimenez's late equaliser.

Manchester City, 4-6 to retain their title, kick off their defence at Arsenal on Sunday and Liverpool, 4-1 second-favourites for the league, host West Ham.

Ladbrokes Premiership champions Celtic suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat at 5-1 shots Hearts while Middlesbrough continued their strong start in the Sky Bet Championship with a 1-0 home win over Birmingham.

West Brom won 4-3 at Norwich and Aston Villa left it late to pinch a 3-2 home victory over Wigan.

Sky Bet League One favourites Sunderland were held to a 1-1 draw at Luton. The Black Cats at 100-30 to win the third tier while the Hatters are 11-2 to secure a second successive promotion.

Lincoln and MK Dons head the betting for League Two at 9-2 and 5-1 respectively. Both clubs have won their first two games and it's 9-1 bar those two in the fourth division.

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Bradford v Notts Co

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