The English Premier League may be predictable up top with another Manchester City-Liverpool title race impending, but beneath the two giants lie plenty of fascinating players and clubs.
In fact, the teams further down the table become more comfortable to bet on throughout the season because the odds are much better.
You already know City, Liverpool and others will finish in the top six, but there are always surprises from that point on down. It becomes more difficult to predict the breakout players and teams in those positions, but here is my best guess as to who will have success during the 2022-23 season.
DraftKings Sportsbook gave us a litany of futures offerings to look at and I settled on my five favorite from top team goal scorers to a team to be relegated for my preseason predictions.
EPL Futures
Patson Daka
To Be Leicester's Top Scorer (+500)
Patson Daka could be the breakout young player of the entire league.
The Zambian forward came to Leicester City before last season from RB Salzburg, where he tore up defenses for 54 goals in his last two seasons.
Daka managed five goals and three assists in his maiden Premier League campaign and he is expected to take a step up in his development up top for the Foxes this season.
Jamie Vardy is not getting any younger, James Maddison has transfer speculation surrounding him and Kelechi Iheanacho only has one double-digit goal season despite playing 20-plus matches for the Foxes in each of the last five seasons.
Leicester needs to get Daka going early on in the season and it should help the Zambian and his Foxes teammates that the club has no European soccer to focus on. They can concentrate on getting back into the top seven.
Michail Antonio
To Be West Ham's Top Scorer (+275)
Michail Antonio has been one of the most consistent goal scorers in the Premier League over the last three seasons.
West Ham United's Jamaican star forward bagged 10 goals in each of the last three seasons, but he is priced third on West Ham's season-best scorer odds chart.
That number is affected by the addition of Gianluca Scamacca from Sassuolo and the production the Hammers got from Jarrod Bowen last season.
West Ham has to balance time in the UEFA Conference League and the Premier League over the first few months of the season. Antonio is used to the dynamic of playing in both competitions, while Scamacca has not played continental soccer.
I'm taking the risk on the experienced striker in the West Ham squad to once again reach double figures and for him to take advantage of some potential struggles Scamacca faces while transitioning from Serie A to the Premier League.
Brentford To Be Relegated (+250)
Under 40.5 Points (-110)
Three teams have to be relegated every season.
The oddsmakers believe at least one of Bournemouth, Fulham and Nottingham Forest will go down after being promoted and that is reflected by them having the lowest odds to be relegated.
Brentford avoided the immediate fall back down to the Championship last season, but the Bees could struggle in their second season back in the Prem.
The road form of Thomas Frank's side last season could translate to a cause for concern into the 2022-23 campaign. Brentford earned six road wins, but it had a minus-nine goal differential and a minus-eight expected goals differential.
Brentford may not be able to pull away from the relegation zone, like it did last season, and its final stretch of games could be the death knell on its time in the English top flight. The Bees have to face Chelsea, Liverpool, West Ham, Tottenham and Manchester City in five of their last six games. Yikes.
The three relegated sides last season failed to go over the 35-point mark and the three relegated clubs from two years ago all failed to reach 30 points. If I'm taking Brentford to be relegated, it makes all the sense in the world to take the team's season under on points as well.
Crystal Palace To Finish Top 10 (+225)
Crystal Palace is an intriguing mid-table side.
The Eagles have plenty of talent up top led by Wilfried Zaha, Odsonne Eduoard and Jean-Phillippe Mateta and they made some shrewd signings in the transfer market to shore up their defense.
Palace's key to eclipsing other mid-table squads is its home form. Palace tied Arsenal for the third-fewest goals conceded at home in the Premier League last season. Patrick Vieira's squad had the best home goal differential (+10) of any team between ninth and 20th places.
If Palace turns some of its home draws from last season into wins and picks up a few more road points than the 19 it had last season, it could make a serious push into the top 10.
Newcastle, Wolves, Brighton and Leicester City will all be fighting for spots No. 8-10 in the table, but Palace's defensive resolve and home form should place it above a few of those sides.