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Miscellaneous
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Leeds defender Luke Ayling named PFA Player of the Year - July 2020
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Leeds
are back in the top flight on the back of a 16-year absence that must
have felt like forever to their fans. They secured promotion with two
games to spare, following West Brom's loss to Huddersfield Town on 17
July. Stoke City's win over Brentford confirmed them as Championship victors
the following day. The Baggies also earned promotion, with Fulham also
heading back up to England's elite division. With the aforementioned trio gone, Watford are one of the Bet365
favourites to win the Championship next term at 7/1, with Brentford
also 7/1. Norwich City, who joined Watford in Premier League relegation,
are 8/1 with William Hill while Bournemouth, also relegated, are
9/1 with 888sport. The upcoming season will present punters with plenty to enjoy
such as free football
bets and Leeds fans looking to take advantage of early Premier
League odds can get 200/1 odds on the Whites winning the top flight.
Of course, that is highly unlikely but, think Leicester City. Bet365 are offering 1/5 odds on Leeds staying up at the end of
2020/21 and they're deemed to be the most likely of the three
promoted clubs to remain in the top flight but will have to strengthen
their squad to ensure as much, with Fulham 8/11 and West Brom
4/5. Ayling, meanwhile, beat Brentford's Said Benrahma, Queen's Park Rangers'
Eberechi Eze, West Brom's Matheus Pereira, Fulham's Aleksandar Mitrovic,
and Ollie Watkins, also of Brentford, for the award. Fans from all over
the world logged their votes and they certainly weren't misplaced given
the full-back's season. The Lambeth-born defender featured on 37 occasions in the Championship,
helping Marco Bielsa's side to 18 clean sheets. He also found
the back of the net four times during the campaign, with his volley
against Huddersfield getting voted in as Leeds' Goal of the Season. Ayling started his career at Arsenal, joining the Gunners as
a 10-year-old and progressing through the club's youth system.
He was only called to the first team on a single occasion but
didn't make it off the bench. He left the Emirates after his contract
expired in 2010, moving to Yeovil Town, where he played for four
years before joining Bristol City. The player signed a three-year
deal with the Whites in 2016 and was awarded a new, four-year
contract the following year. He won the PFA Player of the Month
in December and February and has now added a third PFA award to
his personal cabinet for the recently wrapped up campaign. Where the relegation battle is concerned, Betfair has 11/10 going
on the Baggies. Fulham are 1/1, Aston Villa are 15/8 and Newcastle
are 21/10. Leeds are 4/1 in that regard with Paddy Power, who
are offering odds of 13/8 on a top-10 finish for the Whites. |