Football Predictions | SoccerAss

Harry Redknapp has made the bold claim that his Tottenham Hotspur side will be challenging for the league title this season.

The Spurs boss can back that up with a wager, with odds of 28/1 on the White Hart Lane club to finish the Premier League in first.

Redknapp said: “We could contend for the title. We’ve got the players. We’ve got to aim for it. We could win it, it’s not impossible.

“Some people might look at what we achieved last season and say it was a flash in the pan. We have to prove them wrong and really go for it.”

After finishing fourth and qualifying for the Champions League, which Spurs are 33/1 to win, Redknapp’s assessment isn’t misguided.

Yet Tottenham have not won the league for 49 years and would have needed to pick up 17 more points to have claimed the trophy last season.

And while they demonstrated title-winning class in beating Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool at home, they also lost to Stoke City and Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Lane.

However, Redknapp’s talent is in his motivation and such self-belief could invigorate his players.

“Last year we started by saying we wanted to finish in the top four and got there,” the manager said.

“If you don’t aim for things, you’ve got no chance and the status quo will remain – with the big-spending teams winning everything.”

He continued: “Manchester City will be a massive factor in the title race because of the amount of investment they are making – and will continue to make until they win the title.”

A victory over City, who Spurs pipped to fourth, on the opening day of the season (a 6/5 chance) would be a great start to fulfilling Redknapp’s prophecy.

He added: “There are two, three players I want and they will make a big difference.”

Can the Tottenham players rally to Redknapp’s forthright view? Spurs are 15/1 to be the team with the highest points total at the end of the season, if given a +16 handicap.

The exclusivity of the Premier League is fast becoming a bit of a myth, as by next May a massive 44 teams will have competed in it for at least one season since the 1992 inception.

That number has risen each year for the last three years, with Blackpool being the most recent new addition to the annals of Premier League history.

Before the Tangarines’ unlikely promotion from the Championship, Burnley made an equally improbable rise. The season prior to that it was Stoke City and Hull City – to make it four fresh names on the Premier League roster in three seasons.

Are we seeing a trend establish itself? And if so, who will next year’s newbie be?

Well, the likelihood of seeing another unfamiliar face in the top-flight come August 2011 is slim – just seven out of 24 teams in this season’s division have not played in the Premier League.

Of that bunch Bristol City are favourites to break their duck. Steve Coppell’s side are 9/2 to get promoted – the seventh lowest-priced odds overall.

It’s clear the manager’s experience with Reading, who he got promoted to the top flight in 2006, will stand the team in good stead.

At 5/1 to go up, last season’s play-off final losers Cardiff City are next in the queue of Premier League novices.

Boss Dave Jones took Wolverhampton Wanderers to their first Premier League campaign and, should he stay at the club, the Bluebirds have a good chance to be Wales’s sole top-flight side since 1992.

Swansea City, 11/2 to win promotion, will want to usurp such hopes, though.

Further down the list of Premier League virgins are Preston North End (11/1), Millwall (14/1), Doncaster Rovers (16/1) and Scunthorpe United (33/1).

Out of those sides it may be worth having a flutter on Doncaster. Sean O’Driscoll’s side finished a creditable 12th last season, just 10 points off Blackpool in the final play-off spot.

Having played in the Conference as recently as eight years ago, the side are formidable and the stadium impressive. With a bit of luck, they could surge even higher – it would replicate the improbable journey Hull and Blackpool both went on.

Darren Ferguson led Peterborough to promotion, can he do the same with Preston and into a match with his dad? They are 33/1 to win the Championship.