Is the Premier League title race over? The bookies seem to think so...

Speaking after his team's lacklustre 1-1 draw against West Brom, who are rattling around at the bottom of the table, Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer got a bit philosophical. "No-one knows this season," he mused. "It's so unpredictable, life is so unpredictable. Anything can happen."

Can it, though? Football being football, there's always the chance of some spectacular, last minute surge, or equally spectacular fall from grace. But right now, it looks very much like the Premier League title all but belongs to Manchester City. At the time of writing they're comfortably perched at the top of the table with a 10-point lead on Manchester United. The likes of Rio Ferdinand, Alan Shearer and Arsene Wenger have all backed the Citizens to reclaim their crown.

Man City have certainly been on stellar form lately, with their recent 3-0 drubbing of Spurs being backed up by a 3-1 win at Everton and a 1-0 win at Arsenal, resulting in their 13th straight league win. One of their key assets this season has been Ilkay Gundogan, whose brace in the Spurs game means he has now scored more goals than anyone else in Europe's top five leagues this calendar year. "It looks like Gundogan is going to be the man to take Manchester City to the title," former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher told Sky Sports. "What a season he is having."

Do the bookies agree?

The answer to that is a resounding yes, according to odds sourced via https://www.gamblingdeals.com/. As of writing, Manchester City are 1/50 favourites to take the crown. By contrast, their nearest rivals for the top spot, Manchester United, are trailing in the bookies' estimation with odds of 33/1. Clearly, the sportsbooks aren't really in agreement with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's optimistic appeal to the unpredictability of life (and football).

That being said, we shouldn't really write off the chances of Man United, or indeed Leicester. Considering the Red Devils first of all, theirs has been a season of extreme highs and lows. Back in October, Jose Mourinho returned to Old Trafford to watch his Spurs side tear apart his former club with a stunning 1-6 win. Solskjaer called this "embarrassing" and his "worst day ever", but redemption would come with Man United delivering a few wrecking ball performances of their own. Take the 6-2 thrashing of Leeds in December, which saw Scott McTominay become the first player ever to score twice within the first three minutes of a Premier League match.

Then came their February face-off with Southampton, which resulted in an even more flamboyant scoreline: 9-0. So, their West Brom draw notwithstanding, it would be perhaps premature to wholly dismiss Manchester United as title contenders, despite what the bookies seem to think.

Leicester, too, deserve attention. This season has seen them beat the mighty Manchester City 2-5. There was also a decisive 1-4 victory against Leeds, and most recently a famous 3-1 win against Liverpool, which has rekindled dreams of a second Premier League title. (Current odds on a Leicester win are 40/1.)

Speaking of Liverpool, this has certainly been a cruel season for Jurgen Klopp's men so far. The first ominous moment came in October, with their 7-2 loss against Aston Villa. This was the first time since 1963 that Liverpool had conceded seven goals, and the whole debacle was described as "eye-poppingly weird" by a stunned sports journalist at The Guardian.

Things have looked particularly bleak recently, with the Reds having lost their last three consecutive league games at the time of writing. This includes being beaten 0-1 by Brighton & Hove Albion. Pundits and critics have been sympathetic to Liverpool's plight, emphasising the huge blow of having Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez stricken by injuries. But, whatever the explanations and mitigations, the fact remains that Liverpool currently have lowly odds of 80/1 to take the title.

There's some solace for Reds fans that the bookies still fancy Liverpool for a top-four finish (current odds, 4/9) alongside Manchester City, Manchester United and Leicester. That being said, there's every possibility that Chelsea – currently one point behind Liverpool – will shove them aside in the weeks to come.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the table, things aren't looking particularly hopeful for West Brom, who've only racked up two wins in the Premier League this season so far. While spirits were raised by that unexpected draw against Manchester United, there's no denying that the Baggies will need to pull off a great escape to avoid relegation. Bookies currently have their odds of crashing out of the Premier League at 1/33.

Sheffield United are looking highly precarious too, with their odds of relegation currently being 1/16. It's been a hugely disappointing time for Sheffield, who only returned to the Premier League last season, and managed to finish at a very respectable ninth place. Now they're slumped at the very bottom of the table, and getting out of the relegation zone will require a herculean turnaround.