Right Said Fred: Talking betting With BetFred Boss Fred Done

BetFred owner Fred Done has paid out early on Liverpool to be 2020 Premier League champions. In his weekly column, he discusses why he's decided to do this and also looks ahead to the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards, taking place on Sunday.

It is Ben Stokes’ honour to lose at the 2019 BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards on Sunday.

The cricketer, whose heroics helped us win the World Cup and force a draw in The Ashes this summer, is odds-on to pick up the top individual honour in British sport.

Stokes is 1/7 at Betfred to win the public vote, well ahead of Dina Asher-Smith who became the first British woman to win gold in a sprint event at a major championships at the World Championships in Doha earlier this year.

She’s 12/1 to be crowned Sports Personality of the Year, with our Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton at 20/1.

 Hamilton’s best chance will possibly come this time next year, if he can equal Michael Schumacher’s record seven World Championships.

He’s the same price as Raheem Sterling, who you cannot rule out as football is of course the nation’s sport and the City and England star has won huge plaudits for his stance against racism as well as enhanced his position as the player most likely to break up the Messi-Ronaldo stranglehold on the Ballon d’Or trophy.

Sterling was of course stifled big time in the Manchester Derby on Saturday by the superb Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

The full-back, along with Harry Maguire and a third Ole Gunnar Solskjaer signing Dan James, was excellent against the Blues who were long odds-on to win the match.

It was after that game, and I promise you it had nothing to do with the amount of wine I had consumed, that I decided to pay out early on Liverpool to be 2020 Premier League champions.

I don’t have many friends on Merseyside but I suppose I might now for more than 2,000 punters who backed Liverpool, as they can collect an early Christmas present.

I admit I’ve not had a great record on paying out early, catching a cold twice when opting to pay out early on United when they were pipped by Arsenal in 1998 and then by City in 2012.

But I tell you what, I won’t be wrong this time, for Jurgen Klopp’s men just don’t have any weaknesses, be it in defence, midfield or attack… and they keep on grinding out results like true champions do.

So, with 22 games to go, it’s going to be Liverpool who win the league – and although it’s going to cost me a cool million, I know I am right.

Over the years I have joked that it is the Scousers who have been paying for my holidays… and not always Blackpool!

Well this time they can have a laugh at my expense, for this Liverpool team have risen to the challenge and City are nothing like the outfit they were last year.           

 United might have put in their best performance since the Ferguson years, but City allowed our trademark counter-attacking tactics to get the better of them.

It was fitting that the only Mancunian in either team, Marcus Rashford, scored the opener to set us on our way to a famous victory.

City boss Pep Guardiola is right when he hints the Blues will have to improve big time to win the Champions League.

They’re an amazing 14 points behind Liverpool in third place, and it is Leicester the biggest challengers just eight points behind in second.

I love the way the Foxes go about their business, so understated with a class act in Jamie Vardy up front.

After his brace at Villa at the weekend, he’s now scared 16 league goals this season and if I was Gareth Southgate I’d be doing my utmost to get him to u-turn and play again for England.

Vardy is 5/4 at Betfred to win the Golden Boot, while Spurs talisman Harry Kane, who is seven goals behind Vardy this season, is a 5/1 shot.

While Tammy Abraham is third in the betting stakes at 13/2, with 11 goals for Chelsea this season.

It’s brilliant to see so many England players banging them in, not least Rashford on 10 – and that could well be significant if they can keep up this form going into the European Championships next summer.