The new Premier League season is just under two weeks away and many punters will have been eyeing the long-term fixed odds price with interest.

But what about spread betting on the Premier League? Just exactly what is the best way to go about tackling the long-term Season Points predictions put out by the major spread betting firms?

Well, unlike the fixed odds prices - which generally offer odds for a team to either win the league, finish in the top four, top six or top half or to be relegated - the spread betting Season Points markets simply offer a prediction of the amount of points a named team will finish on at the end of the season.

This means you can pit your expertise on a particular team against that of the spread betting traders and either buy on the spread if you think a team will do better than the bookmakers’ prediction, or sell if you think they will not perform as well as the bookies expect.

The spread is updated throughout the season so you can open or close bets at any time throughout the campaign, either to take a profit or cut a loss.

It’s important to remember that with spread betting, although the profits can be great if a bet goes your way, you can also lose more than your initial stake should the bet go against you.

With long term spread betting you can also bet on the Outright Index where each team is given a spread based on the market eventually awarding 60 points to the Premier League winner, 40 points to the runner-up, 20 to the third placed team, 10 to the fourth placed side and 5 to the fifth placed finisher.

And for sides struggling at the bottom of the league you can play the Relegation Index with teams awarded a spread based on 50 points given to the team that eventually finishes bottom, 25 to the team that finishes second bottom and 10 to the side that finishes third bottom.

So how does this work in practice? Well below are the starting Premier League Season Points spreads for the 2013-14 season and the eventual final points make-up. It shows you the eventual profit or loss you would have made if you had bought each team’s points at the start of the season.

E.g. a £10 buy of Everton points at 53.5 in August last year would have eventually returned profits of £192.50 when they reached 72 points come May.

But a £10 buy of Manchester United points at 79.5 would have lost £147.50 when the Red Devils eventually ended up on 64 points.

So have a look at this term’s Premier League Season Points quotes here and see whether you would buy or sell on your side’s quote…

Team	13-14 pre-season Points spread	13-14 pre-season midpoint	Final 13-14 points total	Difference
Everton	52 - 53.5	52.75	72	19.25
Liverpool	64.5 - 66	65.25	84	18.75
Crystal Palace	30 - 31.5	30.75	45	14.25
Southampton	45 - 46.5	45.75	56	10.25
Stoke	40 - 41.5	40.75	50	9.25
Arsenal	71.5 - 73	72.25	79	6.75
Man City	81 - 82.5	81.75	86	4.25
Hull	33 - 34.5	33.75	37	3.25
Newcastle	45 - 46.5	45.75	49	3.25
Spurs	66 - 67.5	66.75	69	2.25
Chelsea	79.5 - 81	80.25	82	1.75
Swansea	44 - 45.5	44.75	42	-2.75
West Ham	43 - 44.5	43.75	40	-3.75
Sunderland	42 - 43.5	42.75	38	-4.75
Aston Villa	43 - 44.5	43.75	38	-5.75
Norwich	39.5 - 41	40.25	33	-7.25
Cardiff	37 - 38.5	37.75	30	-7.75
West Brom	44 - 45.5	44.75	36	-8.75
Fulham	42 - 43.5	42.75	32	-10.75
Man United	78 - 79.5	78.75	64	-14.75