After what seems to be an increasingly shorter off season, even in a year without a World Cup Finals or European Championship Finals to enjoy, the top professional clubs across Europe are now welcoming players back after their summer breaks in readiness for pre-season training as teams start their preparation for the 2019/2020 Football Season. Last season, was an intriguing one in many respects. English teams dominated in Europe, with both finalists in the Europa League (Arsenal and Chelsea) and the Champions League (Tottenham and Liverpool) both hailing from the country. We saw incredible comebacks in both competitions and in England, we saw Manchester City win all four domestic trophies they entered, the Community Shield, Carabao Cup, Premier League and lastly, the FA Cup with a record-breaking 6-0 win over Watford in the final at Wembley. It seems incredible to think that this, and a whole host of other top leagues across Europe, will soon be taking to the field to kick off the new season in earnest. The start of a new football season is always an exciting time and the weeks leading up to that, when teams finalise their squad, play friendly games and get themselves ready for the big kick off, also sees punters enjoy a busy period too. This is because they tend to decide which teams they will back to win the various league and division titles on offer across England and other parts of Europe. With that in mind, bet365 Sport are running a new promotion for the coming football season. League Winner Early Payout Offer With bet365’s League Winner Early Payout Offer, simply place a bet on the To Win Outright market on any team from selected leagues up to and including Friday 13^th September 2019, and if the team you back takes a lead of 10 points or more in their league, and all teams have played the same number of games, we will settle your bet early as a winner. Offer applies to bets on the To Win Outright market for the 2019/20 season for teams from the English Premier League, English Championship, English League 1, English League 2, Scottish Premiership, Scottish Championship, Scottish League One, Scottish League Two, German Bundesliga I, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga and French Ligue 1. If your team is leading the league and the other teams have games in hand but cannot get to within 10 points of your team by winning those games, we will settle your bet early as a winner. This offer will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out the bet will be settled on, and this offer shall apply to, the remaining active stake. If a qualifying bet is amended using your Edit Bet feature prior to 23:59:59 UK Time on Friday 13^th September 2019 the bet will be settled on, and the offer shall apply to, the new selection and/or stake. This offer will not apply if your qualifying bet is amended using out Edit Bet feature after 23:59:59 UK Time on Friday 13^th September 2019. T&Cs apply. Only available to new and eligible customers. We’ve got a special preview coming up of the Premier League season, as well as the football league, but some of the other intriguing leagues set to start shortly around Europe are as follows: Scotland – Scottish Premier League The big question in Scotland is whether Celtic can match Rangers best ever haul of 9 league titles in a row. Having landed number eight last season, Neil Lennon is the man charged with delivering Celtic’s record-equalling title, but he will face a stern test from Steven Gerrard’s Rangers who have made some shrewd signings in the pre-season. Celtic have been relatively quiet in the market with more news about players leaving the club than coming in, but even so, they are so strong that it does look like they will be strong favourites to win the league again, although I expect Rangers to at least run them really close this season. Italy – Serie A Having signed a number of top stars and snapped up manager Maurizio Sarri from Chelsea, Juventus position as the foremost team in Serie A is not under threat. If anything, they have got stronger while the teams chasing way behind them seem to have either regressed or stayed pretty much the same. With Gianluigu Buffon set to rejoin and Matthias De Ligt set to sign and two new midfielders on free’s including Adrien Rabiot (from PSG) and Aaron Ramsey (from Arsenal), this is a squad that looks even more powerful than they did last season. It’s going to be hard for the likes of Napoli, AS Roma, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Lazio to close the gap on Juventus, especially with Ronaldo showing no signs of slowing down in quality. One team to watch this season is Atalanta who had a superb season last year and who could be one of the surprise teams in the Champions League this season. Germany – Bundesliga I Borussia Dortmund were pipped to the title by Bayern Munich last season in what will have been a disappointing result for the Ruhr-based club. Dortmund fell away over the latter half of the season having been well clear before Christmas and they will want to be challenging Bayern for top honours once again this season. Bayern have seen two key men in Robben and Ribery retire this season but even so, they have some very talented young players coming through the ranks to cover for their loss. Bayern will undoubtedly be at the top of the table, or near it, once again this season. It will be interesting to see how Frankfurt get on with Jovic having left the club, while the likes of Leverkusen, Schalke 04, Hoffenheim and Borussia Moenchengladbach will all be keen to improve on last season. France – Ligue 1 Can anybody challenge the dominance of Paris St Germain in France this season? Given the wealth of the club and the squad they possess, even the loss of Neymar, who seems intent on forcing his way out of the club this summer, should not impact PSG’s chances of success too much. Of those chasing perhaps Lyon, Marseille and Lille are the teams best placed to give PSG the biggest challenge, however saying that is somewhat relative as PSG finished so far ahead of their rivals last season, it essentially meant that the last two months of the season were pretty much over as a contest in terms of the league title. PSG should and likely will walk Ligue 1 once again this season, regardless of whether Neymar stays or goes but the real interesting battle will be likely who is involved in the places behind them. Spain – Primera Liga There has been some big moves in the off-season in the Primera Liga once again, Barcelona have moved to sign Frenkie de Jong from Ajax and Antoine Griezmann from Atletico Madrid, while Real Madrid have snapped up Eden Hazard from Chelsea, Eder Militao from FC Porto, Ferland Mendy from Lyon and Luka Jovic from Benfica.  However, the big two have been linked with more signings over the course of the pre-season, both in terms of players coming into the club and those heading out. Challenging the top two once again will likely be Atletico Madrid, although having lost Griezmann, Rodri (to Manchester City) and Godin (to Inter), Diego Simeone’s men may struggle to replace three such key players. Valencia, winners of the Copa del Rey final last season, should also be stronger having signed goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen from Barcelona. In truth, it looks like being a two-horse race once again between the top two who will also be focused on regaining their status in Europe, as well as dominating in La Liga.