Jake is a Football and Entertainment betting expert, with a Man City season ticket and a deep knowledge of reality TV betting angles
- The Pogues now odds-on to have Christmas Number One this year ahead of the race for the top spot
- LadBaby dramatically pull out of the race early this year
- Sidemen have now shortened into second favourite for the top spot
The Pogues now odds-on to have Christmas Number One this year ahead of the race for the top spot
Betting remains open on the Christmas Number One for this year with the betting market changing right around following news of LadBaby not having a release this year.
The Pogues had already shortened into favourite this week following the reports of frontman Shane MacGowan battling illness with their song Fairytale of New York one of the big festive hits.
Reports last week revealed that MacGowan had been in intensive care for months after being diagnosed with viral encephalitis last year and recent pictures of him in hospital had been shared this week.
Now UK Betting Sites have moved The Pogues ahead of LadBaby in the betting market after the five time winners announced they would be pulling out of this year's race.
| Christmas Number One 2023 (selected) | Odds | Probability |
|---|---|---|
| The Pogues | 4/6 | 60.0% |
| Sidemen | 7/1 | 12.5% |
| Taylor Swift | 7/1 | 12.5% |
| Slade | 8/1 | 11.1% |
| The Beatles | 8/1 | 11.1% |
What the expert says...
LadBaby dramatically pull out of the race early this year
LadBaby officially announced earlier this week that they won't be running for a sixth consecutive Christmas Number One this year after racking up more than 750,000 sales in the past 5 years.
Mark and Roxanne Hoyle have dominated Christmas in the UK since 2018 with hits every year raising money for food bank charity The Trussell Trust.
Official Charts themselves confirmed the news with the winner of this year's Xmas Number 1 set to be announced on BBC Radio 1'S Official Chart show on 22nd December.
Sidemen have now shortened into second favourite for the top spot
British YouTube group the Sidemen were contenders for Christmas Number One last year with Christmas Drillings getting a massive push for the top spot before finishing third.
Two Christmas songs were released by the group as part of one of their Sidemen Sunday's last year with This or That the other song released by the Sidemen.
There are no suggestions that they will try again this year but now they have a clear run at the top spot with LadBaby not releasing a song they may decide to do so.
Sidemen's odds have now shortened from 16/1 into 7/1 joint second favourites with bookmakers clearly thinking they'll be in the running if they release a song.
