Coming into the 1995 season, Hill was one of the title favourites.

These performances had installed Albers to be one of the title favourites for the 1992 British championship.

It seemed possible that Liverpool might be able to live up to their pre-season tag as title favourites after all.

In the 2007-08 campaign, Forest were named title favourites for the third consecutive year.

This was another powerful assertion of City's credentials as title favourites.

Leeds United, who were among the pre-season title favourites, now occupy a disappointing 14th place.

Alex Ferguson's title favourites moved into second place, just three points behind Norwich and look a generous bet at their new odds of 7-4.

Viñales went into the 2012 season as title favourite in the newly formed Moto3 championship.

He was competitive in pre-season testing before a heavy crash threatened to derail his status as title favourite.

The 2007-08 season started well, with a 5-0 home victory against Stevenage Borough, the title favourites in the eyes of the bookies.