Wham! shatters hopes for The Pogues' Fairytale of New York for Christmas Number 1

The band look like they've been knocked out of the race for the Christmas top spot

Wham! are favourites to claim their first Christmas Number One hit with Last Christmas, nearly 40 years after the song's release - knocking The Pogues out of the race for the top spot.

The team at OLBG has shared the latest Christmas number one betting odds, and Wham! are the current favourite with odds of 4/9 and a probability of 69.2 per cent.

Wham! have never had a Christmas Number One, with their hit Last Christmas always a big player in playlists over the festive period.

READ MORE: Shane MacGowan's widow says Fairytale of New York 'should be' 2023 Christmas number one

George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley’s classic has reached the Number One spot four times in January 2021, December 2022, January 2023 and December 2023 but never Christmas Number One.

William Hill now reckons that this year could be the year they finally do it though with their odds sitting at 4/9 and top of the tree of odds.

Reports from Official Charts earlier this week said that Sam Ryder was just 42 chart units behind Wham! in the race for the Christmas Number 1 spot.

Sam Ryder's push for the top spot this Christmas has been big with appearances on Radio 1 and the One Show to try and win the race for the big spot.

With Ryder's song being an Amazon Music Original this also sees Alexa devices up and down the country playing his song more often when you ask Alexa for Christmas music.

TikTok creator collective Creator Universe had shortened right down in the betting odds to 8/11 for Christmas Number One just last week but have now drifted right out to 9/1.

That recent update from Official Charts states that Creator Universe has the best-selling single of the week with their cover of I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day.

Streams, though, are lacking massively and they're currently sitting in 11th place in the charts so far this week with another update expected in the next 24 hours.

The Pogues’ Fairytale of New York was another that had previously been favourites following the death of Shane MacGowan but they aren't showing signs of competing as of yet.

Elsewhere, Boylesports revealed The Pogues have now slipped to third favourite at odds of 5/1 as support surges elsewhere.

Eurovision star Sam Ryder is a latecomer to the Christmas party with the bookies but his recently released You’re Christmas to Me has attracted plenty of attention and is current 4/1 second favourite with BoyleSports, while the support that had snowballed for TikTok troupe ‘Creator Universe’ has melted away, as they have drifted to odds of 25/1 from 7/4.

Brian O’Keeffe, spokesperson for BoyleSports added: "Tis the season and the Christmas number 1 market is really hotting up. We’ve seen an avalanche of support for Wham! to better Last Christmas’ second in the charts and finally wear the Christmas crown."