George Clooney and Meryl Streep huge favourites for Oscars glory

The shortlist for this year’s Oscars has been announced and, as expected, the year looks set to belong to George Clooney and Meryl Streep.

Clooney and Streep are big favourites in the Best Actor and Best Actress categories respectively and it’s hard to see either of them walking away from the ceremony empty handed.

Clooney is nominated for his turn as land baron Matt King in The Descendents and is currently 4/9 to win his first Best Actor Oscar.

Also nominated is Jean Dujardin (7/4) for his role in The Artist and Brad Pitt for his performance as baseball coach Billy Beane in Moneyball.

Pitt is 14/1 to win, while Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy star Gary Oldman is 25/1 to emerge victorious after his first ever Oscar nomination.

In the Best Actress category, Streep is streets ahead of her rivals and, following her uncanny performance as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, looks almost guaranteed to win the award at 1/2, having been as long as 1/1 before the Golden Globes.

The Help star Viola Davies is her nearest challenger at 3/1, just ahead of Michelle Williams – who was nominated for her performance in Blue Valentine last year – is out at 7/2 after wowing critics as Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn.

If you like your odds a little bit longer though, then Rooney Mara is 25/1 to win the award for her portrayal of computer hacker Lisbeth Salander in the English language version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

However, the smart money is on Streep and – even at such short odds – it looks a bet too good to turn down.