X Factor final four looks fairly certain after just two weeks

The X Factor live shows have only been running for two weeks, but there already seems a lot of deadwood in the line-up and identifying the final four already seems a fairly straightforward task.

Ella Henderson remains a heavy favourite at 4/5 to take overall victory and although this is certainly a short price at this stage of the competition, she is hard to oppose.

Some punters may be concerned that Janet Devlin looked just as much of a shoo-in to reach the final last year when topping the public votes in each of the first four live shows, but ended up finishing fifth.

However, the standard of competition does not seem as strong this year and Ella is maintaining a high level on the live shows, where Janet failed to really improve.

James Arthur is another that looks destined for the latter stages, as his popularity appears to be improving.

The big negative for him will be if the show’s producers opt to lay on his back story a bit too thick, which may put off voters if this is overused.

Looking at the winner’s market from before the live shows, it is Union J and Jade Ellis that have seen their prices shorten the most.

With District J flirting with elimination, there is a strong chance they will be out in the next few weeks and this will allow Union J to be pushed further.

Meanwhile, Jade’s distinctive voice will see her gain votes and she could be the dark horse to sneak into the final.

The two that have not been so popular are Kye Sones and Lucy Spraggan and they have dropped likes flies towards the foot of the betting to be X Factor winner.

Jahmene Douglas remains second favourite at 11/2 for victory, but there are doubts as to whether he has the fanbase to be a serious contender, given other acts will mop up the teenage vote more than him.

Out of the big guns, it would be no surprise if he was the first out.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing