PREMIER LEAGUE PREDICTIONS
SportsBeat!
Written by Aaron Cantin
Just like that, a new Premier League season is set to kick off this weekend. The soccer calendar never really has an “offseason” (last Premier League season ended less than three months ago) and in between, we were entertained with the Euros and the Copa America. Fantastic stuff. Most other leagues across Europe begin this weekend as well but we will focus on the big one. The one North America and the rest of the world outside of their respective countries really keep an eye on. I’ll make my predictions for who I think will qualify for Champions League, Europa League, who will get relegated, a couple of personal awards and of course, the Champions. Let’s get into it.
Source: Premier League / Getty Images
Recap
The champions, Manchester City, are coming off a near-flawless season (except for maybe that UEFA Champions League final loss) where it captured its third EPL crown in four seasons. The noisy neighbours no longer, Pep Guardiola's squad has become entrenched at the pinnacle of the football pyramid by hook or by crook. Fresh off signing Jack Grealish for a British transfer record fee of $139 million, City is out to retain that Premier League title and return to the UCL with better results. It won't necessarily be the walk in the park it was for much of last season for Pep and Co., as the big clubs have gotten substantially...bigger.
Champions League Qualifiers
The big “six” is no longer. Arsenal is miles off where they used to be and each season the gap seems to grow larger and larger. Tottenham has not fallen off nearly as far as Arsenal but they have failed to make big strides to catch up to the likes of Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool. Leicester City would certainly have something to say about not being in that conversation as well. Leicester seems to be overlooked each season and each year for the past decade they are right in contention fighting with the big dogs when it matters. I don’t see that changing much this year but I do think the gap between Leicester and Champions League qualification will be larger than it once was. In fact, I think the top four will be in a league of their own. Saying that, in no particular order, here are my predicted four teams who will qualify for the Champions League:
Manchester City
Manchester United
Chelsea
Liverpool
Europa League Qualifiers
For those who don’t know, the two squads who finish fifth and sixth earn an invitation to Europe’s second-biggest tournament. Outside of the mentioned top four teams, any side earning a berth in the Europa League will look at it as a successful season and should not be disappointed. Two sides in particular that I think have made big strides this offseason are Aston Villa and Leeds United. A couple more additions and more team bonding maybe all these two squads need. However, there are also several other teams that will have something to say about that. Tottenham, Leicester, West Ham and Arsenal will all surely look to earn a berth in one of Europe’s two tournaments. I’m taking a massive upset in this one.
Tottenham Hotspurs
Leeds United
Relegated sides
Fulham, West Brom and Sheffield United all waved good-bye to the Premier League last season with Brentford, Norwich City and Watford earning their way back up. At first thought, it would be easy to predict the three teams promoted as the weakest but that is hardly the case. Usually, the three squads that are promoted have nothing to lose and are seen as the underdogs heading into each game, at least early in the season. Norwich and Watford are a bit different as they are typically competing in the top league but I suspect they will be around mid-to-lower table come season end. Despite Wolverhampton finishing 13th in the table last year I am worried for them. They fell off dramatically last season and did little to improve this offseason. Burnley and Brighton are in the same boat, although they did not have high expectations. As always, the battle for relegation may be just as thrilling as the top of the table come May.
Brentford
Burnley
Wolverhampton
Top Goal Scorer
The big issue here is we still don’t know where Harry Kane will be playing. As of now, it looks like he will be returning to Tottenham. The other big name on the list has not even suited up for his team yet, Romelu Lukaku. The other issue with Lukaku is I would expect Chelsea’s current striker Timo Werner to have a much better season than he did last. At the very least, Werner will start half the matches. And let’s not forget about Liverpool's attacking trio in Mohammed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino. Sometimes less is more and that is what Liverpool is banking on when it comes to the transfer window. Liverpool has not made any changes to their attack and says what you will about them needing to improve overall, I think at a personal level, this bodes well for the attacking trio. Patrick Bamford from Leeds also had a spectacular season. One that makes you wonder what he is capable of if he was given more opportunities on a stronger team. Since I believe the Golden Boot race will be very close this season, I’ll list my top three, in order.
Mohammed Salah
Harry Kane
Edison Cavani
Premier League Champions
City has won four of the last five titles as mentioned previously and enter the season as heavy favourites once again. I have no doubt this year will be much closer than it was last. Manchester United has improved significantly and is desperate to climb atop the table once again. Liverpool meanwhile feels they have something to prove after falling considerably short last season. And then there’s Chelsea, Champions League winners and have dramatically improved their squad. This season may very well come down to health, lucky bounces and owners emptying their pockets during the winter transfer window to bolster their lineups. Spoiler alert - I don’t think City will win again. Why? Not sure. I just think the talent on the other squads is strong enough to force a new winner. Every team going up against City will be playing at their very best as well knowing they will be taking on the Champions and perhaps taking down the champions. The problem with Manchester United is I see them taking a couple of weeks longer than the others to find their rhythm. It's not like it was a bad transfer window for them, they signed Jadon Sancho and Rafael Varane. But those two pieces will need to be at their top level right from the very beginning and I believe that's asking too much. Liverpool are strong but something about the way they fell off last year makes me nervous. Also, we’ve seen this with Jurgen Klopp before with Borussia Dortmund. He comes into a team, completely turns them around, wins them a couple of titles and then falls off. It's almost as if the energy he brings to the team is too much to maintain over five, six or seven seasons. That leaves Chelsea. I believe Chelsea has a real chance of knocking off Man City this year. They were the only team to beat City when it really mattered last year and have improved dramatically. Not just that but players on Chelsea did not play at their best last season and are bound to have bounce-back years. This is why I am taking the Blues to de-throne City.
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