Premier League Predictions

With the Premier League returning fans all around the world are full of excitement to see their teams returning back to weekly performances and here are my predictions for how the season will end.

1. Manchester City- They won the Premier League back to back and I expect them to win it again this season after they solved their two problems in the transfer market. Finding the Fernandinho replacement in Rodri, and adding depth to their full back options with Mendy being prone to injury and Cancelo joining their ranks. I don’t see any team being capable of dethroning them as the champions of England.
2. Liverpool- I don’t think Liverpool will perform as good as they did last season but they will still be the team to challenge City the most for the title. Lack of activity in the transfer market and with their defense looking shaky since the start of pre-season, I don’t see them reaching the 97 points that they did last season.
3. Spurs- After not spending a single penny the past two transfer windows, Spurs went and signed three great players to their side. They broke their transfer record for Tanguy Ndombele who has potential to be one of the best midfielders in the world, and were able to keep Eriksen and Alderwield for one more season.
4. Arsenal- There is no excuses this season into missing the top four for the gunners. Unai Emery has been backed by the board, three defensive signings (with one going on loan), broken transfer record for Pepe, Ceballos on loan as Ramsey’s replacement, and exciting youth talent breaking into the team. I see a very exciting season lying ahead for Arsenal as they try to go back to their glory days and challenge for the title in the future.
5. Manchester United- Two marquee signings this season with Wan-Bisakka and Maguire will make United more defensively solid and harder team to score on, but not signing a midfielder will be what makes the difference for me between them and Arsenal in making the top four. They sold Lukaku without replacing him which makes their firepower weaker, and they lost Ander Herrera which puts more work on to Paul Pogba who has made it obvious that he wanted to depart this season. If you take Pogba out of their midfield there is no creative midfield players other than Jesse Lingard who is not a player who can to take you to the top. They have a very young forward line with Marital, Rashford, James, and Greenwood being their options with Alexis Sanchez being out of favour. Failing to replace Lukaku will eventually damage them in the future.
6. Wolves- They transitioned into the Premier League from the Championship very well last season and I expect them to perform just as well as last season. They do have to play in the Europa League this season and with their squad depth not as deep as the other teams in Europe, I see them dropping some points in the Premier league as they find squad rotations difficult. They always took points away from the top six but the teams main weakness was against the bottom half teams. If they are capable of coping with the Europa League being more consistent in the league then they are the team to break into the top six.
7. Chelsea- Loftus-Cheek and Hudson-Odio injured for about 1/3 of the season, losing Hazard, faced a transfer ban in the summer, Giroud and Abraham as their striking options, and Lampard who is still knew to management having to transition from the Championship to the Premier League, I see a rough season ahead for Chelsea with their high standards. If they manage to stay in the top six it’ll be down to their strong midfield with the options of Mount, Kante, Jorginho, Barkley, Kovacic, and Loftus-Cheek when he returns.
8. Everton- I think this is the season a team breaks into the top 6 and I believe Everton is one of two teams that’ll be capable to do it. It’s the best opportunity for them to do so with Chelsea on the verge of having a dreadful season. Everton recruited well with an exciting young forward line of Kean, Iwobi, and Richarlison. If they play the way they finished the league last season, Everton will barely finish above Chelsea and return to European football. They have one huge problem though and that’s in their defense. They weren’t able to keep Kurt Zouma and only have Keane and Mina as their center backs, one injury to them and injury crisis will plague their season.
9. West Ham- With the additions of Pablo Fornals and club record signing Sebastian Haller, the Irons now have arguably the best attack outside the top six with Felipe Anderson and Manuel Lanzini also in the side. Their biggest weakness this season will be the midfield as they will rely heavily on 20 year old Declan Rice with having a declining Mark Noble and injury prone Jack Wilshire.
10. Leicester- Signing Youri Tielemans on a permanent was great business from the Foxes getting one of Europe’s most exciting midfield prodigies, and signing Ayoze Perez adds to their striking options relying less on Jamie Vardy for goals. Losing Harry Maguire will be a big loss defensively and not replacing him will be a major problem for them this season.
11. Watford- Last season was the highest they finished (11th) since they returned to the Premier League in 2015 and will probably finish in the same position. They didn’t lose any players and signed exciting Sengal winger Ismaila Sarr. Sarr will be a great addition and with Delefou on the other side, they have good attacking side with Deeney, Gray, and Welbeck as their strikers.
12. Burnley- Playing in the Europa League last season was huge factor in their form last season, going from 7th place the season before to 15th. They won’t have to face the squad depth dilemma they had and can focus on the league. Burnley is very defensive side who will make it difficult for teams to break them down along with their aggressive style of play.
13. Bournemouth- They have a great squad full of talented players but they lack the consistency needed to finish in the upper half of the table. They’re fortunate that they were able to keep hold of their key players in Ryan Frasear, Callum Wilson, and Nathan Ake who were all linked with moves away to Arsenal, Chelsea, and Leicester.
14. Brighton- Last season they barely survived from relegation and under new manager Graham Potter, they are changing from a negative play style to a more counter-attacking team. With Dunk and Duffy in the back they have solid back line that they can rely on when they decide to attack in the game, but an injury to either one of the two, mainly Dunk, and Brighton could easily capitulate in the back and be in the relegation battle.
15. Southampton- They barely survived from relegation last season and they will most likely be battling to avoid it again. They didn’t make many changes to their squad this season but with a talented manager like Ralph Husenhuttl, he’ll be capable of finding the right balance for the team and help them stay in the league like last season.
16. Crystal Palace- This will probably be their last season of survival in the Premier League because they were capable of keeping Wilfred Zaha. They lost Aaron Wan-Bissaka, their most important defensive asset and now have a disgruntled Zaha who wasn’t allowed to get his desired move to Arsenal this summer. The rest of the team,especially the defense,  will need to step up as they are going to face a rough season.
17. Aston Villa- Villa spent over 100 million euros in the summer transfer market as they plan to survive in the Premier League. It’s pretty similar to Fulham last season who spent big but Villa has spent their money on positions that needed improvement unlike Fulham the last campaign. I still think that they’ll struggle in the league and will barely survive because the bottom three teams are worse.
18. Newcastle- They had possibly the worst summer out of any team by losing Rafa Benitez as their manager and replacing him with Steve Bruve. Newcastle are usually relegation favorites but with them having one of the best managers in Benitez they always survived. They also lost their best two attacking players last season with Ayoze Perez joining Leicester, and Saloman Rondon having his loan expired. They recruited very well with the money they earned from the Perez sell, signing Joelinton and Saint-Maximin, two young talented forwards. One thing I don’t understand from their board is why couldn’t they back Benitez the way they did with Bruce this season. Bruce is an unproven manager who has had been relegated from the Premier League before, Benitez is a Champions League winning manager. Choices like this is why many Newcastle fans want a change in ownership.
19. Norwich- They won the Championship last season but they barely did any business in the transfer window. Playing in the Championship compared to the Premier League is a huge step up, and with barely any recruitment they are going to be looking towards a poor season.
20. Sheffield United- The way that they did their summer business it looks as if they have accepted the fact that they will get relegated. No ambition signings with recruiting players like an aging Jagielka, picking up free agents like Morrison, and  Bournemouth third choice striker Mousset, they are looking to prepare for the championship next season and then once they get promoted to then try to survive in the Premier league.