So, fourth and final part of this season's footy predictions and it's the big one - the Premiership. I can't honestly see much changing at the top of the table this season. Chelsea won the Premiership with games to spare last season and should do so again given the quality of their squad. The most interesting thing might be just below them where Arsenal appear to be well placed to usurp second place from a Manchester City side that only really performed in fits and starts last season. City's signing of Fabian Delph could be a shrewd one but £50m for a player as inconsistent as Raheem Sterling? Sorry Manuel, not convinced...
Manchester United are in a similar state of flux as their cross city rivals but will probably have to settle for fourth place again. With several rumoured comings and goings, United need to get their house in order before they can mount a serious title challenge. Maybe in 2017?
Spurs are unlikely to challenge for the top four but should hold off an inconsistent Liverpool to retain fifth place. Liverpool have a promising signing in Christian Benteke but Anfield has become something of a graveyard for once-promising strikers in recent years and the former Villa hitman will need his wits about him to buck the trend.
Southampton did well to finish seventh again last season following the mass exodus of the previous summer and another top half finish should be well within their reach but the added distraction of a Europa League campaign could open the door for Everton or Swansea to sneakily nip past them.
Several pundits seem to be tipping Leicester for the drop but I actually think the appointment of Claudio Ranieri could be quite a shrewd one. If they can get a good start going they could even shock a few people by getting a top half finish.
Stoke and Crystal Palace should both do their usual mid-table thing barring a disaster while West Ham are in for a transitional season following Sam Allardyce's departure and Slavan Bilic's arrival. I predict a slow start but a late run to take them to safety with a few games to spare.
Sunderland need to build on the late run they had last season to avoid another relegation dogfight while West Brom won't be pretty to watch under Tony Pulis but he'll get the job done as always.
So...the dreaded drop zone then. It'd be easy to tip the three relegated clubs to go straight back down but I actually only see that happening to one of them, namely Watford who I just don't think have the stability to survive. Norwich, however, have been here before quite recently and with a lot of the squad from two seasons ago still intact they should have a better idea of what's needed to stay up this time around. Bournemouth, meanwhile, will run things close to the wire but if Eddie Howe can keep that team spirit going they should be safe.
All of which leaves Aston Villa and Newcastle as the other two clubs in the bottom three. Newcastle had an awful second half of last season going from 6th in November to 17th in April and the arrival of Steve McClaren, sacked by Derby after their late season collapse in the Championship, doesn't strike me as the sort of appointment to turn things around there. Add to this the departure of top scorer Yohan Cabaye to Crystal Palace and it looks like it could be a long hard season on Tyneside. Similarly, although Villa did well to pull themselves out of a tailspin under Tim Sherwood later in the season, the departures of top scorer Christian Benteke and chief goal creator Fabian Delph in the space of a few days is a serious hammer blow for them. Sherwood will have to hope that he's uncovered an unexpected gem in his raft of signings this summer or after several years of walking between the raindrops this could be the season that Villa finally end up on the wrong side of the line.
ANDY'S PREDICTIONS
1. Chelsea
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2. Arsenal
3. Manchester City
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4. Manchester United
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5. Tottenham Hotspur
6. Liverpool
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7. Everton
8. Southampton
9. Swansea City
10. Leicester City
11. Stoke
12. Crystal Palace
13. West Ham
14. Sunderland
15. West Brom
16. Norwich City
17. Bournemouth
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18. Aston Villa
19. Watford
20. Newcastle United
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