It'd be nice to be able to predict someone different to win the Premiership this year but Manchester City finished so far ahead of the pack last time out that it's difficult to see this season being any different. City on form are a truly terrifying prospect and the rest of the division's best hope is probably that they suffer some sort of injury crisis or fatigue from their Champions' League campaign.
If any team is to emerge from the pack to challenge then my money would be on Liverpool. Cursed with inconsistency striking at inopportune moments last year, Jurgen Klopp has used the summer transfer window to address the main shortfalls in his side and if anyone is likely to be able to keep pace with Man City this year, it's probably them.
Manchester United did well to finish second last year despite their off-field problems but with question marks continuing to hang over Jose Mourinho's future and a mysterious lack of summer signings, their position there looks vulnerable. I still fancy them to make the top three as all of the other likely challengers are facing issues of their own but it could be an interesting season at Old Trafford.
Arsenal go into the new season in the unusual position of having a new man in charge with Unai Emery taking over the hotseat following Arsene Wenger's decision to step down after 22 years. A new broom may be just what the Gunners need and they should mount a much stronger challenge for the European places this time out.
Across North London, Tottenham's main worry for this season will be player fatigue with several of their first team taking part in England's World Cup campaign. A top four finish for them is likely to depend on Mauricio Pocchettino being able to do a very delicate balancing act with his squad.
Just what is going on at Chelsea at the moment? With Antonio Conte being sacked during the first week of pre-season training to be replaced by Maurizio Sarri, no new faces in the squad and rumours of Roman Abramovich's financial support potentially being pulled in the wake of his visa problems, these are dark times at Stamford Bridge. Although I'm predicting a 6th-place finish for them, there's every chance it could be even worse if things start to fall apart.
After the turbulence of last season, Everton now have a relatively safe pair of hands in charge in the form of Marco Silva and with some useful looking signings could be in with a shout of deposing Chelsea in the Top 6 if things go to plan. Ditto Wolves who have a budget to match most of the Prem clubs outside the Top 6 and could well be a surprise package. Burnley did amazingly well to storm to a 7th-place finish last season but the added distraction of a UEFA Cup campaign this year means that it's unlikely they'll repeat it. Sean Dyche has assembled a good solid squad though and they should still be capable of finishing in the top half.
Newcastle have consolidated well under Rafa Benitez since returning to the top flight and, provided he sticks around in the wake of his seemingly perpetual squabbles with Mike Ashley, should be capable of sneaking up another place or two this season. With West Ham, it all depends on whether Dr Jekyll or Mr Hyde turns up at the Olympic Stadium this season. Manuel Pellegrini looks a good appointment as manager and the Hammers have been spending big but with fan unrest off the field continuning to dog them, they'll need a good start to hopefully get the supporters back onside.
Bournemouth are unlikely to breach the top half but should stay reasonably clear of the relegation dogfight while Brighton and Huddersfield, having survived that all important first season in the Prem, will be looking to hopefully kick on and edge a couple of places further away from danger this time out. Speaking of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Southampton's appointment of Mark Hughes as manager could go either way but his first priority will be ensuring that they don't end up getting sucked into a relegation dogfight again.
The above four could all potentially struggle this season but looking at the teams who appear to be in real danger, Watford had a poor run-in last season but in a break from my usual tradition of tipping them to be relegated on this blog I'm going to predict that they'll scrape home to safety this year. Just. In more serious danger are Cardiff and Fulham, both promoted last season and almost certainly under no illusions over the size of the task facing them. Cardiff will have to rely on the legendary Neil Warnock team spirit to batter their way to safety while Fulham have at least managed to sign Alexander Mitrovic, the man who engineered their late run which took them all the way to a play-off final victory, on a permanent contract from Newcastle but still have a squad which looks short on Premiership quality. Both will unquestionably give it a valiant go but I think they may fall just short.
Which leaves me to predict the third relegation spot as a straight shootout between Crystal Palace and Leicester. Every year there always seems to be one team who go from wobbling slightly during the previous year's run-in to plummeting out of the division altogether and both the Eagles and Foxes look like potential candidates this year. Palace did well to power their way to mid-table with a late run but with a lot of the loan signings like Ruben Loftus-Cheek who were behind that form gone and a worrying lack of new signings, Roy Hodgson is going to have his hands full to engineer a repeat and will be desperately hoping that the Eagles can hang on to Wilfried Zaha and his goals. Leicester's 10th-place finish last season meanwhile, masked a team who never really got out of first gear even after Claude Puel replaced Craig Shakespeare as manager. With the departure of Riyad Mahrez leaving Jamie Vardy looking even more isolated up front, the season ahead could finally see the Foxes coming undone.
FINAL TABLE
1. Manchester City
2. Liverpool
3. Manchester United
4. Arsenal
5. Tottenham Hotspur
6. Chelsea
7. Everton
8. Wolverhampton Wanderers
9. Burnley
10. Newcastle United
11. West Ham United
12. Brighton & Hove Albion
13. Bournemouth
14. Southampton
15. Huddersfield Town
16. Watford
17. Crystal Palace
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18. Leicester City
19. Fulham
20. Cardiff City
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