As always, I leave my season’s predictions until after
the summer transfer window closes – I personally think it makes no sense
whatsoever during an ever-changing period of time to try 'n' say, with any accuracy,
who’s gonna finish where / do what when teams are ‘in flux’ of strengthening or
being weakened by losing players.
To start with…
Next up is…
And now for this season…
The
Premier League
1st
Manchester City - Up 3 on last season
………………………………….
2nd
Manyoo - Up 3 on last season
3rd
Chelsea - Up 7 on last season
4th
Tottenham Hotspur - Down 1 on last season
………………………………….
5th
Leicester City - Down 4 on last season
6th
Liverpool - Up 2 on last season
………………………………….
7th
Arsenal - Down 5 on
last season
8th
Everton - Up 3 on last season
9th
West Ham United - Down 2 on last season
10th
Southampton - Down 4 on
last season
11th
Crystal Palace - Up 4 on last season
12th
Middlesbrough - Last season’s place
N/A
13th
Stoke City - Down 4 on
last season
14th
Swansea City - Down 2 on
last season
15th
Watford - Down 2 on
last season
16th
Sunderland - Up 1 on last season
17th
AFC Bournemouth - Down 1 on last season
………………………………….
18th
West Bromwich Albion - Down 4 on last season
19th
Burnley - Last season’s place
N/A
20th
Hull City - Last season’s place
N/A
And having combed through the fixtures one
by one - and being as fair / level-headed as possible - I’ve come up with a
final Won, Drawn & Lost record of…
W30 D7 L1 Pts
97
It’s
worth noting at this point that last season’s points achievement was a mere 66;
whilst league winners, Leicester, managed 81 and so if I’m right…WOW!
Our only defeat? I’ve
gone for away at Chelsea, with draws away at
Manyoo, Spurs, Leicester, Liverpool, often
bogy-ground Everton, West Ham & Arsenal. If correct, that’ll
leave us with a 100% home record in the league at least.
Please note: Pre-match predictions may well
change as form, playing conditions, unexpected fixture congestions, injuries
& suspensions etc. come into play as the season unfolds.
Notable movements.
Biggest climbers:
Chelsea, who leap into an automatic Champions League slot.
Biggest fallers:
Arsenal. Just one season too many for Arsene Wenger I think - minimal squad
strengthening in the summer, Champions League matches to ‘factor in’ again and
with teams around them strengthening SO much; I
think we’ll see the French boss head out of the Emirates
on a low.
Last season’s promoted sides.
I think it’s ‘straight up & back down’ for Hull City & Burnley…and that’s despite Hull’s
unexpected and, indeed, amazing
start to the season ‘all things considered’ and Burnley’s incredible fighting spirit
and, more often than not, defensive-shape
discipline.
For me Middlesbrough will do, as I
correctly predicted last season, ‘a Watford’; although they’ll be hoping, I'm sure, to do
it without copying The Hornet’s alarming dip in form & slide in the second
half of the season.
Other notable achievements…and disappointments.
Only if correct, of course, you’ve gotta
give Bournemouth credit for surviving two back-to-back seasons; boosted by the
totally unexpected season-long loan signing of Jack Wilshere (if he can stay fit). I get the feeling,
however, that this could be Eddie Howe’s
last season before being ‘plucked’ by a club with bigger resources, not least a
bigger ground capacity.
Leicester. Second
season, following a league win, is always the hardest - we found that to be the
case twice recently and it’s a fact generally considered by many ex-pros who
have been in that position. Therefore, perhaps Leicester City won’t feel that a
4-place slip to a-still automatic Europa League position is a complete
disaster; especially considering their unprecedented club achievement last
season and how much those around them have improved their squads and managerial
situations over the summer. The Foxes have strengthened too, though, and have not
lost too much in terms of quality; managing to retain some very key players.
And, I have to add, whilst we’ve been given Barcelona
again; the Midlands outfit have been given a
Champions League group that they can very-well progress from at their first
attempt and might not, therefore, test their Premier League focus too much. I have to say that these are my biggest doubt,
prediction-wise, and they might just pip Spurs to 4th place.
West
Brom’s failure to strengthen in the summer and failing to off-load troublesome Saido Berahino all seems too much for Manager Tony Pulis; who may now be heading out of the door
in the next few days. If the board manage to smooth things over for now, I’m
sure they’ll still be left with an unhappy camp and I think, therefore either way, this’ll be their
undoing this season.
Back to us…
Champions League?
Final…and
then who knows!
Final…and
then who knows!
Quarter Final
If correct, I’ll take that in Pep’s first season!
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