Around the start of every season after the summer transfer window has closed, I try to predict how the final league table will look; how we’ll do in the cups as well as league, match-by-match result predictions, both at the start of the season and then pre-match.
First of all, here’s that very prediction piece from back in September 2021 (click this link if you wish to see it).
Here’s how I did
Final League Table 2021-22:
1st Manchester City SPOT ON!
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2nd Liverpool 2 places out (had ‘em down for 4th)
3rd Chelsea Just 1 place out (had ‘em down for 2nd)
4th Tottenham Hotspur 3 places out (had ‘em down for 7th)
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5th Arsenal 5 places out (had ‘em down for 10th)
6th Manyoo 3 places out (had ‘em down for 3rd)
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7th West Ham United Just 1 place out (had ‘em down for 6th)
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8th Leicester City 3 places out (had ‘em down for 5th)
9th Brighton & Hove Albion 5 places out (had ‘em down for 14th)
10th Wolverhampton Wanderers 8 places out (had ‘em down for 18th)!
11th Newcastle United 5 places out (had ‘em down for 16th)
12th Crystal Palace 5 places out (had ‘em down for 17th)
13th Brentford SPOT ON!
14th Aston Villa 5 places out (had ‘em down for 9th)
15th Southampton 4 places out (had ‘em down for 11th)
16th Everton 8 places out (had ‘em down for 8th)
17th Leeds United 5 places out (had ‘em down for 12th)
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18th Burnley 3 places out (had ‘em down for 15th)
19th Watford SPOT ON!
20th Norwich City SPOT ON!
Any comments to be had there?
On the one hand, getting four spot on, two just 1 place out and one just 2 places out doesn’t sound too bad…but there are an awful lot of reds in there as well. I’ve had better predicting seasons but that’s the way football seems to be going recently and not just in the Premier League either – there seems to be SO many unexpected & shock results flyin’ around these days!
I think I might owe the Wolves Manager an apology – not only did I get their final league position wrong by a whoppin’ 8 places; not only did I have them down for relegation but I also called their manager a “journey man”; highlighting the fact that he’d largely only previous managed youth teams or had been an assistant manager (13 separate appointments, including Wolves) over a 24-year period. In fact, if it hadn’t have been for a poor end to the season whereby the West Midlands side slipped and slipped still further down the table; they could – perhaps should – have been looking at European football next season!
Despite some inconsistencies, which included a couple of performances & results that let themselves down towards the very end; Arsenal surprised me with their 5th-place finish. For me, they’re a side who are yet to find their true identity under Mikel Arteta and they had a strange ol’ season whereby, on the one hand they put in some fantastic performances and stringing together a run of really good wins…before imploding and looking like they either didn’t care, at times, or had forgotten how to play together and win matches. I think what helped their Jekyll & Hyde season [finishing as high as 5th] is that most teams around them just couldn’t string any sort of form together themselves – no-one seemed to want to grab a Champions League or Europa spot for a long time!
It didn’t surprise me one little bit that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked – I practically labelled him as being the main weak link in their rusting chain. I think what did surprise me a little about the team from Trafford, was how their incoming manager failed to eventually get them working well as a unit, which is something I think highlights just what a team of big egos & individuals with no real on-the-pitch / dressing room leader they’ve assembled over the last few seasons. How the hell they eventually managed to finish in a Europa spot rather than the Europa Conference League is something only inconsistent, slightly disappointing West Ham United could-possibly answer.
Brighton & Hove Albion were a bit of a surprise package – both their players and manager / management team deserve a lot of credit. They had a couple of bad patches / runs but that only goes to highlight just how good their good patches were by finishing 9th and just 5 points off that Europa Conference place. Very organised, very hard working and terribly difficult to break down at times. If they could add a couple of good-attacking players, including a fairly consistent goal-scorer, they could push for a European spot of some description next season.
Brentford didn’t surprise me – I had ‘em down as-having a solid first season back in the ‘top flight’. They did wobble for a time and leave me doubting them at one stage and they too, like Brighton, just need to sprinkle their side with a little more quality before the start of next season, in my opinion - their good teamwork and determination is already in place.
My word, didn’t Everton have a poor one – I got that one wrong / didn’t see it coming.
Looking at our fixtures both pre-season and then pre-match?
Pre-season: 63.16% of results predicted correctly.
Pre-match: 73.68% of results predicted correctly.
As for the cups…
League Cup - Predicted the quarter final stage.
Just 1 round out (knocked out in the 4th round / last 16)
F.A. Cup - Predicted the final and, therefore, possible winners.
Just 1 round out
Champions League - Predicted the final and, therefore, possible winners.
Just 1 round out
Finally, I'd like to take this opportunity to say a massive well done to our EDS / Under-23s, our Under 18s / Academy as well as City Women.
For those who don't know, the EDS won the Premier League 2 title by 6 points; knocking in 65 league goals in 26 matches with a goal difference of +33.
The Academy lads also won their league by 10 points; scoring 87 league goals from 26 games with a goal difference of +61.
Our women's side suffered an appalling number of long-term injuries to a lot of key players for a good chunk of the first part of the season and the remaining players did well to keep the side within reasonable touching distance of the top pack. Then, with some of those players returning, they went on an incredible run of form to finish in the last qualifying place of the Champions League; where they finished 5 points ahead of 4th-place Manyoo. They ended the season just 9 points off Champions, Chelsea - "if only" springs to mind when thinking about those many injuries. They also made it to the final of the Women’s F.A. Cup but were beaten by, yes them again, a very good Chelsea side.
Apologies if I’ve failed to mention any cup exploits of our Academy & EDS lads.
Thank you, as always, for taking the time…
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