English Premier League: Season predictions
Posted by Creaven on August 15, 2009 under England, Premier League | 
4 Comments to Read
My favorite soccer league is less than four hours away from kicking off. Before it’s too late, I thought I would give my predictions on how I think the final table will look. In nine months, this will either be evidence of my soccer brilliance or it will give readers evidence that this site should be changed to “StupidSoccer.com.” I’m afraid the latter might be more likely.
To the predictions…
20. Stoke — I think Britannia Stadium won’t be as scary the second time around.
19. Burnley — Ranked 18th in goals against last year in The Championship — this will get ugly.
18. Portsmouth — They still have a couple good players, but by Aug. 31 I doubt they will.
17. Wigan — Young coaches haven’t done well recently (Paul Ince, Roy Keane).
16. Hull City — I think they’ll stay up as long as they don’t sell their best player, Michael Turner.
15. Birmingham — The bottom half version of Manchester City. They could finish 20th or 11th and I wouldn’t be surprised.
14. Blackburn — This team isn’t very good, but the bottom half of the league is so weak they should be good enough. That said, Allardyce still needs to sign a striker in the next couple weeks.
13. Wolves — I’m a little biased because I want to make them my team (a couple years ago I chose Manchester City as my team and now I just feel like I’m jumping on the bandwagon). This team works hard and by Sept. 1 you will hear multiple talking heads say, “they remind me of Stoke last year.”
12. West Ham — I went to a West Ham match at Upton Park last year (they lost to ManU) so I got a little soft spot for them. That said, they haven’t added anyone this summer and relegation is much more likely than a European spot.
11. Bolton — As long as they score some goals they’ll be O.K. (yes that is the most generic comment ever). To be specific, Johan Elmander needs to step it up.
10. Fulham — Another team I’m thinking about making my favorite club. Last year wasn’t a fluke but balancing the European schedule will be a challenge.
9. Sunderland — I’m not believer in Bent, but I am a believer in Bruce.
8. Aston Villa — No Barry is a big problem, but adding Delph and Downing should cushion the blow.
7. Tottenham — If they ever learned how to defend who knows how high they could finish.
6. Everton — Not much worse than Manchester City (that’s with Lescott on their team of course).
5. Manchester City — They really could win the title, but there’s also a chance these rich players might not give it their all; the most interesting team in the league.
4. Chelsea — If everyone stays healthy they could win one last title, but they won’t.
3. Arsenal — Easily will be the most fun to watch but their final position depends on how well Fabergas performs.
2. Manchester United — Here’s an interesting tid-bit you haven’t heard before — Cristiano Ronaldo will be missed.
1. Liverpool — They got the best striker (Torres) and the best midfielder (Gerrard) and they want it more than anyone.
Bill said,
I’ll be honest is saying that this is more difficult to ponder than the USA’s fate. It’s going to be an exciting year to watch the EPL here now that ESPN has joined the broadcasting fray (are we watching out there?). La Liga will provide some much needed competition to the EPL for my viewing eyes. Since I’ve decided to be honest about things, I’ll disclose that I’m a Gooner, so my views are tinged with pessimism and some degree of emotion with regard to their fate. My taste in teams also goes a long way to explaining my extreme distaste for USA’s tactical choices!
So here goes, it’ll be a tight race at the top. I don’t fancy Liverpool for the title because of the loss of Alonso, but they’ll be right there. Had they lost Mascherano, Liverpool would have been hard pressed to compete for the title. Not to start an argument, but I don’t think Gerrard is quite as good as you do. In my view, he’s not complete enough and lacks the defensive and organizational impact. As an offensive scoring force, he is awesome (plus he’s an accomplished diver in front of the Kop). You’re on the money with Torres, he’s fantastic. Chelsea will be good, but they are on the wrong side of the age curve, and Arsenal’s fortunes are tied to whether their youth core matures, and how Wenger’s tactical changes fare. Arsenal is very competitive with the big four, but struggle with lower teams who successfully park ten men behind the ball. Manchester United can never be discounted, they have lots of talent and Ferguson is a genius, but their run with the title should be over for at least one year.
Here’s my list:
1. Chelsea (honestly any of the top four could win, it’ll be a tight race)
2. Manchester United (love to see them fourth)
3. Liverpool (losing Alonso is a bigger blow than realized)
4. Arsenal (hope has them first, fear has them sixth, this is my compromise)
5. Everton
6. Man City (Hughes isn’t good enough and the team is unbalanced)
7. Villa
8. Tottenham
9. Fulham
10. West Ham
11. Sunderland
12. Blackburn
13. Bolton
14. Burnley
15. Wigan
16. Wolves
17. Stoke
18. Portsmouth
19. Hull
20. Birmingham
Finally, I’m hoping the money spewing clubs fail in relative terms, so Manchester City should finish 8th or lower if there is justice. In Spain, Madrid needs to finish 2nd (or 3rd) in La Liga and crash out of the Champions League at the earliest possible time. At least one of these wishes won’t come true, but it would be nice. Its clubs like Arsenal and Barcelona with youth systems and player development that should succeed. In reality hope, truth and justice rarely win the day.
ifotbol.com said,
Premier League table:
1. Man Utd
2. Chelsea
3. Liverpool
4. Arsenal
5. Aston Villa
6. Spurs
7. Everton
8. Man City
9. Fulham
10. West Ham
11. Sunderland
12. Wigan
13. Blackburn
14. Stoke
15. Birmingham
16. Bolton
17. Portsmouth
18. Wolves
19. Hull
20. Burnley
FA Cup: Spurs
League Cup: Chelsea
Champions League: Inter Milan
First Premier League manager to leave his job: Mark Hughes
Premier League top scorer: Fernando Torres
Championship: West Brom
L.Ngaopuo said,
chelsea will win this seasom prenier league title
EPL Tips said,
Manchester City will make it to top 4 this season and why not? They spent a lot of money and they bought all players with English Premier League experience. As we will move forward to EPL, players will find a rhythm and by then Manchester City will be dangerous and their record so far is quite good as well!
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