By Henry Hansen
- Liverpool
- Arsenal
- Chelsea
- Man city
- Tottenham
- Man United
- Newcastle
- Aston Villa
- Crystal Palace
- Nottingham Forest
- Bournemouth
- Fulham
- Brighton
- Everton
- Burnley
- Leeds United
- Wolves
- Brentford
- Sunderland
- West Ham
CHAMPIONS
Liverpool: Huge transfer window after winning the Premier League. Huge signings such as Wirtz, Ekitike, Frimpong, and Kerkez. With these additions to a team that already includes Van Dijk, Salah, Mac Allister, Alisson, and Gakpo, this team would have been the favorites to win the Premier League title. Now they have added Alexander Isak, one of the best strikers in the Premier League. I cannot have Liverpool finishing as anything other than champions.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PLACES
Arsenal: Perennial second-place finishers, Arsenal have searched for a solution for years. This summer, they signed Viktor Gyökeres, the striker with the highest number of goals in Europe. With his scoring ability and Arsenal’s chance creation, they will have a shot at the Premier League title this year. However, due to the sheer strength of Liverpool, they will land in second place once again.
Chelsea: Chelsea has signed numerous players this transfer window, including Liam Delap and Joao Pedro. Chelsea has new expectations due to winning the Club World Cup and is now expected to finish third.
Manchester City: With their Ballon d’Or winner Rodri back on the team, City looks dominant. They have signed Cherki, Reijnders, and Donnarumma. They are also in the hunt to sign Rodrygo from Real Madrid. Due to the loss of Kevin De Bruyne’s creativity in the midfield, I have to put City fourth.
Tottenham: Coming off a Europa League title, the Spurs will look to retain their Champions League status by finishing in the top five. Looking dangerous under managerThomas Frank, the Spurs will be a threat to any opposition. With the goal guarded by proven goalkeepers, Van De Ven and Romero, Tottenham certainly have reliability at the back.
EUROPA LEAGUE SPOTS
Manchester United: After finishing 15th last year, United cannot afford to be outside of the European competitions this year. With the signings of Cunha, Mbuemo, and Šeško, United look to finish in the European placement spots in the Premier League. They have signed Lammens, the goalkeeper from Royal Antwerp. However, if he does not solve their goalkeeping problem, I do not believe they will finish in the European places.
Newcastle: After finishing fifth last year, Newcastle hopes to repeat its Champions League qualification. I do not believe they will succeed due to their previous record of not finishing high in the Champions League. With the departure of Isak, they will not be able to finish in the top five.
CONFERENCE LEAGUE
Aston Villa: Villa barely missed out on Champions League qualification because of goal difference. This year, under Unai Emery, they will attempt to qualify for the Champions League while also competing for the Europa League title. Due to their lack of squad depth, I am putting them just outside the top six.
Crystal Palace: After a triumphant FA Cup win and Community Shield win, Crystal Palace will attempt to soar as high as they did last season. However, with the departure of key player Eberechi Eze, Crystal Palace will go back to the mid-table normality of the club.
MID TABLE
Nottingham Forest: With huge departures of Elanga, Danilo, and Ramon Sosa, Forest will not be anywhere near their heights from last season. My prediction is that they will finish tenth, but they will go far in the Europa League.
Bournemouth: Bournemouth looks decent this year, but nothing special. I have Bournemouth finishing eleventh, and I see a lot of departures coming next summer. A player to look out for is Antoine Semenyo; he can be a goal threat. With the loss of Milos Kerkez, their defense may struggle to cope with the rest of the league.
Fulham: A team with potential but not enough talent. Fulham will likely finish in the bottom half of the table due to their lack of attacking firepower. They have one of the best left-backs in the league (Antonee Robinson) and a solid goalkeeper (Bernd Leno), but they lack the power of offensive threats.
Brighton: After a poor performance against Everton, Brighton may lack the mentality needed to finish above 13th place. Their team is talented, but without many experienced players who have finished high in the Premier League before, Brighton likely won’t be able to finish higher in the table.
LOWER HALF
Everton: Everton will finish around 14th because they do not possess enough talent to finish higher. Losing star striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin practically diminishes their goal output, and their defense is not good enough to offset it.
Burnley: For the first time in two years, I believe that it will not be a “three up, three down” year. I have Burnley surviving the relegation battle. They have a good team core and are capable of grinding out scrappy wins.
Leeds United: Leeds is also in a strong position to avoid relegation. The signing of former Everton star Calvert-Lewin will strengthen their attack and address other weaknesses in their team. Leeds is better prepared for the ensuing battle than other Premier League teams.
Wolves: Wolves lost their star player, Cunha, and will suffer because of it. They still have a strong core with a solid goalkeeper, but they will not be as strong as last year. I have them just surviving relegation.
RELEGATION SPOTS
Sunderland: With new signings coming in, Sunderland will not finish bottom of the league; however, they lack the squad depth needed to compete in the Premier League, FA Cup, and Carabao Cup simultaneously. I have them finishing 19th this season.
Brentford: Having lost Mbuemo, Nørgard, Wissa, and Flekken, Brentford were always going to fail in comparison to last year. Now, having lost their manager, Thomas Frank, to Spurs, I cannot see any other outcome besides falling into relegation.
West Ham: Fallen from Conference League Champions just two years ago, West Ham have been shambolic. They lost 3-0 to a Sunderland team that will get relegated. This team sold Kudus, their best player, and will now finish at the very bottom of the Premier League. This will likely happen; in addition, Graham Potter will likely be sacked by Christmas. The only chance that West Ham could potentially survive relegation is by hiring a relegation specialist. Like Sam Allardyce.
CARABAO CUP WINNERS
I predict that Tottenham will win the Carabao Cup. This would allow two teams from the league to go to the Conference League, because I have predicted that Tottenham will finish in the top five. If a team finishes in a place that puts them in a European league higher than the one they get by winning the cup, then that allocation will go to the league.
FA CUP WINNERS
My prediction is that Chelsea will win the FA Cup. They have shown prowess in a cup format by winning the Club World Cup, and I believe that they can carry that into this season. This means that the Europa League allocation they would have gotten will go to the league.
PREMIER LEAGUE AWARDS
Golden Boot: Alexander Isak (Liverpool)
Player of the Year: Mohammed Salah (Liverpool)
Golden Glove: David Raya (Arsenal)
Playmaker Award: Mohammed Salah (Liverpool)
Young Player of the Year: Benjamin Šeško (Manchester United)
Manager of the Year: Thomas Frank (Tottenham Hotspur)