Alrighty lads. It's that time again. Top 8 and then 3 relegated. The rest too if you want. But meh, does anyone really care? Lol
As it stands (and we may still see a flurry of activity): Tier 1: City *Huge gap* Tier 2: Pool *Small/medium gap* Tier 3: United, Spurs, Chelsea *small gap* Tier 4: Arsenal I'd be pretty shocked if City didn't win the title. Maybe, maybe if Pool roll really high and City have injury issues in the middle of the park (pretty surprised they haven't added a depth DM this summer). Can't see anyone else getting there. Then I see a scrap for the final top 4 spots with a lot still to be decided before the deadline. Forced to pick I think we make it along with Chelsea, but I do think it will be very close. Don't sleep on Arsenal - they've actually done some business this summer and if Emery can fix the defense even a little they still have good attacking players. I like West Ham to maybe jump up and grab 7th or 8th along with boring pick Everton. Felipe Anderson is too good for that level if he's healthy and Pellegrini is a very good manager, even if not flashy. The bottom will be very interesting this year I think.The league is flattening out below the top 6 with the bottom teams becoming so much more financially secure and that leads to situations where Burnley can finish 7th one year and not look all that safe the next (currently only +400 to be relegated). I'll say Fulham, Huddersfield and Cardiff look the most likely but I could easily see all 3 of them staying up. I have no actual idea what will happen down here.
Fully agree with your tiers. I don't see Pool as a serious threat to City only because they'll start dropping points to teams outside the top 6 after Christmas. The style Klopp plays is conducive to tournaments where his team can beat any other on a given day. But his style is not built for long seasons. Too much high press ends up running his team into the ground and come the final 3rd of the season they gas out. He's done we'll to add more depth and that's likely why he was targeting guys like Fekir who plays a position where they're already strong. He knows he needs City-like depth to play his style all season long.
Totally agree. I think they might have a better shot at the CL than the league this year. Their first 11 is really, really good though and because of that I have to feel that if something whacky were to happen to City they'd be in poll position. As you say though City has so much depth (with DM the only real exception) that it's hard to foresee exactly what circumstances could derail them. I think they're more likely to win the league by 10+ points again than they are to finish 2nd or lower.
Predictions... 1st - City 2nd - Pool 3rd - Chelsea 4th - Spurs 5th - United 6th - Arsenal 7th - West Ham 8th - Wolves Relegated... Cardiff, Brighton, Huddersfield
I'd be surprised if there was a huge gap between City and Liverpool. I think if there's a huge gap, something has gone wrong for Pool... which is possible! But you'd have to predict two of their front 3 getting injured or something. Barring that kind of setback, I don't see City replicating their wild success last season and I don't think LFC will drop anywhere near that many points with their settled defense and recently-acquired depth. However, generally City are still clearly deeper and have a style more conducive to winning leagues... and thus are the solid favorite. So I don't disagree much.
Changing my 7th and 8th spot predictions to Everton and West Ham. Everton absolutely killed it today with Mina, Gomes, and Bernard.
1. Man Utd(I am the eternal optimist) 2. Man City 3. Spurs 4. Arse 5. Chelsea 6. Everton 7. Dippers 8. West Ham .... 18.Cardiff 19.Southampton 20.Watford
You say optimism, I say delusional. Your positivity is too bright, it hurts my eyes. Come down into the darkness with the rest of us.
Were finishing 6th. Tonttenham at least have young players and can expect a natural progression. Arsenal have a good manager and sign exacty what they needed in Torreira. Chelsea dont have to focus on Europe and have the best player in the league to bail them out.
City 'pool Spuds Us Arse Chelski BTW people who are too scared to make a prediction, but come along later with 20/20 hindsight are low-lifes.
No no no I have to stay positive otherwise I won't bother watching the games. Of course I'll probably change my mind by Sept. My rational is we were crap last year and still finished second. More seasoned second years for Lukaku and especially Sanchez. Pogba/Martial/Rash were poor for period last year so they have the ability to be more consistent. I don't believe in the Liverpool hype. They overachieved by getting to the CL final with an England-type easy run of games while not having to focus on other competitions. Also, Salah will suffer a big drop and by Christmas their fans will be moaning about Klopp. Man City had such an easy time of it last year and always had a good gap so they were never under pressure after Christmas. They will probably focus more on the CL this year so that combined with us and a couple other teams being better, I think be about 10 point less than last year. Spurs, no team improvements, moving to a new stadium still cause them issues. Chelsea and Arse both new managers and players will take some time to adjust so I'll expect more of a challenge next season. So there. But you're right I'm probably delusional!