This could've possibly been linked with the other teams thread but I thought it might get a tad cumbersome, so here 'tis. Predictions for the coming year? From general points to league tables, what do y'all reckon? 1 Chelsea (possibly tempting fate, and on the proviso that the diamond is dropped by mid-late September) 2. Manchester United 3. Arsenal (Eduardo is back, breakthrough season for Vela, still not enough steel) 4. Everton 5. Liverpool 6. Fulham 7. Manchester City 8. Aston Villa 9. Sunderland 10. Tottenham Hotspur 11. Blackburn Rovers 12. West Ham United 13. Stoke City 14. Portsmouth 15. Birmingham City 16. Bolton Wanderers 17. Wigan Athletic 18. Wolverhampton Wanderers 19. Hull City 20. Burnley That's what my 50p's going on.
1 Chelsea 2 Manure 3 Liverpool 4 Everton 5 Man City 6 Arsenal 7 Aston Villa 8 Fulham 9 Blackburn 10 West Ham 11 Spurs 12 Wigan 13 Stoke 14 Sunlun 15 Bolton 16 Birmingham 17 Wolves 18 Pompey 19 Hull 20 Burnley
1 Liverpool 2 United 3 Chelsea 4 Everton 5 Man City 6 Arsenal 7 Aston Villa 8 West Ham 9 Spurs 10 Fulham 11 Blackburn 12 Sunderland 13 Wigan 14 Stoke 15 Bolton 16 Birmingham 17 Portsmouth 18 Hull 19 Wolves 20 Burnley
1 Chelsea 2 United 3 Arsenal 4 Liverpool 5 Everton 6 West Ham 7 Man City 8 Aston Villa 9 Fulham 10 Spurs 11 Bolton 12 Wigan 13 Sunderland 14 Wolves 15 Blackburn 16 Stoke 17 Birmingham 18 Portsmouth 19 Hull 20 Burnley well I always pick Chelsea first; Utd and Arse perhaps to compete, with us I hope (I fear too many draws for us this year), for the title. Scouse to drop a tiny bit, Everton to threaten 4th and Zola Clarke on the rise, heck of a battle for Europa places.
Yep, that's what's gonna make it a great season, like the last couple of years in fact but to an even greater extent this time out - from positions 4-12 is almost interchangeable.
1. Chelsea 2. Liverpool 3. Arsenal 4. Manchester United 5. Manchester City 6. Everton 7. Aston Villa 8. Fulham 9. West Ham 10. Wigan 11. Tottenham 12. Sunderland 13. Stoke 14. Portsmouth 15. Hull 16. Bolton 17. Wolves Relegated: 18. Blackburn 19. Birmingham 20. Burnley Promoted: + Newcastle + Reading + Sheffield United TBH, I'm fairly confident about this season. As I see it, with the exception of Chelsea and Man City, all the EPL teams have either lost significant players are have not yet done anything significant to bolster their squad from last season (there's still time left in the transfer window obviously). Liverpool without Alonso in midfield is what will make the difference between 2nd place and title contention. Arsenal without any additional experienced players will perform no better than last season. And Manchester United without Ronaldo and an impact sub like Teves is a team I'm not worried about winning the premiership for the fourth year running. The fact that we've kept our core players and added the likes of Sturridge and Zhirkov makes me believe that Chelsea may stroll it this year. The only element I worry about is Ancelotti... if the diamond formation doesn't bear fruit, will he (in a Scolari-like demonstration of arrogance) insist on keeping the formation and cost us points?
If we don't win the league this season, I'm going to come back to this thread and neg rep everyone who made a prediction and jinxed us.
1. Chelsea 2. Liverpool 3. Man United 4. Man City 5. Everton 6. Arsenal 7. Aston Villa 8. Tottenham 9. Fulham 10. Wigan 11. West Ham 12. Stoke 13. Portsmouth 14. Bolton 15. Sunderland 16. Wolves 17. Birmingham 18. Hull 19. Blackburn 20. Burnley Promoted: West Brom, Sheffield United and Cardiff
My annual prediction (based on hope as much as anything - still yet to get part 3 right after all this time sadly): 1 Chelsea 2-19 Showers of shite 20 Sp*rs
1. M Utd 2. Chelsea 3. Arsenal 4. Liverpool 5. M City 6. Tottenham 7. Everton 8. A Villa 9. Fulham 10. Sunderland 11. West Ham 12. Blackburn 13. Hull 14. Stoke 15. Wigan 16. Burnley 17. Birmingham 18. Bolton 19. Wolves 20. Portsmouth Golden Boot: Arshavin Champions League: Barcelona I have been tweaking this list throughout August and now that transfer window has shut here is how I see the season playing out. I think the points separating 1st from 4th will be less then 10.
THE TOP4 WILL REMAIN JUST AS IT HAS BEEN. all 4 are still miles stronger than any other of the would-be contenders. its a 38 game season, not 37 and certainly not 30 as spurs and villa have learnt. That said, IMHO, liverpool are the most likely team to drop out of the top4 if any. How long can they continue to ride the gerrard/torres train? how long can carragher remain there 1st choice CB? there other 2 CB's are crocked, there new 20million CM is crocked. The spanish contingent is getting smaller and smaller, and rafa really seems to be on borrowed time this season. If i had to make predictions, i'd go like this... 1st- Chelsea 2nd & 3rd- arsenal & man utd 4th-6th- Liverpool, City, spurs 7th-1oth- everton, fulham, west ham, aston villa 11-20th THE REST
i have to say, i think i pretty much agree with this. i do think chelsea look the strongest, and as much as i hated the diamond at first, it's started to grow on me. the key will be how we adjust as the season goes on. i think people are underestimating arsenal right now. granted, 4 games in, but still, they bossed Man U, who look hit or miss right now. through the first half, arsenal will be pushing the strongest competition. and hate to say it, City are showing some grit. something i didn't think they had. getting a few 1-0's.
Arsenal have looked good so far, but they always seem to start hot and then fade off after Jan-Feb. I'm still a little skeptical about them. I still think they lack the experience to get through those tough late-season stretches.
Hate to disagree with you, really, but if Vermaelen stays healthy, and how easily has he stepped into the League so far and Gallas keeps his newfound old Blue form, with their wealth of attacking options, I now think they are the main competition for the title ahead of ManU, who I think will have to live or die on Rooney's foot near alone. Midfield a bit soft but so is ManUre's and though as you say their tendency is to fade while Rednose's to push on late, they were mostly pretty good last spring except against Guus and in the CL. Think I also may have sold City short above, who are showing some grit has Franse points out, still early days though, and oversold West Ham, with their dwindling resources Zla-Clarke have a tougher job.
Oh, I'm not saying they aren't a great team, I just am not sure they can keep up this form all year. Last spring when things got tough they had that big implosion with Gallas and the captaincy issue. Then 2 seasons ago (or maybe 3) when they were top of the table very lon time and then dre like 7 out of 8 or something rediculous like that. I'm just not sure if it comes down to the wire that they can pull it off. That being said, I do agree that they are our main competition as of right now. Man U will get better I feel, and Liverpool are not as big of a threat at the moment but they have enough talent with Gerrard and Torres to make a decent push.
"great team", well let's not get carried away, we are the only Great Team, and I'm not entirely convinced of our chances yet I think its going to be an interesting more competitive season all around in the end, really would not be surprised by a variety of final standings, even objectively I do like our chances best though.
Yeah, should be close at the top. I like our chances too, but as well as Carlo is doing so far, I'm not going to proclaim us the victors until he proves he can adapt better than Big Phil did after his first couple months.
Arsenal on there day, are probably one of the best teams in the world. The problem is, imo, that they still havn't learned to win even when they should probably lose. or when there winning, they allways tend to self-implode. its frustrating, but potential and hope is all we have. well fortunately, we have a VERY EASY run in. if we can get a good amount of points early on, i believe our last 12 games involve teams that are due for relegation or bottom half finishes, no top top teams involved at that time. so hopefully, if we pull out ok through december-jan, we can go on a long win streak come march, april, may.