How we doin’, lads? It may be hard to believe after such a short summer but the bruvs are back. Footy is back underway across the pond this weekend and I could not be more excited. Manchester City will look to continue their reign of dominance but this season has the potential to be one of the most exciting in years.
Manchester City aside, we saw breakout years from Arsenal and Newcastle last year and Manchester United returned to the top four. Over the summer Chelsea and Liverpool have both retooled and they will look to get back in the mix after disappointing seasons last year. Can feisty teams like Aston Villa, Brentford, and Brighton take a jump to the next level? What the hell is going on at Tottenham? Who could be the Fulham of this group of newly-promoted teams? All of these questions, I will attempt to answer.
At the top of the league, it is hard to believe Manchester City will not win again. They did lose long-time Pep favorites Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez (with Bernardo Silva and Kyle Walker potentially to follow?) but they are still absolutely loaded with talent and added Kovacic and Gvardiol to shore up that midfield. I can just say now, I will be picking City to win the league again.
When it comes to the rest of the top four, I think that Newcastle, Man United, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Chelsea will be fighting over three Champions League places. Arsenal proved they were the 2nd best team by a decent margin last season and adding Declan Rice was massive for them. I find it hard to believe that Arsenal won’t end up in the top four again.
Chelsea has certainly retooled and got rid of a lot of the old faces like Mendy, Kante, Havertz, Kovacic, Loftus-Cheek, Azpilicueta, and Mason Mount. I love the hiring of Poch. However, I don’t think they have done quite enough to get back to the top four. This team will still take a lot of time to gel under their new manager and I just think it will take them too much time to reach their full potential.
With Chelsea out and City and Arsenal in, that leaves two spots for three teams- Newcastle, Liverpool, and Man United. I actually think Newcastle will be a team getting one of those spots. I think they are a level above Man United and are a safer pick than Liverpool. Tonali and Harvey Barnes were nice additions but other than Allan Saudi-Maximin this team did not lose much from last year’s excellent squad. I expect them to continue to improve and secure another top-four finish.
It was a major summer of transition for Liverpool with Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Bobby Firmino, Naby Keita, and Fabinho all leaving. These were some of Klopp’s longest-tenured players including the captain and vice-captain. I do think that moving on those players was necessary, but did they bring in enough?
I think Mac Allister and Szoboszlai are both brilliant signings, but Liverpool desperately needs to add a true #6. Curtis Jones is emerging as a real star and in Trent’s new role, the midfield should be fine going forward. However, they need a legit #6 to hold down the back line like Fabinho did so beautifully in the peak-Liverpool years.
For Manchester United, I think spending that much money on Mason Mount was lunacy. They moved on from David de Gea and brought in Andre Onana who has been chipped from midfield in his Old Trafford preseason debut. What they were really missing last year was a true striker and they have signed Rasmus Hojlund to fill that role. Maybe because his name sounds like Haaland it will work out?
At the end of the day, if Liverpool can secure a legit #6 before the transfer window closes, I think that they will be able to get back to the top four. I think they are a level (or seven) above Manchester United and more consistent play will come this season with a healthy Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez more settled into the team. They should be electric going forward like the old Klopp days so if the defense can do enough, they should be a top team in the league again.
Of teams below that group, my favorite has to be Aston Villa. Unai Emery did an incredible job taking over that team and bringing in the likes of Pau Torres and Youri Tielemans was very good business for them. I expect them to be comfortably in the Europa League places and the only team outside of that top-6 that could steal a Champions League spot.
At the bottom of the table, it is only natural to assume that Burnley could be the newly-promoted team to be really dangerous like Fulham was last season. Vincent Kompany has done a brilliant job there and I think they did a great job of bringing in some Premier League-level talent this summer without selling the players that brought them to this point.
The teams I am selling are West Ham and Everton. Everton has scraped by the relegation zone the last two seasons and they are just not doing much to improve. Sean Dyche is a master of keeping teams up, but this season could be the last straw for this struggling Everton side. West Ham had a bizarre season last year as they won the Europa Conference League while also fighting to stay up in the League. With Declan Rice gone, I think they could really struggle to stay above that relegation zone this season.
Here are my predictions and then I will finish with the actual bets I am placing:
- Manchester City
- Arsenal
- Newcastle
- Liverpool
- Aston Villa
- Manchester United
- Chelsea
- Tottenham
- Brighton
- Burnley
- Brentford
- Crystal Palace
- Fulham
- West Ham
- Bournemouth
- Wolves
- Nottingham Forest
- Everton
- Sheffield United
- Luton Town
I through a few bold picks in there like Villa finishing 5th and Everton getting relegated to make things interesting but those are my general thoughts on the season. Now, here is where I am actually putting my money:
Man City to win the league (-125) (DK)– Like I said, City is winning the league again. Arsenal giving them a run last season is just giving us a better number here.
Newcastle to finish top 4 (+155) (FD)– I love Eddie Howe and this team that they have built at Newcastle. I think their floor is higher than Liverpool, United, or Chelsea so they are the safe pick here with good value.
Aston Villa to finish top 6 (+200) (DK)– Good ebening, I am taking a prayer on Unai here.
Burnley to finish top 10 (+470) (FD)– Last year Fulham managed to pull themselves from promotion to a 10th-place finish and if any team could do it this year it would be Fulham.
Everton to be relegated (+300) (DK/FD)– Two years of close calls come back to bite the Blues this season.
Golden Boot: Mo Salah (10/1) (FD)– To be honest, Haaland is probably going to win again but I’m not laying that juice. Haaland could get injured or anything else could happen, you just never know. Since arriving at Liverpool, Salah has won 3 out of 6 Premier League Golden Boots and finished 5th, 2nd, and 4th the three years that he didn’t win. The guy is a machine and despite all of LFC’s additions, should be playing basically every game on that right wing.
Kevin de Bruyne & Trent Alexander-Arnold both to have 12+ assists (+200) (FD)– These are the two most exciting passers of the ball in the EPL. In his new role, Trent will only be more dangerous than we have seen him before. KDB has 12+ assists in 5 of the last 7 years at City, including 16 in year one with Haaland. There is no reason he won’t hit that mark again.
Trent has hit this mark in 3 of the past 5 years and should be in even more attacking opportunities in his new role so I like him to hit it again.
Trent to have 20+ shots on target (+430) (FD)- This one is a little bit nuts but why not? Trent had 15 shots on target just two years ago as a true RB. In his new role, he will be in way more shooting chances and has worked on his shooting this offseason more than ever before. He will always be dangerous taking shots on free kicks and will now be lingering outside of the box ready to shoot all the time.
That’s it for my league preview! Let’s cash some bets. Make sure to keep up with my CFB season previews on YouTube:
Blakey Locks 