SOC: Premier League Predictions

The ball is rolling again and the English Premier League is back! We’re almost two weeks in and we’ve already seen our 2016-17 league winners taste defeat, and a previously top-four team sloppily draw with a bottom-four team, but before we get to our coming weekend of games and the table starts to correct itself, here are mine, and 10 polled peer’s, Premier League predictions for the finishing five:

Fifth Place: Liverpool F.C.

Jurgen Klopp has been the manager at Liverpool for two years now, and in that time Liverpool has grown immensely in their attacking; attackers like Roberto Firmino, Danny Sturridge, Philippe Coutinho, whom Barca is trying very aggressively to purchase, Sadio Mane, and now Mohamed Salah provide plenty of goal scoring threat, but Klopp continues to neglect their lackluster defense and because of it they can barely stay afloat at the top of the table. Liverpool is the loser you hope to find when searching for a seasons match on FIFA, because they’ll give an entertaining game, but you know you’ll beat them. Sure they’ll score in the 5th minute and maybe again in the 50th, but they’ll concede just as many goals as they allow. Unsurprisingly among the 10 polled, only three placed them in their lists at all, and out of the three votes cast for them, not a single vote above fourth.

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Fourth Place: Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

The Hotspurs of North London have been a top-five club for as long as I can remember and last season, with a third of Tottenham’s goals in the Premier League - the most in the Premier League last year - Harry Kane, and Dele Alli, with 18 goals himself, lead the Hotspurs on a title run landing them in second place by the end of the season, one voter thinks they’ll find themselves in second again at the end of this season, and even suggested Harry Kane for the year’s Top Scorer again, but I agree with the consensus and am putting them at fourth, after they’ve lost a world class defender in Kyle Walker to Manchester City. One expects Kane and Alli to do their job and bang goals in but similarly to Liverpool their defense leaves some to be desired but while Tottenham may have a hole in their back, it’s at least present.

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Third Place: Chelsea F.C.

I hate Chelsea. I may hate Chelsea more than Manchester City, but that hate is more so based in a personal loathing as opposed to the fundamental cross-city hate that all Manchester United fans have. Particularly I hate their pompous, old relic of a striker, Diego Costa - one of the most hated men in futbol. Not only is Costa poor for the team’s chemistry his form of play is outdated. Yes they won the Prem last year with Costa, but also Batshuayi, accompanied by Eden Hazard and Willian on the wings, along with the help of Player of The Year N’golo Kante - who took Leicester to the top of the table the season before. The bulk of the league winning team is still together but Matic, a crucial defensive midfielder made less so by Kante, has left to Manchester United. I’d be hard pressed to see Chelsea sink lower than third and if their new signing Alvaro Morata can work his way to the starting XI and these rumors of Costa wanting out have any merit, we may see Chelsea take hardware home again.

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Second Place: Manchester United F.C.

Jose Mourinho’s Red Devils are my personal favorite for our 2017-18 league winners, but among those 10 I polled, there was only one vote for Manchester United finishing in first, still though, they were voted to finish in a top-four position by every voter. Which is interesting having finished in sixth last year. From a fan’s perspective though, last year was a transition year, a change in seasons ushered in by a new manager, a transition into not only a Premier League winning team, but a team with the ability to also compete in the UEFA Champions League. From his signings last year like Zlatan Ibrahimovic - who has served as a mentor, until his injury, for their bench and future striker Marcus Rashford - and Paul Pogba who was considered a flop to many, it’s clear to see how Mourinho plans to build his club. Especially when contrasted to the signings this year; Romelu Lukaku - 2016-17 second top scorer and close friend to Pogba - and Nemanja Matic - a defensive midfielder to be coupled with Herrera to allow Pogba to play deep or go box to box, like the attack minded CAM he is. Mourinho’s plan is clear, it even set them on a seemingly unbreakable draw streak last season, grow from the inside, wins come later. This season.

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First Place: Manchester City F.C.

Every poller, but one, voted for Man City, a step further, all nine that had Man City in their list had them winning the Premier League. As a Man U man, I couldn’t place them that high, out of hate maybe, but I’m not blind to talent or greatness, on my top-five Manchester City was a close second, and with names like Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, David Silva, and this young boy Gabriel Jesus, Rashford’s 19-year-old cross city rival that stands to replace Aguero (in three to five years), it’s not a surprise to see the boys in blue a favorite among so many.

Photo Credit: City Watch, Premier League, and Sky Sports.