Premier League Predictions (20th-11th)
AFC BOURNEMOUTH - 20TH
After two seasons in the Championship, AFC Bournemouth is back in the Premier League. Much has changed for the Cherries when they got relegated in 2020. Long-serving manager Eddie Howe left the job, key players for their during their stay in the Premier League also left and they failed to win promotion at the first time asking, losing to Brentford in the playoffs. Last season under former Fulham manager Scott Parker, they sealed automatic promotion finishing second with 88 points. Concerns for Bournemouth's chances for survival is their lack of activity in the transfer window. They have made just two signings, both on free transfers. Dominic Solanke powered Bournemouth to promotion scoring 29 goals. They will have to hope that he scores goals in the Premier League, which is a huge gamble as Solanke has never scored up to 10 goals in the top flight, albeit with limited opportunities with Chelsea, Liverpool and now Bournemouth. Several players in the squad have experience playing in the top flight with Bournemouth and elsewhere, which can help but the lack of quality could be their detriment to staying up. The Vitality Stadium is hosting Premier League games again. Hope that will continue after this season.
FULHAM - 19TH
Much like Norwich City, Fulham has been in and out of the Premier League and the Championship over the past five seasons. The last two times they were promoted, they went straight back down with minimum fuss. Those two seasons they got promoted, they achieved that via the playoffs. This time, they won the Championship, scoring 106 goals in the process. Aleksandar Mitrovic had a historic season, scoring a whopping 43 goals. A Championship record. They have lost attacking midfielder Fabio Carvalho to Liverpool whilst signing Joao Palhinha, Andreas Pereira and Kevin Mbabu. The aim for Fulham manager Marco Silva this season is to keep the Cottagers in the top flight. A concern to achieve that will be their defence, as Fulham conceded 43 goals last season. Despite being top of the Championship for much of the season. Coming in as Championship winners has given Fulham better planning to come into the season. Trust will be on Mitrovic to replicate what he did last season, as he will be Fulham's main man upfront. Will it be enough for Fulham to up? Unlikely.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST - 18TH
It has been a long time coming for Nottingham Forest. They finally made it back into the top flight for the first time this century. Manager Steve Cooper powered Forest to the playoffs, after coming early last season, and beat Huddersfield in the playoff final achieving a feat that seemed far away for those in the City Ground. They have been very busy in the transfer window, bringing in twelve new players into the squad, which includes Taiwo Awoniyi from Union Berlin, Neco Williams from Liverpool, Omar Richards from Bayern Munich and Jesse Lingard from Manchester United. This is new territory for Forest in their recent history, and the supporters will make the most of this new season as they will have nothing to lose this season. For Steve Cooper, he has sprung into the limelight, after years of coaching at the youth level with Liverpool and England before becoming a first-team manager, first at Swansea City before his latest job at Forest. The heavy squad turnover and the lack of top-flight experience from both the team and manager will hamper Forest's chances of survival given the gap between the Premier League and the Championship but could they surprise?
SOUTHAMPTON - 17TH
Last season was a mediocre season for Southampton. Though they were not in any fear of relegation, their lack of consistency plus how they finished off the season, losing eleven of their final thirteen games would be a big concern for Ralph Hasenhuttl. The only shining light from last season was James Ward-Prowse, who scored 10 goals from central midfield and Armando Broja, performing well on loan from Chelsea. After a takeover by Serbian media tycoon Dragan Solak, the Saints have spent over £47 million on new acquisitions with Gavin Bazunu and Romeo Lavia coming in from Manchester City, Sekou Mara from Bordeaux, Armel Bella-Kotchap from Bochum and Joe Aribo from Rangers. This will be Hasenhuttl's fourth full season at St. Mary's, and there are still question marks around the Austrian. Whether he can improve Southampton to where they can hopefully reach is anybody's guess but nothing much will be expected from them and they are teams around them that will perform worst than them, so they will be fine.
EVERTON - 16TH
BRENTFORD - 15TH
Last season was a big success for Brentford. They managed to stay up will minimum fuss and had some great results along the way from their opening day win against Arsenal, a pulsating 3-3 draw against Liverpool and a remarkable 4-1 win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Now, they have to avoid similar second-season feats that Sheffield United and Leeds United suffered previously, as Sheffield went down in their second season while Leeds narrowly avoided the drop. Thomas Frank's side are now known commodities going into the new season, requiring marginal gains that can make them successful this season. So far, they have signed Aaron Hickey from Bologna and Keane Lewis-Potter from Hull City for a combined total of over 35 million euros. They have also signed Ben Mee and Thomas Strakosha on free transfers. Their biggest loss is Christian Eriksen, whose contract expired at the end of last season, joining Manchester United instead. His creativity will be sorely missed, which could hurt the Bees but given how smartly run Brentford are both on and off the field, Brentford might avoid the second season syndrome and have another strong season in the league.
WOLVES - 14TH
Wolves started last season pretty well under new coach Bruno Lage, staying pretty close to the European places but they finished off the season really poorly. Winning just twice from the final ten league games. Defensively, Wolves were very resolute thanks to Lage continuing to deploy a three-man defence plus an incredible debut season from Portuguese keeper Jose Sa, who had the highest save percentage and post-shot expected goals. The biggest issue for Wolves will be their attack, which was blunt, as no player scored up to ten goals. Raul Jimenez was their top scorer with only six goals while Hwang Hee-Chan scored just five goals. There was an expected turnover of the squad this transfer window with Ruben Neves expected to leave the Molineux. So far, Neves is still around while their window has been quiet with Hwang Hee-Chan signed on a permanent deal whilst signing Nathan Collins from Burnley and Adama Traore returning from a loan at Barcelona. The lack of refreshing the squad could affect Wolves this season which could drop them further in the table, putting pressure on Bruno Lage.
LEEDS UNITED - 13TH
Following a successful season back in the Premier League finishing 9th, Leeds United suffered a big drop last season. Poor form, a porous defence and injuries to key players put Leeds in the relegation battle which forced Marcelo Bielsa out of the club, bringing in former RB Leipzig coach Jesse Marsch. Luckily they stayed up on the final day of the season and have refreshed their squad to avoid similar issues from the previous season. It has come at a cost as key players Raphinha and Kalvin Phillips have both departed from Elland Road. Raphinha is a huge loss as he stepped up to keep Leeds in the top flight, scoring eleven goals while Phillips' presence in midfield will be missed despite missing out on games last season due to injury. They have signed Brenden Aaronson and Rasmus Kristensen from RB Salzburg, Tyler Adams from RB Leipzig, Marc Roca from Bayern Munich and Luis Sinisterra from Feyenoord. Players who are familiar with what Marsch wants to play, having been under the Red Bull umbrella. The only way is up for Leeds under Marsch, as they have moved on from the Bielsa era.
CRYSTAL PALACE - 12TH
Patrick Vieira had a fine debut campaign as Palace boss. Though Palace finished mid-table, Their way of playing was a big departure from the way they played under Roy Hodgson over the past few years. The average age of the squad has also reduced and made it to the semifinals of the FA Cup. Wilfried Zaha is still their attacking talisman, scoring fourteen times with Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze in the wings. Another reason for Palace's success was Conor Gallagher. The Chelsea loanee scored eight goals from midfield and was an outlet for the Eagles, creating the second most key passes, second most expected assists, second most shot-creating actions and second most touches in the final third. Gallagher has gone back to Chelsea, leaving a hole in midfield but the creative threat from Gallagher could be replicated by Olise, as he hopes to start more games this season. So far, they have signed Malcolm Ebiowei and Sam Johnstone on free transfers, Chris Richards from Bayern Munich and Cheick Doucoure from Lens. Possibly another season of progression at Selhurst Park.
LEICESTER CITY - 11TH
Leicester City had been close to finishing in the Champions League places in the 19/20 and 20/21 seasons, both times finishing fifth and winning the FA Cup in 2021. Despite winning the league in 2016, Leicester over the past three years has performed really well under Brendan Rodgers. Despite an inevitable dropoff, the Foxes really disappointed last season, finishing ninth meaning no European football next season. Though that may be an opportunity, some factors last season would still persist which hampers Leicester going into the new season. Firstly, their defensive record was really poor, particularly conceding goals from set-pieces. They conceded 59 goals. The sixth worst in the league. Another factor is the squad and the need for turnover. As of now, they have been very quiet in the transfer window, with wantaway midfielder Youri Tielemans still at the King Power. If there is any business, it will be more of outgoings with Wesley Fofana and James Maddison linked with moves away. Also, the likes of Kasper Schmeichel and Jamie Vardy are going older, meaning other players in the squad would have to step up, with Schmeichel set for a move away. Things do not look good for Leicester and it could put heavy pressure on Rodgers to steady the ship or he too could be out.
Comments
Post a Comment