A regular complement to the Watford predictions thread. Entries before PL season opener for credibility. Champions: Chelsea (though if City sign Kane then swap them around) CL Places: Man City, Man Utd, Liverpool EL Places: Leicester, Arsenal Relegated: Watford, Brentford, Norwich Golden Boot: Lukaku (though if Kane signs for City then swap) Most Assists: Fernandes Worst Disciplinary Record: Watford Best Buy: Ings, expensive but should score plenty. Others - Junior Firpo to Leeds for €15mil looks a steal, and Lokonga seems a very good prospect at Arsenal. Worst Buy: Grealish and Sancho will add little to their respective sides this season to justify their large fees. Plus, Leicester don't have a good record with expensive strikers from abroad and Daka could be another to add to the list. Young Player to have breakthrough season: Livramento at Southampton (just taken from Chelsea). First Manager Sacked: Benitez Manager of the Year: Tuchel Any other predictions: Full table (if desired) : 1. Chelsea (caveat City don't sign Kane) 2. Man City 3. Man Utd 4. Liverpool 5. Leicester 6. Arsenal 7. Spurs 8. West Ham 9. Leeds 10. Aston Villa 11. Palace 12. Everton 13. Wolves 14. Newcastle 15. Burnley 16. Brighton 17. Southampton 18. Watford 19. Brentford 20. Norwich
Will definitely get round to it, just waiting to a few days to see what transfers happen / don't happen.
1) Man City 2) Chelsea 3) Man United 4) Liverpool 5) Leicester 6) Aston Villa 7) Arsenal 8) Spurs 9) Everton 10) Leeds 11) West Ham 12) Brighton 13) Wolves 14) Southampton 15) Crystal Palace 16) Newcastle 17) Brentford 18) Burnley 19) Norwich 20) Watford Hope I'm wrong
Champions: Man United CL Places: Man City, Spurs, Chelsea EL Places: Leicester, Liverpool Relegated: Watford, Burnley, Norwich Golden Boot: Lukaku Most Assists: Sancho Worst Disciplinary Record: Watford Best Buy: Ashley Young Worst Buy: Fiat Panda 1996 Young Player to have breakthrough season: That young fullback at Brighton First Manager Sacked: Dyche Manager of the Year: Solskaaar Any other predictions: Burnley get a 35 points deduction after their second match due to Dyche getting in a kefuffle with the 4th ref coz of a VAR decision. Full table (if desired) : 1. Man U 2. Man City 3. Spuds 4. Chelsea 5. Leicester 6. Liverpool 7. Fiat Panda 8. West Ham 9. Leeds 10. Aston Villa 11. Palace 12. Everton 13. Wolves 14. Newcastle 15. Brentford 16. Brighton 17. Southampton 18. Watford 19. Burnley 20. Norwich
Champions: Man City CL Places: Chelsea, Liverpool, Leicester EL Places: Man Utd, Leeds Relegated: C Palace, Brentford, Norwich Golden Boot: Deeney Most Assists: No idea Worst Disciplinary Record: Brentford Best Buy: Pies at Lincoln. Worst Buy: Pies at West ham Young Player to have breakthrough season: Not interested First Manager Sacked: Whoever manages Palace - twice Manager of the Year: Integrity Any other predictions: Season abandoned by March.
So many season previews / predictions have Brentford surviving and finishing above us. Given that they were comfortably the third best promoted team last year, is it only lazy journalism / pluckiness factor, or is there some logical rationale e.g. summer recruitment, style of play etc?
Golden Boot: Andre Gray (though if Kane signs for City then swap) Most Assists: Andre Gray Worst Disciplinary Record: Andre Gray Best Buy: Andre Gray (Brentford). Worst Buy: Ivan Toney (Swapped for Gray). Young Player to have breakthrough season: Ashley Young First Manager Sacked: Tuchel Manager of the Year: Andre Gray 1) Man City 2) Liverpool 3) Chelsea 4) Leicester 5) Man United 6) Spurs 7) Everton 8) Wolves 9) Arsenal 10) West Ham 11) Brentford 12) Leeds 13) Southampton 14) Brighton 15) Burnley 16) Newcastle 17) Watford 18) Aston Villa 19) Crystal Palace 20) Norwich
I think a lot of it is journalists succumbing to the trendy appeal of how they claim to operate eg moneyball, data analytics, specialist coaches etc. I'm not so sure that they were only "comfortably the third best promoted team last year" though - they were doing very well for most of the season but then I think injuries to Henry and Dasilva really cost them (and they lack some squad depth). As for this season if they get everyone fit and firing again they'll probably have a similar chance of survival to Norwich and ourselves. Where they might fail though is it really seems as if Toney has gone off the boil - he struggled at the end of last season and hasn't seemed quite as sharp in pre-season yet from what I've seen either. They also still seem to lack squad depth, though there are fewer games in the PL.
Champions: Man City CL Places: Chelsea, Man Utd, Liverpool EL Places: Leicester, Arsenal Relegated: Norwich, Newcastle, Southampton Golden Boot: Kane Most Assists: Buendia Worst Disciplinary Record: Watford Best Buy: Buendia Worst Buy: Lukaku - he'll probably have a good season but Chelsea have a habit of ruining perfectly good strikers. Young Player to have breakthrough season: Dewsbury-Hall. First Manager Sacked: Xisco. Manager of the Year: Tuchel Any other predictions: Watkins to score nearly 20 goals and get an England callup. Full table (if desired) : 1. Man City 2. Chelsea 3. Man Utd 4. Liverpool 5. Leicester 6. Arsenal 7. Spurs 8. Aston Villa 9. Wolves 10. Leeds 11. Palace 12. Everton 13. Brighton 14. West Ham 15. Burnley 16. Brentford 17. Watford 18. Southampton 19. Newcastle 20. Norwich Slightly optimistic with our positioning but in all honesty from 15-20th are entirely interchangeable.