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Every football fan, from Burnley to Manchester, will go into the weekend with the hope that this season, their team can create memories that will live forever. Seven months from now these hopes and dreams will either be realised or crushed, so it’s important to savour the excitement building up towards the first kick-off to the season for as long as you can. New signings have come in, old faces have found new homes, and all the pre-season miles have now been completed. So with that in mind, WL2T decided to jump on the prediction bandwagon with my thoughts on the four teams who will finish in the top four this season.
So WL2T, Who’s your pick for the League this season?
Leicester City proved that if you win a relegation battle one season, you can win the league the next, so with that in mind my team for the title this season is Sunderland… All joking aside, my pick for the title this season, sadly (I’m a Liverpool fan, so this hurts) has to be Manchester United. No team that finished lower than third the previous season has won the League the next until Leicester broke all records.
I expect Manchester United to continue this new trend
Manchester United kicked off the transfer window by sacking LVG and replacing him with serial winner Jose Mourinho. Love him or loath him, the man produces results. His methods won’t be pleasing on the eye, but unlike LVG, pundits won’t be talking about this because Jose is a master in deflecting criticism away from his players and style so that all we ever talk about its the Portuguese man of war!
Mourinho has a habit of making an instant impact, winning the title in his first season at Chelsea and Inter Milan, and eventually winning the league for every club he’s managed. Mourinho’s ambition was always to lead the red devils, And United have backed his ambition to make the club great again, spending over £149 million on four proven players, Henrik Mkhytarian, Eric Baily, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and of course the man of the transfer window Paul Pogba. Louis Van Gaal may not have been a fan favourite by the time he departed, but what he did do was leaving Mourinho with a team that will already be accustomed to Mourinho’s tactics, as well as an exciting option of Premier League proven youth. By adding proven quality players to the spine of the team, Mourinho has never had it so good and should not have any excuses for taking this team into the top four.
And what about the Champions League Place Trophy, who will be the three to follow?
Finishing second, third or fourth has been a trophy in its own right for the last ten years, but with the new TV deals coming into effect this season, where you finish in the League can make a huge difference to the coffers. Last season, Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspurs occupied the 3 Champions League positions along with champions Leicester.
Manchester City was the most active of the three in this transfer window, With Pep Guardiola, John Stones, Nolito, Gundagon, Sane and Gabrel Jesus all joining the Citizens new project. As it stands, Manchester City spent more money on players than any other team in the Premier League ( £151.75 million) and will be favourites to challenge for the title with Pep Guardiola’s methods already bearing fruit during pre-season. Pep, like Mourinho, brings an aura that evokes an instant response from his players, winning the league title in his first season for Bayern Munich and Barcelona. Pep takes over a squad full of experience and world class young talent, thirsty for the education the Spanish coach will give them. It would be a huge surprise if City were to finish lower than second with the squad and manager they possess and I predict they will be in the title race right down to the last game.
Arsenal fans may not believe it now but come to the end of the season, their extraordinary record of finishing in the top four every season under Arsene Wenger will continue. With all the talk heavily focused on Arsenals failure to bring in a world class striker, many forget that Arsenal defence was one of the best in the League last season conceding just 36 goals in 38 games. Far from rest on his laurels, Wenger has built on his defensive foundation by purchasing two top quality defensive players in Granit Xhaka and Mustafa, for only £55 million. Arsenal will be a hard team to beat, but the difference between the Gunners finishing in the top four and challenging for the title is a striker who can provide his team with 20-25 goals.
The fourth spot will be fought by a host of teams who have developed into genuine contenders for Champions League football. Leicester, Tottenham, Southampton, West Ham, Liverpool and Chelsea all have the potential to challenge for Champions League football, in what could be the tightest race in Premier League history. But my pick for the coveted fourth place finish goes to Liverpool.
Liverpool’s pre-season has been almost perfect, With their biggest signing Jurgen Klopp now settled in his role as Liverpool manager. The club wasted little time in purchasing the pieces to Klopp’s puzzle, managing to sign almost all their key players before a ball was kicked for pre-season. What’s more, the majority of the squad got the summer off. Their respected country did not need Firminio, Moreno, Lovren, Wijnaldum, Grujic, Matip, Mane and Karius, and Coutinho, Lallana, Sturridge, Henderson and Clyne finished international duty early, which meant key players came back quicker than some of their rivals. Liverpool avoided the pull of using pre-season for marketing purposes. Instead, the players were able to treat the tour of America as a tourist and focus their energy on training. Liverpool faced top quality opposition throughout the trip, capping this off with a blitzing performance against Barcelona.
A fresh Liverpool will be a dangerous Liverpool and with no European football to distract them the Reds will be fresh and ready for every game. With the addition of height, Pace, skill and goals, joining a team that reached two cup finals last season, Liverpool will be a dangerous opposition for any team this season.
And what about the Champions?
The loss of Kante to Chelsea is a huge blow to Leicester chances of repeating last season’s unprecedented title win. Kante protected the back four in a similar way to how Matic defended Terry and Cahill when Chelsea won the league, and we all know what happened when Matic was anonymous last season. Although Morgan and Huth are excellent defenders, they were shielded fantastically well from the opposition’s midfield by Kante and had more time to focus on dealing with their defensive shape than putting up with opposition running directly at them on a regular basis. Now Kante’s gone, I anticipate the two ageing centre halfs to be exposed much more this season, putting their impressive goals against figures(which stood at 36 last season; the same as Arsenal) to be in jeopardy. Another issue for Leicester is European football.
Many of the Leicester squad will be learning how to balance European, League and domestic cup football for the first time. Ranieri will not get the luxury of playing the same eleven week in week out and will need to deal with new challenges, notably fatigue and injuries; problems he didn’t face too often last season. But Leicester have been active in the transfer window, and football fans should keep a particularly close eye on highly rated attacking midfielder Bartosz Kapustka. The 19-year-old Polish international is highly rated amongst the ITK crowd of Twitter, and with five goals and ten assists for Cracovia Krakow last season, he could become yet another unhidden gem discovered by Leicester City. Alongside Kaputska, Leicester have purchased two new centre-backs, a new striker (Musa, if you didn’t, know already) a keeper and a replacement for Kante, Nempalys Mendy, but they are still a few quality signings short of being able to repeat last season’s heroics.
If Leicester can keep Riyad Mahrez, having already secured Jamie Vardy for another season, then they have a chance of fighting for glory. If they lose Mahrez however, then bigger issues may be in store for the foxes.
I expect the Champions to be fighting for the top four, and have an impressive debut in the Champions League, but my top four predictions this season is Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool.
NB- Don’t worryy Chelsea, Spurs, West Ham and Southampton fans, I do think you will be challengers and I will be looking at your chances over the next few weeks.
Don’t agree with me? Get involved in the comment section!
My Top 4 Pick For The 16/17 Premier League Season! Every football fan, from Burnley to Manchester, will go into the weekend with the hope that this season, their team can create memories that will live forever.
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