Tom
Member
*Of Royal Blood*
Posts: 15,419
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Post by Tom on Aug 12, 2011 15:58:40 GMT 1
PL predictions, with points totals as a rough guide, setting myself up for a fall then...
Comments depending on how much time I take. I may suddenly stop after a while! Oh and i'm now referring to the Big 6 (Man U, Chelsea, Man City, Arsenal, Spurs, and Liverpool).
1 Man Utd 82-84pts - Look the team to beat. Have strengthened and put down their marker by beating City to win the Community Shield. The departures of both Brown and O'Shea may leave them a bit short in the full-back department though, hence the variation in points. 2 Man City 73 - Have strengthened but CL football for the first time could hinder them. Had they won the Community Shield, in normal time, it may have been a very close call for me to choose between them and Utd. 3 Liverpool 70-72 - Undecided how good Henderson really is for one of the big 6 yet hence the variation in points, but Downing, Adam and Enrique are all good signings; No European football compared to the other Big 6 teams; 1st full season for both Carroll and Suarez too. Not sure how much of a title challenge they will pose, but think they will easily finish Top 4. 4 Chelsea 68 - Replacing Ancelotti with a guy i've never heard of puts them down in my eyes, but Torres will surely be better in his 1st full season.
The next two are both on 64 points.. Found it extremelly difficult to separate them, in the end it came down to gut feeling on business for each club in the rest of the window (which wouldn't normally be a factor - its here and now that i base on my predictions on). Arsenal 5th 64 - Don't seem prepared at all atm for the Top 4 with Clichy gone and Fabregas and Nasri also on the verge of leaving. 6th Spurs 64
7th Sunderland 54 - Clearly going for Europe with the large number of signings they've made. But too big a gap to make up (unless 7th is enough this season). Henderson seems a big loss for them, with him they may have had a chance of finish Top 6. They're above Everton purely on strength in depth. 8th Everton 54 - Have gone unnoticed in the transfer market this summer. Stagnation springs to mind. Still enough quality but wouldn't be surprised to see them bottom half. 9th Fulham 51 - 1 good manager out in Mark Hughes, 1 good manager in in Jol. Bit similar to Everton in that not much has changed, but they have been busier in the window, Riise is a good signing. Above West Brom on squad strength. 10 West Bromwich Albion 51 - Shouldn't suffer with 2nd season syndrome with this being Hodgson's 1st full season. The signing of Long gives them a decent partner for Odemwingie. 11 Stoke City 48 12 Aston Villa 43-45 N'Zogbia for Downing plus 10m may prove to be good business, hence why my prediction is based on the higher points tally. Young will be a big loss though. 13 Wolverhampton Wanderers 44 14 Queen's Park Rangers 43 15 Bolton Wanderers 41 16 Newcastle United 41 - Seem to be preparing for relegation almost with their transfer activity (which is why they're below Bolton), but if 2nd season syndrome isn't a factor with this being Pardew's first full season they may get lucky. 17 Swansea City 40 - After the playoff final i thought they needed a LB, a CB, and a quality striker. They've got the latter two, but without the other its gonna be a struggle (i'd like Neil Taylor to succeed but fear he could be exposed at times this season - hasn't got good backup either). Surprised about the signing of Lita, but he and Routledge together is good business which will give them a chance. Their home form will be vital, and that could be the difference. Actually had them down for 18th at first! 18 Wigan Athletic 40 - N'Zogbia is a big loss and although Al Habsi is a great bit of business, Cleverley will be missed. Gut feeling is they may go this year. 19th Blackburn Rovers 38 - Phil Jones is a big loss 20th Norwich City 28-33 - Just get the feeling their success has come a little too quickly and they're not ready for the top flight. Their signings don't convince me they've got the necessary quality and experience either.
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Post by Maximo Mark on Aug 12, 2011 20:16:04 GMT 1
I made this prediction a week ago elsewhere and nothing from the last week has made me want to change it, if anything Man Utd ruling out Sneijder and Man City looking like Nasri is going to sign only strengthens my thinking.
1 Manchester City - I know, I know! But they were only 9 points off the top last year and could easily have turned a few draws into victories. I think Mancini will be more attacking when he needs to be and Aguero will be a top signing. Perhaps some extra creativity in midfield is what they're missing, but then so are their nearest rivals. 2 Manchester United - I think Young is going to be a fantastic signing for them, but I think it will take one error from De Gea (such as VDS vs WBA last season) and his confidence could shatter. 3 - Chelsea - I think last year was the last chance for their aging team to win it. I think Torres will be much better this season but I'm still not convinced he can play with Drogba. Squad players such as Mikel and Kalou aren't good enough. 4 - Liverpool - It will make me sad if Arsenal fail to finish in the top 4 but at the moment it's hard to see it not being Liverpool, and I think they can cope fine with and ever increasingly injury prone Steven Gerrard. I think Downing is class and that he wasn't overpriced and it's hard to see Suarez not being one of the players of the season. 5 - Arsenal - They really need to sort out the Fabregas situation. Defence will be tighter with return of Vermaelen and I think Gibbs is a great replacement for Clichy who seems to get weaker every season. They will be too reliant on RVP though. 6 - Tottenham - no strengthening in the summer, too many average players still however hoping Walker will come through. 7 - Villa 8 - Wolves - perhaps a gamble but they were very unlucky last season and too often made mistakes at the back. I think Johnson is the perfect remedy, an inspired signing. Full seasons from O'Hara, Kightly and Hammill too. 9 - Sunderland - A lot of new faces will take a while to gel, although many are impressive signings the squad still seems a little unbalanced. 10 - Everton - the year they finally start to fall 11 - Fulham 12 - Bolton 13 - Stoke 14 - Wigan 15 - West Brom 16 - QPR - solid but unspectacular 17 - Newcastle - They never learn, Ben Arfa injured again, their three best players from last season gone and Enrique likely to follow. A season of struggle 18 - Blackburn - Terrible 19 - Swansea - for all their pretty football they've lost some key players and haven't strengthened enough. Leroy Lita? Dear me. 20 - Norwich - I just can't see them being good enough. They got promoted because they scored so many late goals, I don't rate their strikeforce at Premiership Level
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Post by raliverpool on Aug 12, 2011 21:07:50 GMT 1
1st Man Utd 2nd Man City 3rd Chelsea 4th Liverpool 5th Arsenal 6th Tottenham Hotspur 7th Everton 8th Sunderland 9th Fulham 10th Stoke 11th Bolton 12th Aston Villa 13th Newcastle 14th West Brom 15th Wolves 16th QPR 17th Blackburn 18th Wigan 19th Swansea 20th Norwich
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