It felt like yesterday that the English Premier League concluded with an exciting final Sunday on May 22, 2022. Manchester City and Liverpool had sparred in a season-long tussle that was decided by whether City would win on the final game day to claim the title. City looked in a dreadful position of letting it slip by trailing 2-0 to Aston Villa with only 21 minutes left on the clock. Then, Pep Guardiola’s men orchestrated a fightback of epic proportions by thrilling scoring three goals in 5 minutes to swing the pendulum back in their favor. Despite a Liverpool victory for the 2nd time in three years, the Merseyside team lost the title by a single point. With this in mind, a new ten-month conquest for a champion begins this Friday with a London derby between Crystal Palace and Arsenal. In this article, we preview the season and predict what will happen this season.
1. Who will win the title?-it seems irrational to consider picking a team other than Manchester City or Liverpool to win the title. The two teams have won the last five titles, and City winning 4. Manchester City will be looking to win a three-peat, a feat that has not done since Sir Alex Ferguson’s Man United between 2006-2008. Man City’s challenge will be to capture the title after losing four core rotational players in Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Fernandinho. The main new arrivals to the team include the ultra-talented Erling Haaland, Kalvin Phillips, and Julian Alvarez. Liverpool, on the other hand, has lost a talisman in Saido Mane and squad players in Takumi Minamino and Divock Origi. However, they have freshened the squad with the signing of the Uruguayan hitman Darwin Nunez, and talented youngsters in Fabio Carvalho and Calvin Ramsay. I think Man City winning the title will depend on their start to the season. I give Liverpool the slight edge to win the title because I feel City will be a little slow getting out of the blocks. Man City did not look in sync in the Community Shield due to a late start to the preseason, but they notoriously get better as the season progresses. I expect Liverpool to put the pressure on early and take advantage of head-to-head against the big teams which derailed their campaign last season. The sting of last season will motivate Klopp’s men to grab the crown.
2. Who will be in the top four?-after determining the top two places, third and fourth places is important because it guarantees a place in Europe’s major tournament, the Champions League. The Challengers for the spots include Tottenham, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal. I feel Spurs have the quality to finish 3rd because Son and Kane are a fantastic duo, and the signings in Perisic, Richarlison, and Bissouma. What makes me confident in Tottenham is that Antonio Conte knows how to manage a top club. Fourth place is hard to predict because the Chelsea squad is poised to change with their owners’ willingness to spend until the end of the transfer window. I think they will finish fourth because they have talent in the squad and will bring in what Thomas Tuchel needs to achieve the result. Manchester United will finish fifth because new Manger Ten Hag will struggle to score goals. After all, it appears that Cristiano Ronaldo wants out of Old Trafford. Gabriel Jesus seems like the new savior Arsenal needed but the Gunners have often flattered to deceive when things appear to be going well.
3. Who will be the top goalscorer?-the buzz to win this award surrounds six players in Erling Haaland, Mohammed Salah, Harry Kane, Darwin Nunez, Gabriel Jesus, and Cristiano Ronaldo. I have Kane winning this award because I think teams will be looking to limit Son Heung-Min’s tally this season, and he will set up the Spurs No. 10 with a number of assists. Kane has won the award previously and will be desperate to claim it again. I have Salah finish in second place with Haaland finishing in third because I think it will take him some time to adapt to the league. Nunez’s ability to be at the top will depend on whether Klopp will bring him along slowly or throw him into the fire. If Ronaldo remains at Man United, it will bolster his position in the top five and Gabriel Jesus will be a wild card for a buoyant Arsenal team.
4. Who will be the player of the year?- my pick for player of the year is Virgil Van Dijk. If Liverpool wins the league, I think Van Dijk will be the number one player for the team because he would have discovered his form before the serious injury. If he does, then this Liverpool team is hard to beat. Van Dijk has the potential to dominate forwards and make the defence difficult to breach. He is Liverpool’s most important player, and why the title may be red ribbons for this season.
5. Who will get relegated?- unlike pro sports in America, the EPL has a big twist that prevents tanking because the three worst teams are relegated at the end of the season. The pattern in the past few years is that at least two newly promoted are relegated each season with an established team being the third team. Following that thinking, I have newcomers Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest going down. I think Everton and Leeds have not done enough in the transfer window to take them out of the fight but I feel Brentford will go down due to the loss of talisman Christian Eriksen in that team. Either way, expect the fight for millions to stay in the league must-see television.
With that said, Enjoy the action!