Premier League Predictions

[Gribz 743]

Going on what the current squads are now I would fancy Arsenal to win this season but also have a sneaky for Man Utd.

 

I think Chelsea could struggle upfront as Costa has injury problems, Falcao isn't near the same player and Remy wont win them the league. In defence they are a few numbers short and it will be a big ask for Terry to have another top season.

 

City are going to be relying on Toure and Aguero again. Take them out the team and they are beatable. Silva is a class act but cant do it on his own.

 

I expect Utd to sign a striker, City to sign 2 more big players and I cant see Jose going into a season without signing another defender at least.

 

But I will go:

Arsenal

Chelsea

Man Utd

Man City

 

Liverpool will be closer to 4th this season, I think they have bought well.

 

Surprise Package - Stoke.

 

Relegation, the 3 that came up for me.

Watford - Far to many new signings to embed into a Championship team.

Bournemouth - Will be a bit like Burnley last year, trying to play the game the right way but the lack of quality will see them go back down.

Norwich - They don't score goals.

 

Villa, Leicester, Sunderland, West Brom will all be bottom half teams.

 

Palace, West Ham, Newcastle for mid table.

 

Spurs, Everton, Southampton and Swansea to be around top 6 to 10 with Stoke.

[Scott7 5,298]

I hope Arsenal hold off United to win it but Chelsea can never be wrtten off so long as John Terry is fit. I agree about Falcao but Mourinho tends to know what he's doing. Even more sensibly he doesn't flog a dead horse. If he makes a mistake he knows it.

 

Can't fathom City's signing policy. They need defensive craftsmen, not prodigy midfielders and somebody to lend a hand to Aguero. He can't do it all on his own but he has a damn good try.

[Gribz 743]

Arsenal also have something to prove. They need to show that pre-season form can be carried into the league and be consistent. They also need to stay injury free for once. But they have the best balanced squad in the league - not necessarily the best players - but best balance.

 

Yet here is Jack Wilshire injured again before a ball is kicked and out for 8 weeks. Id have sold him to City for 50 million.

 

The season after a world cup is always disappointing but the one after tends to be better and I think it will be a ultra close league.

[Bearman 9]

If Costa stays fit I just can't see past Chelsea winning it again, with players like Fabregas Willian and Hazard supplying him he'll score a barrow-load this season. It must be remembered Costa missed a third of league games through injury in 2014-15 yet still managed to score 20. Falcao has the potential to knock in 15+ (20+ if Costa misses games) and Hazard seems to improve year on year.

In saying that, Arsenal are looking very good and will make the most of any slip-ups. Cech will instil confidence in defence and an injury free Walcott along with the brilliant Sanchez and Cazorla together could make it happen this year.

 

Can't really separate the two teams.

 

I think Man City Man Utd and Liverpool will battle it out for 3rd place.

 

Aston Villa will eventually finish in the bottom three along with Watford and Sunderland.

 

Have a feeling Norwich City will finish in the top half.

[craig 5,199]

If Costa stays fit I just can't see past Chelsea winning it again, with players like Fabregas Willian and Hazard supplying him he'll score a barrow-load this season. It must be remembered Costa missed a third of league games through injury in 2014-15 yet still managed to score 20. Falcao has the potential to knock in 15+ (20+ if Costa misses games) and Hazard seems to improve year on year.

In saying that, Arsenal are looking very good and will make the most of any slip-ups. Cech will instil confidence in defence and an injury free Walcott along with the brilliant Sanchez and Cazorla together could make it happen this year.

 

Can't really separate the two teams.

 

I think Man City Man Utd and Liverpool will battle it out for 3rd place.

 

Aston Villa will eventually finish in the bottom three along with Watford and Sunderland.

 

Have a feeling Norwich City will finish in the top half.

 

Falcao has shown nothing in England to suggest a 15 goal plus season. Without Costa Chelsea will struggle to replace his goals. They need another striker in case Falcao turns out to be a bust. BTW, saw Chelsea play Barca live last week - Hazard is an incredible player. Simply stunning.

 

Being an Arsenal fan I hope we can win it - but I still think we are a bit weak defensively. I don't think Monreal is the answer and I think the CB pairing ship goals a little too easily. With Giroud also having a decent season last year the forward line should be fine - the addition of Benzema IF it happens would have Arsenal sorted. But that defence still worries me.

 

I think Liverpool have added well, but a lot of new faces so you never know what you will get

As Gribz says, City have a talented group of players.... but they don't seem to play as a team often enough.

Man U are still needing at least one, if not two, CB's to be challenging IMHO.

[craig 5,199]

If Costa stays fit I just can't see past Chelsea winning it again, with players like Fabregas Willian and Hazard supplying him he'll score a barrow-load this season. It must be remembered Costa missed a third of league games through injury in 2014-15 yet still managed to score 20. Falcao has the potential to knock in 15+ (20+ if Costa misses games) and Hazard seems to improve year on year.

In saying that, Arsenal are looking very good and will make the most of any slip-ups. Cech will instil confidence in defence and an injury free Walcott along with the brilliant Sanchez and Cazorla together could make it happen this year.

 

Can't really separate the two teams.

 

I think Man City Man Utd and Liverpool will battle it out for 3rd place.

 

Aston Villa will eventually finish in the bottom three along with Watford and Sunderland.

 

Have a feeling Norwich City will finish in the top half.

 

Falcao has shown nothing in England to suggest a 15 goal plus season. Without Costa Chelsea will struggle to replace his goals. They need another striker in case Falcao turns out to be a bust. BTW, saw Chelsea play Barca live last week - Hazard is an incredible player. Simply stunning.

 

Being an Arsenal fan I hope we can win it - but I still think we are a bit weak defensively. I don't think Monreal is the answer and I think the CB pairing ship goals a little too easily. With Giroud also having a decent season last year the forward line should be fine - the addition of Benzema IF it happens would have Arsenal sorted. But that defence still worries me.

 

I think Liverpool have added well, but a lot of new faces so you never know what you will get

As Gribz says, City have a talented group of players.... but they don't seem to play as a team often enough.

Man U are still needing at least one, if not two, CB's to be challenging IMHO.

[Gribz 743]

Falcao has shown nothing in England to suggest a 15 goal plus season. Without Costa Chelsea will struggle to replace his goals. They need another striker in case Falcao turns out to be a bust. BTW, saw Chelsea play Barca live last week - Hazard is an incredible player. Simply stunning.

 

Being an Arsenal fan I hope we can win it - but I still think we are a bit weak defensively. I don't think Monreal is the answer and I think the CB pairing ship goals a little too easily. With Giroud also having a decent season last year the forward line should be fine - the addition of Benzema IF it happens would have Arsenal sorted. But that defence still worries me.

 

I think Liverpool have added well, but a lot of new faces so you never know what you will get

As Gribz says, City have a talented group of players.... but they don't seem to play as a team often enough.

Man U are still needing at least one, if not two, CB's to be challenging IMHO.

 

Agree on all. Falcao didn't look like a player for Man Utd. Chelsea will have to wave a magic wand to get something out of him. Its a shame, prior to his injury he was the highest rated out of Atletico Madrids previous strikers which included Torres, Aguero and Costa.

But I agree with Hazard he can be unplayable at times and if Hazard and Fabregas play well Chelsea win games.

 

Wenger seems to like Monreal for some reason. He has improved but still wouldn't get into Chelsea or Citys team. I prefer Gibbs at LB. It would be good if Paulista comes good and starts a partnership with Koscielny. Cech adds so much to their defence but they still need a world class centre half.

Chambers has to step up, he hasn't came on to justify a 16m price tag and Debuchy is a good squad player.

Upfront they will score goals with Sanchez, Walcott, Giroud and Welbeck.

 

Man Utds downfall will be defence. Jones and Smalling are the new O'Shea and Brown and nowhere near the new Vidic and Rio like they were bought for. But if they get Pedro in then their forward line is enough to score more than the opposition bar the other big 4. Pedro, Rooney and Depay with Mata behind them is pretty frightening.

[Rousseau 9,584]

I don't think Arsenal do have the best balanced squad; it's too top heavy, and even then it's mostly attacking midfielders. Also, I don't think they've got great forwards. Apart from Sanchez, who'll give 15+, there is only Geroud, also 15+; Welbeck is not a goalscorer and neither is Walcott. For me, Geroud is the only out-and-out striker they have.

 

I think Man U and Chelsea are more balanced now, if missing a forward/striker or two.

 

Arsenal will do well, but I still doubt their mentality; I'll probably doubt it until they do it. Man City and Chelsea have got it, and Man U have, or had it, but have been brought down a peg or two after the last two years and have to show it all over again. It's the 'steel' that wins Leagues. Both Chelsea and Man City have that steel. Man U have bought well and could do well.

 

Liverpool are a bit of an afterthought, which is a shame. They've bought well but they'll be fighting for Europa League IMO.

 

It might be the most closely fought title-battle in years, with Chelsea, Man City, Man U, and Arsenal all looking capable; and I'd go with that ordering. I'd like to see Man Utd do well this year though, and Chelsea, but it's very hard to predict; I think we'll all be surprised.

[Ser Barristan Selmy 222]

Chelsea will run away with it again, I don't see Arsenal having any chance whatsoever. I'm disappointed in the lack of signings though, last year showed Chelsea are miles ahead of anyone in England but some way off Europe's elite.

[craig 5,199]

Chelsea will run away with it again, I don't see Arsenal having any chance whatsoever. I'm disappointed in the lack of signings though, last year showed Chelsea are miles ahead of anyone in England but some way off Europe's elite.

 

I suspect Chelsea will win it again too - but I don't think they will run away with it as you say.... but we both know what I think about your use of superlatives

 

Cech will be worth at least 6-10 points to Arsenal because he is a far, far better keeper than anything Arsenal have had since Seaman. That will instill confidence in the players in front of him. I can see Arsenal being 10 points better off than last season but that could very well see them fall short.

 

I was at the Chelsea vs Barcelona game last week and thought Chelsea played well (albeit Barca played mostly reserved 1st half and were without Messi, Neymar, Alves). The issue I would have as a Chelsea fan would be Costa's fitness. Falcao looked dreadful last week and you cant rest the responsibility on Remy. So they need Costa to be fit. Or they need to bring in another striker, which wouldn't surprise any of us.

 

I'm looking forward to it though - Utd seem to have bought well, Liverpool have bought a LOT (but do they improve what they had ?), Arsenal had a decent squad and the signing of Cech could be significant (but could still do with a striker, CB and LB IMHO) - I don't think City have strengthened at all though.

 

Bring it on I say.

 

We should have had a Gersnet fantasy league....