Flagrantly early, incredibly half-baked EPL predictions

Sherry Phillips

City want the title back from their neighbours

Champions

Manchester City

Manuel Pelligrini and his tactics with the new signings will make the difference for The Citizens. When given the opportunity to spend in his own way, he can orchestrate an already world-class team to glory.

European Spots (Top 6)

Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, Tottenham, Swansea City

Mourinho’s here for stability instead of instant success. Last year he spent a lot on players at their peaks. He is more concentrated on youth this time. I see the club narrowly miss out on the title though. Wenger’s inability to pick up a player from the market is disheartening for the Gunners. They’ll however get into the panic buy mode and will push more than ever before to finish third. David Moyes is another one who is struggling to bring in players. After the foreseen failure in landing Fabregas, the former Everton coach still has to fix his midfield. To top their problems, they have a disgruntled striker on their hands who wants to move away. A hard season for United, but they will come good in the end, like usual. With Roberto Soldado on board, Tottenham have a fix to their striking problems. If they can keep hold of Bale, they might end up finishing fourth, however, that looks highly unlikely. I expect Swansea to confidently hold on to the 6th position. With Michael Laudrup bringing in Wilfried Bony from Vitesse and Michu used to Premier League, I don’t see them having much trouble.

Relegation

Crystal Palace, Sunderland, Southampton

With the loss of Wilfried Zaha, I don’t really see them doing well in the Premier League. Many would still argue that it was Gianfranco Zola’s Watford who deserved the promotion. Paolo Di Canio is a motivator, though I really have my doubts on whether he can lead them to safety. They barely escaped last time around, but I predict them to fall out this year.Also, gut feeling says it will be Southampton this year.

Best Player

Roberto Soldado

I have a feeling Soldado will be the best player this year around. AVB’s time at Chelsea may have been marred by his firing but he introduced English football to Juan Mata. He has a certain eye on spotting talents that not many have. I expect him to fit in fast and go all guns blazing on opposition defense.

Top Scorer

Robin van Persie or Roberto Soldado.

Breakout Player

Marco van Ginkel

Have a lot of expectations riding on him and the lad has immense amount of talent. If he keeps his head down and work hard, he’ll be world class in a few years.

Best Transfer

Roberto Soldado. Maybe, just maybe, Alvaro Negredo or Jesus Navas.

Biggest Disappointment

Fernando Torres

Much is to be seen as to how he’ll perform under Mourinho. Hopefully he finally adapts and starts scoring consistently.

Three off-the-hook predictions

The goal line technology works wonders.

Another final match day title decider, depending on goal difference.

More tactical innovations for the tactical enthusiasts to enjoy.