PREVIEW OF THE 2020/2021 PREMIER LEAGUE SEASON

We’re just hours away from the kickoff of the new Premier League campaign and there’s a lot of excitement surrounding the season with new signings and new faces joining the league we love to watch. In this post I’ll give my predictions on possible final positions for teams and match results for game week 1.

Top 6

It’s hard not to see the fight for the title not being a 2 horse race between Man City and Liverpool but with clubs like Chelsea adding major quality to their ranks they could pose an outside challenge for the Premier League trophy. Manchester United finished in 3rd last season and will hope to push on from there but that may be unlikely given the way Chelsea and Man City have strengthened their squads, however with some signings they could finish solidly in the top 4.

Leicester and Spurs made up the top 6 last season and with Jose Mourinho having a proper pre-season with his Tottenham side they could finish within the top 6 again. Arsenal however finished outside the top 6 for the first time in 25 years in what seemed like forever will now have a chance to push again and maybe even finish in the top 4 with Arteta getting his philosophy through and players like Aubameyang staying they have every chance of doing so.

But in the end I think Pep Guardiola and his City team will have enough to win the league again and Arsenal will be back in the top 6. The standings;

1. Man City

2. Liverpool

3. Chelsea

4. Man United

5. Arsenal

6. Tottenham

Mid Table(7-15)

Mid table is a difficult part of the table to predict as it often consists of over achievers such as Sheffield United last season and under achievers such as Arsenal and Everton to some extent but with the signings most teams have made and how they’ve also been able maintain their players given the situation Covid has put these “smaller teams” in, this might not be too difficult. Wolves, Arsenal, Sheffield and Burnley made up the top 10 but with Arsenal who are expected to finish well in the top 6 Southampton might be the team stepping up from an 11th place finish to make up the top 10 this season but with a lot of expectation on Marcelo Bielsa and his newly promoted Leeds they might be eyeing a top half finish as well.

Everton, Newcastle, Palace and Brighton made up the top 15 in the league. Carlo Ancelotti is already determined to build on this poor season and he has brought in James Rodriguez, Abdullah Doucoure and Allan in his bid to push for European football, and Brighton have also made strides to build on their 15th place finish by bringing back highly rated defender Ben White back from Leeds where he spent last season on loan and Adam Lallana for free from champions Liverpool.

It will be interesting to see if Everton and Wolves can trouble the top 6 but here are the standings;

7. Wolves

8. Everton

9. Leicester City

10. Sheffield United

11. Southampton

12. Leeds United

13. Brighton and Hove Albion

14. Burnley

15. Newcastle United

Bottom 5

Teams like Aston Villa who narrowly escaped relegation last season and Crystal Palace who only won 1 game post lockdown are my favorites to be involved in the relegation battle alongside newly promoted West Brom and Fulham. West Ham also struggled earlier in the season before David Moyes steered them to safety later on, however I still see them struggling and not necessarily embroiled in the relegation scrap but maybe a few scares.

The standings;

16. West Ham

17. Crystal Palace

18. Aston Villa

19. West Brom

20. Fulham.

Game week 1 Predictions

Fulham 1-3 Arsenal: Arsenal will be too much for new boys Fulham but with Arsenal’s new look back 4 still gelling Fulham might capitalize.

Crystal Palace 0-2 Southampton: The saints will most likely carry their good form into the new season and Palace might not be able to do much

Liverpool 2-1 Leeds United: I feel Liverpool will have the edge in this game, it will be a heavy tactical battle but Liverpool have more quality and that will be the difference.

West Ham 2-2 Newcastle: With Newcastle improving their forward line a part of their team that let them down last season and with the already existing talent at West Ham. I expect this to be a straight shootout and it’ll most likely end in a draw.

West Brom 0-2 Leicester City: Leicester and Jamie Vardy will just have too much for West Brom who can of course create problems for the foxes but I see Leicester City winning comfortably.

Tottenham 1-1 Everton: Arguably the biggest game of this round of fixtures, Jose and his players will be looking to start off with a win but Ancelotti’s new signings might just balance the scale a bit so a draw will be the most likely outcome.

Sheffield United 1-1 Wolves: I think both sides are similar and with both managers managing to bring in players this summer I expect this to be a very balanced game, and not with plenty goals as well given both managers base their gameplay on strong defensive bases.

Brighton 0-3 Chelsea: Frank Lampard will be putting his summer signings on show in this game and I expect nothing but a win for Chelsea, with Werner already scoring in the friendly between these two teams I expect him to get goals again.

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