Me… with a trophy I didn’t get for coming second!
Football is back and the temptation to join a trillion fantasy leagues, for yet another whooping, is as strong as ever! Rather predictably – I’m very excited!
I go into this season with a renewed sense of confidence, when it comes to predicting who will do what this season, after I picked up a Silver medal at the Premier League’s annual pre-season gathering of football writers and broadcasters.
Yes – somehow I managed to finish second having predicted the final 2013/14 table more accurately than the vast majority of the industry’s finest. Duncan Wright, Sports editor of the Daily Star took the Gold and Paddy Barclay, the Bronze – so I was in decent company at the top, too.
This season, to prove it was probably a fluke (or maybe not), I thought I’d share my table prediction for 2014/15.
CHAMPIONS: Chelsea
I thought Mourinho may do it on his first season back and he failed. He won’t fail twice – will he?
RUNNERS UP: Arsenal
Arsenal will come at this season with some serious confidence after their FA Cup victory . They’ve also added quality to a team that spent the longest period at the top of the table last season. Wenger will fancy his chances.
THIRD: Manchester City
Last season’s champions have class in every department, but my gut says they won’t up their game enough to defend their title.
FOURTH: Manchester United
Football fans all over the country had a bit of a giggle at United’s expense last season. Louis Van Gaal will bring back that winning mentality and make Old Trafford a difficult place to get three points once again.
FIFTH: Tottenham Hotspur
Mauricio Pochettino told me the Spurs Chairman had not set him any targets outside of getting the team playing good football this season. I’m not sure I believe him, however – implementing his philosophy, getting the team playing attractive football and avoiding embarrassing defeats will set a solid foundation to build on.
SIXTH: Liverpool
It is too obvious to say Liverpool won’t be the same without Suarez… but they won’t and I can only see them taking a step backwards without him. This prediction is my riskiest – maybe it’s based on watching a lot of Bale-less Spurs last season.
7th: Everton
8th: Newcastle United
9th: Swansea City
10th: Stoke City
11th: Crystal Palace
12th: Hull City
13th: Southampton
14th: Leicester City
15th: Aston Villa
16th: Sunderland
17th: Queen’s Park Rangers
EIGHTEENTH: West Ham
Much will depend on how their new signings settle in, but I’m going with a gut feeling here. As I live in East London (well, North East) I hope I’m wrong.
NINETEENTH: Burnley
Sean Dyche got his team playing some lovely football last season in the Championship. But can they “out football” Premier League teams every week? I’ve got a pal in the Burnley team, so would love them to stay up but can’t see it.
BOTTOM: West Bromwich Albion
There was a time when West Brom would have never been anywhere near my bottom three, having established themselves as a mid table team for three seasons on the bounce. The 17th place finish last season may well have been a one off dip, but I’m not so sure.
*Disclaimer: Last season I tipped Hull, Crystal Palace and Stoke to go down!!
Reckon I’ve lost the plot with my table predictions? Tweet me a picture of your table and I’ll retweet, so you can take some stick too!! Get at me @Leon_Mann