The English Premier League season is set to kick off on Saturday and this could be the most wide-open race for the title in recent memory, with as many as six or seven teams honestly believing they could win the trophy.
Who do I see winning the league? It's hard to pick against Chelsea. With a good club manager in place and the benefit of continuity after bringing back all its key players, the Blues are the pick to edge out the defending champions Manchester United.
Here is our projected finish of the English Premier League Top Eight: 1. Chelsea, 2. Manchester United, 3. Aston Villa, 4. Manchester City, 5. Liverpool, 6. Tottenham, 7. Arsenal, 8. Everton.
Now it's your turn. Which club do you see winning the English Premier League this season:
Who did you pick to win the league? Which team is your pick to surprise (We say Villa)? Which favorite do you see falling flat (we say Liverpool AND Arsenal)?
Share your thoughts below.
I would make one change and that is switch villa with spurs.
These are my predictions
1. Arsenal
2. Chelsea
3. Liverpool
4. Man Utd
5. Everton
6. Spurs
7. Villa
8. Man City
9. Sunderland
11. Blackburn
12. Fulham
13. Bolton
14. Wigan
15. Stoke
16. Wolves
17. Burnley
18. Hull
19. Birmingham
20. Portsmouth
Love ya Ives.
But Villa AND Citeh cracking the Top 4 this year?
You’re out of your bleeping mind.
But then again I support Newcastle so I’m pretty sure I’m crazier.
(SBI-Yes, I was probably a bit overboard with TWO of the Big Four falling, but I just made a snap call and I’m pretty sure one of those two will be sure to fall. And I’ll say it again, what fun is it to just pick Chelsea, United, Liverpool and Arsenal?)
1) Chelsea
2) Man Utd
3) Arsenal
4) Liverpool
5) Everton
6) Man City
7) Sunderland
8) Aston Villa
Regarding Villa, it’s hard to forget how they limped in to the finish in the final half of last year. And as people have pointed out, Arsenal finished strong. Despite losing Adebayor and Toure, Wenger has a knack of getting more out of his team than people think possible… they did nearly win the league in 2007/2008 with Senderos getting lots of playing time. The real question is: will Bendtner miss more goals than Adebayor? Those are big shoes to fill (or “boots” if you’re a Brit), but Bendtner has so far shown a willingness to continue that legacy. (OK, the real question is: how good is Cesc’s knee? No Cesc and all bets are off.)
I think the two wildcards are City and Liverpool – in both cases because of their coaches. Let’s face it, Rafa is something of a headcase and things could get ugly fast if they hit a bad patch. As for Mark Hughes, we’re talking about a guy who performed more poorly than Sven and who most people can’t believe made it through last season. I just can’t figure out what to make of either of these teams.
As much as it will annoy many people, I really see AV, Everton and Tottenham as staying in their also-ran role. The most likely to overachieve is probably Moyes’ Everton. ‘Arry’s probably got too big of head after his 3/4 of a season’s success to keep the fire burning for another season in Tottenham.
Ludicrous. I cant see Man city breaking the top 5, Adebayor to miss 50 goals inside 12 yards. You cant just spend a bunch of money on premadonnas and expect them to actually get along much less win 18 plus games, not gonna happen. Arsenal and Wenger have too much talent and know how to finish outside of the top 4, how dare you, and there is no chance tottenham will finish above them, your list is just insane, you are dreaming!!!
Ok. I’m all set for the Fantasy Premier League. I’m looking forward to a good year from Torres my captain. This should be fun.
There is absolutely no way that Everton will finish 8th. They’re not going to do worse than last year if they have players healthy.
If anything, they’ll do better this year than they would have if they hadn’t had so many injuries last year, because of what happened as a result of the injuries. They have Jo now. James Vaughn got some experience. Anichebe got some experience (and even played on the wing a bit and did well). We found out that Cahill can be a really good striker. Pienaar got a hell of a lot better as the season went on. And, Lescott and Jagielka emerged as one of the more formidable center-back combinations in the Premiership.
I personally think they’ll end up 4rd or 5th. They’re better than Villa, better than Tottenham, and they could be better than Arsenal, Liverpool (especially without Torres) or Man City.
I’d say
1. Man Utd.
2. Chelsea
3. Liverpool
4. Everton
5. Man City
6. Arsenal
7. Tottenham
8. Villa, Fullham, or West Ham
As I recall Villa sort of fell apart towards the end of the season, and they haven’t really gotten any better. Tottenham, on the other hand, has.
hahahaha villa and city in the top four is laughable. villa will hurt without barry and laursen, while city are just a clutter of very good players. Pool and Arsenal will be competing for the title. don;t discount Arsenal because they are young. health is a real issue though. top notch youth players have seasons where their consistency and quality jumps. see: c. ronaldo, ashley young, cesc fabregas, etc.
i voted chelsea myself. no real losses in the team, man yoo have already lost ronaldo and van der sar, scholes & giggs are one year older, plus hargreaves may never return. i’m gonna watch more of the bundesliga anyway- tough for MB and ‘gladbach, but that bochum game was great. let’s hear it for the MLS of Europe!
Tottenham ahead of Arsenal? Awesome. And possible, this year, finally.
why villa and spurs on the list but no everton. and anyone who thinks man city are breaking the top four are high
“Rooney is overrated”
Yo momma is overrated. Rooney is the sheeoott!
Chase:
See above. Fabian Delph is of consequence. So is Downing, even if he won’t return till December.
1. Liverpool
2. Chelsea
3. Man Utd (I’m sorry, but Tevez + Ronaldo >> Valencia and Owen, and Rooney is overrated)
4. Man City
5. Le Arse — lots of stepovers, no defense
6. Everton
7. Villa
8. Spuds — not sold at all on them
9. West Ham
10. Fulham — hard to do last season twice in a row
11. Bolton
12. Sunderland
13. Blackburn
14. Wolves (they have the right mix of youth and experience to stay up for a few years)
15. Stoke
16. Wigan
17. Portsmouth (by a hair)
18. Birmingham
19. Hull
20. Burnley