We are just a day away from the opening match of the 2017/18 Premier League season - Arsenal vs. Leicester City. It's been a long summer. A lot of deals have been done. A lot haven't been done, that seems obvious though. But, on the eve of English football's top flight returning, who is best set for a successful run to next May's conclusion?
1. MANCHESTER CITY
In all honesty, I can't see it going any other way. A tough first season in England for Pep, but some key acquisitions make Manchester City favourites for their first title since 2013. Pep will need to learn to adapt more to the English style of play and setting up against lower-league teams.
I don't see the Blues slumping like they did after their last title win. Despite losing Costa, yet to actually be sold, and Matic, to rivals Manchester United, Chelsea brought in some real quality over the summer, and will look to push City to retain their title. And in Conte, they have one of the most successful managers in world football, who will be out to cement his place in the Premier League in the infamous tough second season at Chelsea.
3. MANCHESTER UNTIEDA couple of summers under his belt, some great signings this summer, anything less than top three will be a disappointment for Mourinho. Ibrahimovic could prove a huge loss for them, but Lukaku could easily be a more than suitable replacement for the big Swede. They showed glimpses of the side they want to be this season against Real Madrid on Tuesday night, but they still have a way to go before they can think about the title.
By the table, no improvement for Liverpool, but I do think the title race will be closer and they will be closer to the top on points. The big factor will be if Coutinho stays. He is vital to Liverpool's game plan, whether playing in midfield or part of the attacking three. I still think he'll stay for at least another season, meaning Liverpool have the upper-hand in the race for the top 4. Some good some signings, Salah being the biggest success in pre-season so far, and there is plenty of talk of more to come from the Reds.
5. TOTTENHAM HOTSPURI keep trying to tell myself that they'll continue they're success, but I can't see it after the summer they've had. They're only dealings in the transfer market is the sale of Kyle Walker, no real loss there, and now there is talk of Danny Rose leaving after his very revealing interview this morning. Tottenham need signings if they are going to compete for the title again. Not because they've got worse, but more that the teams around them have improved so much.
I feel we have seen the start of Arsenal's consistent fall out of the top 4. I'm very surprised that Ozil and Sanchez are still with the club, but that by no means that they are going to be there post-31st August. Lacazette is a decent signing after his many goals in Ligue 1 and could provide the goals Arsenal need to challenge for Champions League places again, but I don't see Arsenal improving enough for them to break past the other 4.
7. EVERTON
Arguably, they've had the best summer of any team in the top flight. I'm not going to list all their good signings, but Rooney's return will be fantastic for the blue side of Merseyside. Will they miss Lukaku's goals though? If they do, they have the perfect man at the other end to keep them out in young Jordan Pickford. They'll improve, but still fall short of the top 6.
How have the Hammers pulled off some of the these signings? With the way the football market is going, Javier Hernandez for £13 million is absolute steal! Three former Premier League winners signed, and one of Stoke's key performers last season, mean that West Ham finally mean business after a poor outing last time around.
9. SOUTHAMPTON
Southampton didn't look as good last season as they have in previous years, and still managed to finish in a very impressive eighth. With Van Dijk set to leave, their defence looks shaky, but they're still the best of the rest.
Back where they belong. Newcastle didn't find promotion as easy as their last experience in England's second tier, having to turn around a seven point deficit with three games left to lift the title. They have a strong squad from last campaign and a great, experienced manager in Benitez leading them. A good season in store for the Magpies.
11. LEICESTER CITY
No longer reigning champions, Leicester will have their first season back to normality with no Champions League this season either. A struggling campaign for most of last season, Craig Shakespeare helped turn their fortunes around, almost mysteriously overnight, and give them a comfortable finish to the season. There are many questions over Mahrez's future, but the capture of Iheanacho from Manchester City will add some fire power to compliment the pace and finishing of Vardy.
Defoe. Need I say more? Jermain Defoe. He's been plying his trade at a poor Sunderland team for the last few seasons, and has still managed to score a fair few goals. Now surrounded by a great footballing side, with great play-makers and some equally good strikers around him, he will surely flourish and help Bournemouth's continued progression in the Premier League.
13. WEST BROMICH ALBION
The Baggies played above and beyond expectation last season, in the end being very unlucky to not finish eighth. However, I feel that they may have peaked last season and will struggle to live up to those heights. A strong spine to this team, West Brom will be troublesome for any side to come up against, especially at the Hawthorns.
Another summer, another new manager for Watford. This time, the role falls to last seasons Hull City manager, Marco Silva. Silva nearly performed the miracle of all miracles in keeping Hull in the Premier League. Hull improved massively under his leadership, and with a summer under his belt with Watford, we should see an improvement in football from them. Hopefully, Silva will still be in charge next summer if there is a clear improvement.
15. STOKE CITY
A drop in the table for Stoke City seems on the cards for this season. Stoke appear to have plateaued a bit over the last few seasons, so it seems inevitable that they will fall closer to relegation at some points. I've seen some people say that they think that the Potters will go down, but I think that's one step too far. They still have some quality in their squad, Shaqiri springs to mind. They'll be safe, but it won't be easy.
Last season could have gone much, much worse than it did for the Swans. They seem destined for the drop, but, to more success than Hull, Paul Clement quickly turned them around and just about kept them up for one more season. They key for them this summer is if they can keep a hold of Gylfi Sigurdsson. If they can, then they'll be comfortable in staying up. If he goes, it's going to be a long season for Swansea fans.
17. BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION
Only a blip at the end of the season stopped Brighton winning the Championship last season. Chris Hughton has his side playing bright, exciting football, and will look to hit teams quickly when coming up to the Premier League. It's going to be so damn tight at the bottom, but Brighton will consider anything above the drop a success this year. If they can replicate their performances from last season, I think they'll be good enough for a second Premier League campaign.
Poor last season, and even with Frank de Boer taken over the team from Sam Allardyce, I struggle to see much improvement in this team. As with all the other teams around the bottom, there is definite quality there. Zaha and Benteke have the ability to take this team to safety, but can they both perform consistently enough to keep them up? I don't think so. De Boer has also been out of management since his short lived life in Milan. This time away could mean the task of Palace is too much.
19. BURNLEY
A great home record last season, but they will have to replicate that, along with an improvement in away form, to stand a chance of stay up this season. They did play some great football, and Sean Dyche maybe didn't quite get the recognition that he deserved. The loss of Andre Gray to Watford and Michael Keane to Everton could be costly for Burnley. I just don't think they have enough to stay up this year.
Poor old Huddersfield. The shock of the Championship last season, after they were originally odds on favourites for relegation, Huddersfield are going to struggle big time in the top flight. I don't think they will go the same way as Aston Villa and Sunderland have over the last couple of years, basically rolling over and getting their bellies tickled, they'll fight for every ball, and will play some good football along the way, but I think they'll be going straight back down.
So, there we go. There's my predictions for the coming season. We will review this at the end to see how close I was. Until then, let's enjoy the thrills and spills of the greatest league in world football.
A. Weavers
You can read my other blogs at ScriptEye and I Can't Write Words.
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