The most competitive league in all of Europe is set to start up once again as the English Premier League prepares for its 2017-18 season. The competition at the top figures to be fierce, as will the battle at the bottom. Before the season begins, here are our best projections for how each of the 20 teams will fare during this campaign.
Arsene Wenger may still be around, but so is Alexis Sanchez, who looks set to stay on despite a summer’s worth of speculation. Wenger looks committed to sticking with the back three he went with at the end of last season, but will it be enough to get back to the top four given the strength of other contenders? It’s doubtful.
Prediction: The Gunners fail to break into the top four as they finish 6th.
Bournemouth
It’s two solid seasons out of two for Bournemouth in the Premier League, and they look set to make it three. They’ve brought in three excellent signings who should help out their squad: defender Nathan Ake, who was terrific during his loan spell with the Cherries last season; Asmir Begovic, who figures to be an upgrade over Artur Boruc in goal; and Jermain Defoe, who can still bang in the goals at age 34. With those three in place, another mid-table finish looks very attainable for the Cherries.
Prediction: The Cherries once again finish mid-table at 8th.
Brighton & Hove Albion
Chris Hughton is already a legend for bringing Brighton to the Premier League for the first time in its history. Obviously, though, staying in the division is a different matter entirely. They’ve spent hardly any money this summer, and will be relying on 33-year-old former Palace and Bournemouth striker Glenn Murray for goals.
Prediction: Brighton and Hove Albion get relegated after a 19th-place finish.
Burnley
Burnley survived last season despite barely getting anything out of their away games. They still haven’t addressed their biggest issue, which is their lack of goals. (They scored just 39 goals last season, fourth-fewest in the division). Meanwhile, Michael Keane’s departure also brings problems for a defense that played above its head at times. Can Sean Dyche orchestrate another outstanding campaign from his clearly limited squad? It’s looking increasingly unlikely.
Prediction: Burnley goes back down as they end up in 18th.
Chelsea
The defending champions have added depth to their defense by bringing in Antonio Rudiger and Teimoue Bakayoko. They’ve also got their replacement for the outgoing striker Diego Costa with Alvaro Morata. However, they may yet experience some regression to the mean after everything went so smoothly for them during last year’s title-winning campaign.
Prediction: Chelsea fails to defend their title as they slip to 4th.
Crystal Palace
Palace was bailed out from relegation last season by Sam Allardyce, but Big Sam won’t be around to lead them this season. His replacement, Frank de Boer, is a competent manager, though, and he’ll have a pretty talented squad to work with, particularly in attack. The Dutchman could be just the man to push Palace back up the table after a couple of down seasons.
Prediction: Palace have a successful first season with de Boer as they finish 10th.
Everton
Everton lost star striker Romelu Lukaku, which will obviously affect their ability to break into the top six. They could also lose Ross Barkley, who keeps being linked to Tottenham. However, the Toffees have strengthened by adding goalie Jordan Pickford, defender Michael Keane, and midfielder Davy Klaassen, not to mention England legend Wayne Rooney.
They likely need to find another quality forward since Rooney can’t be trusted to play heavy minutes anymore, but if they do, they should once again be a contender for one of the European places.
Prediction: Everton maintains their spot as they finish 6th once again.
Huddersfield
American manager David Wagner has done an unbelievable job to get Huddersfield to the Premier League for the very first time. However, it remains to be seen just how competitive they can be with a squad that doesn’t possess a tremendous amount of individual talent. Chances are they will be locked in a relegation battle for most, if not all of the season.
Prediction: Huddersfield goes back down as they finish rock bottom at 20th.
Leicester City
Leicester’s fortunes changed dramatically last season when they sacked title-winning manager Claudio Ranieri and put Craig Shakespeare in charge. Suddenly, they were back to playing more like the team that shocked the world the year before. It’s hard to see them maintaining that sort of excellent form over an entire season, but with the quality in their squad, they should be able to comfortably avoid any threat of relegation and settle into a mid-table finish.
Prediction: Leicester settles into a solid 13th-place finish.
Liverpool
Are Liverpool finally set to make that leap into title contention their third season under Jurgen Klopp? The Reds are currently priced at +1,100 to win the league, but haven’t exactly gone out and strengthened their squad significantly this summer aside from the signing of Mohamed Salah, which is somewhat concerning. And with the Manchester clubs getting stronger, another top-four finish is definitely not a guarantee.
Prediction: Liverpool still doesn’t reach true title contention as they finish a mere 5th.
Manchester City
Despite a hot start, Pep Guardiola failed to live to the hype in his debut campaign last season as his City side finished only third, his worst ever finish in his managerial career. The defense – the team’s most glaring weakness last season – isn’t drastically different despite the additions of a new goalie Ederson and Kyle Walker. But the attack is as potent as ever with Bernardo Silva adding more youth to a unit that also features rising stars, Gabriel Jesus and Leroy Sane.
This season feels like the time where Pep finally finds the answers and City make good on its status as +187 favorites to win the Premier League.
Prediction: City tops the table and claims their third Premier League title.
Manchester United
In the same vein as Pep at City, Jose Mourinho should also have a much better grasp of his squad after a disappointing first season at Old Trafford. United’s squad is as deep as any in the league despite the Red Devils only adding Victor Lindelof and Romelu Lukaku, who will replace the departed Zlatan Ibrahimovic up front.
Look for Mourinho to find a way to turn most of the division-leading 15 draws they had last season into all three points this time around, which should see them rise up the table and contend for the title.
Prediction: United takes a step up to 3rd in the table.
Newcastle
Newcastle is back in the Premier League under the guidance of Rafa Benitez. He’ll have a young, talented team at his disposal, one that will also boast a lot of Premier League experience. He did wonders with that squad in the Championship, and should be able to do the same and lead the Toon Army to a steady march up to mid-table.
Prediction: Benitez leads Newcastle to a 9th-place finish in the Toon’s return to the top flight.
Southampton
It’s back to the drawing board for Southampton, who sacked Claude Puel and brought in Mauricio Pellegrino. Pellegrino did a terrific job with Alaves in Spain last season, but might need some time to adjust to a new league. Saints have managed to hold on to striker Manolo Gabbiadini, which is good, but van Dijk’s potential exit will be a big blow.
Prediction: Southampton takes a slight step back this season as they finish 14th.
Stoke
Mark Hughes’ Stoke side is in that spot where they aren’t really challenging for Europe but are also not really in danger of relegation. And unless something unforeseen happens, they should find themselves in a similar spot next season. They will survive and finish mid-table, and they will generally be uninteresting in doing so.
Prediction: Stoke settle into another safe 11th-place finish.
Swansea
Swansea just managed to survive last year’s relegation scrap thanks to manager Paul Clement. But with very little improvements being made to the squad by the American owners, it’s very likely that the Swans find themselves in yet another struggle for survival this upcoming campaign.
Prediction: Swansea survives once again as they end up in 17th, one spot from the relegation zone.
Tottenham
Tottenham finished second for the second season in a row last year, as Mauricio Pochettino’s men were simply unable to keep up with Chelsea. Spurs will be relying more or less on the same squad they had last season, which could be a good thing. They are arguably the most cohesive unit out of all the title contenders due to their continuity in recent years. Unfortunately, though, it may yet again not prove to be enough to finally claim that elusive title.
Prediction: Tottenham makes it back-to-back years of finishing 2nd-place finishes.
Watford
Watford has brought in manager Marco Silva, who orchestrated their successful survival last season, to replace Walter Mazzarri. The Hornets don’t have the most impressive of squads, but Silva has been known to do a lot with less. They did make Tom Cleverley’s loan move permanent and brought in Nathaniel Chalobah, which should help strengthen their midfield.
Prediction: Watford staves off relegation with a 16th-place finish.
West Brom
West Brom did that thing Tony Pulis teams tend to do, which is to fall off a cliff once they managed to secure survival. There’s no reason to believe it’ll be all that different next season. The Baggies look pretty content with their lot to keep plugging along in mid-table purgatory, and that’s most likely where they’ll end up.
Prediction: West Brom works toward another comfortable mid-table finish at 12th.
West Ham United
Slaven Bilic’s magic has seemingly worn off at West Ham. He was unable to transition them to their new home at the London Stadium, where they struggled for most of the season. Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta, and Javier Hernandez are fine signings, but they might not be enough for the Hammers to maintain their foothold in mid-table.
Prediction: Bilic can’t quite right the ship as the Hammers fall to 15th.
