2022-23 Season Premiership Predictions

Heres my predictions for the upcoming season. Obviously a lot can depend on what happens in the remaining weeks of the summer transfer window. But as it stands.

1.      Liverpool

2.      Manchester City

3.      Tottenham

4.      Chelsea

5.     Arsenal

6.     West Ham

7.     Manchester United

8.     Newcastle

9.     Aston Villa

10. Leicester

11. Crystal Palace

12. Brighton

13. Everton

14. Wolves

15. Leeds

16. Brentford

17. Nottingham Forest

18. Fulham

19. Southampton

20. Bournemouth

 

The title race will be another closely fought race but this time Liverpool will just come out on top. The race is likely to boil down to which team adjusts quicker to their new striker. Neither team have played with a target man number 9 for a number of years and will both require some tactical adjustment to get the best out of their new striker. The adjustment should be easier for Liverpool, while a greater spread of goals in their attack should help them. Without Jesus and Sterling, it is hard to see where the goals will come from for City if Haaland gets injured or struggles to adapt to the premiership straight away. Liverpool have Salah, Jota and Firmino to share the goal load with Nunez and that could be the difference. 

Below them are four teams going through somewhat of a rebuild, all too far off challenging for the title but with serious hopes of achieving top four and all-important champions league football.

Spurs, with Conte in charge will take some stopping. They have recruited well in the transfer window with Richarlison finally providing some cover for Kane while strengthening throughout the team. Big question will be whether, now with Conte in charge, they finally have the mentality to seriously challenge for trophies. The league looks out of reach but they could do well in the cups.

Chelsea have had to rebuild their defence which is still ongoing at time of writing. How they do this season will depend on how the last few weeks of the transfer window play out, they continue to be linked with various big names. They will be there or thereabouts although after the failed Lukaku experiment, they could still be short in attack.

Arsenal look to have missed their big opportunity of making the top four last season while Tottenham struggled. They have recruited well in the transfer window and are still expected to make 1-2 more signings. Likely to just miss out on top four, winning the Europa League would be a very achievable alternative way into the champions league though.

Manchester United are going through a big rebuild after the disasters of the Solskjaer and Rangnick period. Erik Ten Hag looks like a very capable replacement but the squad remains bloated with underperforming and average players. So far in signing Martinez, Malacia and Eriksen, United seemed to have signed players Ten Hag likes, rather than players they need. They now have five left backs but no decent out and out striker for example. If Ronaldo leaves, there will be a gaping hole in attack which Martial and Rashford don’t look good enough to fill. A lot of work for United to do and they won’t get back into the top four this season.

Indeed, they could even be beaten to sixth by West Ham who have made some decent additions to an already strong team. Unlucky to miss out on top six last time around, they are capable of doing that this season, while the greater squad depth should help them go far in the Europa conference league as well.

Newcastle and Aston Villa are fast improving and should finish comfortably in the top 10 having done good transfer business this summer. The next step for them then in 2023-24 will be to challenge for Europe.

Leicester are stagnant, last season was a real struggle with injuries and loss of form. No signings this summer, plus potential outgoings of key players suggest that their days of challenging the top four are over for now.

Crystal Palace and Brighton should consolidate their mid-table positions and continue to impress with their style of play under rising managers Vieira and Potter respectively. Its likely to only be a matter of time before someone bigger comes along to poach them though.

Everton should join them in mid-table after their disastrous 2021-22 season. Richarlison is a big loss, but Tarkowski should make a big difference to their shaky defence.

The remaining seven teams are likely to be in a dogfight to avoid relegation. Wolves should be strong enough to be safe, but the lack of attacking firepower is a big worry especially with the injury to Jimenez.

Brentford and Leeds have both recruited well but have lost key players in the transfer window. Second season syndrome to strike Brentford and they could easily be relegated. Leeds should have enough to stay up, especially as they have addressed their lack of squad depth.

Southampton have signed a number of overpriced youngsters, but after a disastrous run of form towards the end of last season I think their time in the premiership could be coming to an end. They are another team lacking goals in attack while their defence can be very shaky. Its hard to judge how the new players will do but it’s a lot of pressure on them.

Of the newly promoted teams, Bournemouth look relegation certainties. The team looks significantly weaker than the one relegated in 2020 and they have been very quiet in the transfer window.

Nottingham Forest by contrast have been very busy in the window, but all the new players will take time to gel as a team. If they can come together quickly, then their quality could see them safe.

Fulham will depend on how well they can utilise Mitrovic in the premier league. He struggled the last time in the premiership but the team seems better equipped to get the best out of him this time and he has undoubted quality.