Premier league season got disrupted first due to the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the second and then the international break. Total 7 games were played as 3 needed to be postponed due to policing issues surrounding the monarch’s funeral. We have decided to deviate from usual game reviews and decided to rank the teams thus far based on the performance this season
Arsenal find themselves at top of the table going in to the international break and they have been almost perfect. 6 wins out of 7 and a rebound win against Brentford away from home makes them one of the favorites to finish in top 4 this season. The defeat against Manchester united was avoidable if Arteta had taken a pragmatic approach but it also shows that watching Arsenal will be a lot of fun for the neutral this season as they don’t intend to sit back and play for a draw against bigger teams away from home.
At this point in time City are a point behind Arsenal and for all intents and purposes look like the potential champions. Haaland has set the league on fire and he seems to score whenever he feels like. With world class midfielders surrounding him and creating chances for him this could be a season when City go unbeaten the whole season. For me City are huge favourites to win the league.
Spurs are not playing well. They are sitting back conceding possession and happy to play a boring version of football but well capable of hitting opponents on the break and their goal conversion rate is unreal. They are scoring a lot of goals without being at their best and not conceding many. If there is one team in the league this season that can give Manchester City a run for their money that is Tottenham and I can see them finishing second
Life has changed at Brighton as their beloved manager who was working his magic thus far this season has departed for Chelsea. Brighton are unlikely to continue to show this level of consistency and will slide down the table. I still expect them to finish in the top half of the table and their expected position is 10th.
Crisis? What crisis? Erik ten Hag has managed to employ shrewd tactics to gain points and move up the table with a team that he was given. United played on the counter at home against Liverpool and Arsenal and got desired results. They still don’t seem like a team that can manage to continue on this winning run but they are now in the race for top four. I can't see them getting there though as there are too many fundamental issues for the manager to address but the future seems very bright for United and glory days aren’t far. This season they are likely to finish 5th.
Fulham have had an amazing start to the season and Marco Silva is a more than decent manager. For promoted teams in premier league goal scoring has always been a problem but with Mitrovic, Fulham have solved that particular issue. They will finish outside top 10 but just outside. I feel fulham will finish 12th which will make the season a very successful one.
One manager sacked and another one appointed but the cycle of scoring first then defending and eventually conceding. Dominating again and failing to score and ending up with a 1-1 draw just keeps going on with this Chelsea team. Auba hasn’t found his scoring boots as yet and Potter needs to come up with a solution and quickly. Chelsea looks like a team that might finish 6th this season.
What's gone wrong with Liverpool ? How did a team of this magnitude ended up with Harvey Milner and Henderson as their midfield. A team that has most of superstars in 30s and probably sliding in to decline. No major transfer spending when compared to Chelsea, United or even Arsenal. Liverpool need to find the top form and one can back Klopp to do so. They will finish in top 4 and probably 3rd. Can not be deemed as a successful season and after the 4-1 drubbing by Napoli they don’t seem favorites for UCL as well.
Brentford now belong to Premier league. They have a good hard working tactically sound manager and Toney who has managed to earn his first call up for England after impressive displays in premier league. They are playing well and are expected to finish in top 10. I can see them finishing 9th.
Richest club in the world, exciting days, decent and sound manager, signing of Alex Isak and a lot of draws. That’s the story of Newcastle United thus far. They wont be beaten at home as they are too good for that and will pick up a few wins on the road. I see them finishing 7th and they are expected to strengthen further in January as well.
Leeds have started the season well but it seems to be on the decline already and it will be a rollercoaster of a season with more downs than ups. They had their match away to man United postponed and with fixture congestion that might play in their favor. I expect them to finish 17th this season and survive.
Sacking of Parker has worked like a tonic for Bournemouth and they have managed to gain enough points thus far to achieve a respectable position in the table before the international break. O’neill seems to be doing well but it doesn’t seem long lasting. Bournemouth are a favorite candidate for the drop and I see them finishing 19th.
Everton go in to the break with a good feeling of managing to get a win and it will help Lampard and his team going forward. Due to fixture cancellations they avoided a trip to Emirates which might work better for them. They wont get to the top half of the table but will surely survive and stay in the league. 14th is the highest I see them finishing.
Southampton have a habit of getting points whenever they are in trouble. With no new signings or investments they are fixated on staying in the league and there always are three teams that are worse than Southampton every year. They will stay up but might finish 16th.
Villa have a squad which should be achieving a lot more than what they are and that’s a concern. A team with a very creative and industrious midfield and decent strike force shouldn’t be 15th and they wont be for long. Top half might be out of their reach and they shall finish 11th.
Palace are a force at home and Vieira is a very good manager. They have players that can hurt other teams and they play good football. They will rise up the table and probably finish 13th though they have the aspirations to finish in the top half. Unfortunately they don’t have the resources to back the manager to achieve that.
This has been a difficult season for Wolves so far. They cant seem to be able to score and with a resolute defense they are capable of picking up draws and solitary points but they needs goals and might have to dive in the January transfer window. At the moment they look like finishing 15th
Hammers are down in the relegation zone but there have been signs that things are clicking for David Moyes and his team and I expect them to have a little run of victories and move up the table rapidly. They are still my favorite team to finish 8th.
There are massive concerns at Forrest. They have lost to both promoted sides and they are taking leads and then falling apart in games and losing games from winning positions. I cant see them anywhere else but 20th.
The former premier league champions are not supposed to be in the relegation zone with players like Barnes vardy and Maddison but they are. The start is worse than what Derby achieved as the worst ever premier league team a few seasons ago. Rogers needs to go and if he doesn’t then City will go down and finish 18th.
League Table (predicted end of season)
- Arsenal
Arsenal find themselves at top of the table going in to the international break and they have been almost perfect. 6 wins out of 7 and a rebound win against Brentford away from home makes them one of the favorites to finish in top 4 this season. The defeat against Manchester united was avoidable if Arteta had taken a pragmatic approach but it also shows that watching Arsenal will be a lot of fun for the neutral this season as they don’t intend to sit back and play for a draw against bigger teams away from home.
- Man City
At this point in time City are a point behind Arsenal and for all intents and purposes look like the potential champions. Haaland has set the league on fire and he seems to score whenever he feels like. With world class midfielders surrounding him and creating chances for him this could be a season when City go unbeaten the whole season. For me City are huge favourites to win the league.
- Tottenham
Spurs are not playing well. They are sitting back conceding possession and happy to play a boring version of football but well capable of hitting opponents on the break and their goal conversion rate is unreal. They are scoring a lot of goals without being at their best and not conceding many. If there is one team in the league this season that can give Manchester City a run for their money that is Tottenham and I can see them finishing second
- Brighton
Life has changed at Brighton as their beloved manager who was working his magic thus far this season has departed for Chelsea. Brighton are unlikely to continue to show this level of consistency and will slide down the table. I still expect them to finish in the top half of the table and their expected position is 10th.
- Manchester United
Crisis? What crisis? Erik ten Hag has managed to employ shrewd tactics to gain points and move up the table with a team that he was given. United played on the counter at home against Liverpool and Arsenal and got desired results. They still don’t seem like a team that can manage to continue on this winning run but they are now in the race for top four. I can't see them getting there though as there are too many fundamental issues for the manager to address but the future seems very bright for United and glory days aren’t far. This season they are likely to finish 5th.
- Fulham
Fulham have had an amazing start to the season and Marco Silva is a more than decent manager. For promoted teams in premier league goal scoring has always been a problem but with Mitrovic, Fulham have solved that particular issue. They will finish outside top 10 but just outside. I feel fulham will finish 12th which will make the season a very successful one.
- Chelsea
One manager sacked and another one appointed but the cycle of scoring first then defending and eventually conceding. Dominating again and failing to score and ending up with a 1-1 draw just keeps going on with this Chelsea team. Auba hasn’t found his scoring boots as yet and Potter needs to come up with a solution and quickly. Chelsea looks like a team that might finish 6th this season.
- Liverpool
What's gone wrong with Liverpool ? How did a team of this magnitude ended up with Harvey Milner and Henderson as their midfield. A team that has most of superstars in 30s and probably sliding in to decline. No major transfer spending when compared to Chelsea, United or even Arsenal. Liverpool need to find the top form and one can back Klopp to do so. They will finish in top 4 and probably 3rd. Can not be deemed as a successful season and after the 4-1 drubbing by Napoli they don’t seem favorites for UCL as well.
- Brentford
Brentford now belong to Premier league. They have a good hard working tactically sound manager and Toney who has managed to earn his first call up for England after impressive displays in premier league. They are playing well and are expected to finish in top 10. I can see them finishing 9th.
- Newcastle United
Richest club in the world, exciting days, decent and sound manager, signing of Alex Isak and a lot of draws. That’s the story of Newcastle United thus far. They wont be beaten at home as they are too good for that and will pick up a few wins on the road. I see them finishing 7th and they are expected to strengthen further in January as well.
- Leeds United
Leeds have started the season well but it seems to be on the decline already and it will be a rollercoaster of a season with more downs than ups. They had their match away to man United postponed and with fixture congestion that might play in their favor. I expect them to finish 17th this season and survive.
- Bournemouth
Sacking of Parker has worked like a tonic for Bournemouth and they have managed to gain enough points thus far to achieve a respectable position in the table before the international break. O’neill seems to be doing well but it doesn’t seem long lasting. Bournemouth are a favorite candidate for the drop and I see them finishing 19th.
- Everton
Everton go in to the break with a good feeling of managing to get a win and it will help Lampard and his team going forward. Due to fixture cancellations they avoided a trip to Emirates which might work better for them. They wont get to the top half of the table but will surely survive and stay in the league. 14th is the highest I see them finishing.
- Southampton
Southampton have a habit of getting points whenever they are in trouble. With no new signings or investments they are fixated on staying in the league and there always are three teams that are worse than Southampton every year. They will stay up but might finish 16th.
- Aston Villa
Villa have a squad which should be achieving a lot more than what they are and that’s a concern. A team with a very creative and industrious midfield and decent strike force shouldn’t be 15th and they wont be for long. Top half might be out of their reach and they shall finish 11th.
- Crystal Palace
Palace are a force at home and Vieira is a very good manager. They have players that can hurt other teams and they play good football. They will rise up the table and probably finish 13th though they have the aspirations to finish in the top half. Unfortunately they don’t have the resources to back the manager to achieve that.
- Wolves
This has been a difficult season for Wolves so far. They cant seem to be able to score and with a resolute defense they are capable of picking up draws and solitary points but they needs goals and might have to dive in the January transfer window. At the moment they look like finishing 15th
- West Ham
Hammers are down in the relegation zone but there have been signs that things are clicking for David Moyes and his team and I expect them to have a little run of victories and move up the table rapidly. They are still my favorite team to finish 8th.
- Nottingham Forrest
There are massive concerns at Forrest. They have lost to both promoted sides and they are taking leads and then falling apart in games and losing games from winning positions. I cant see them anywhere else but 20th.
- Leicester City
The former premier league champions are not supposed to be in the relegation zone with players like Barnes vardy and Maddison but they are. The start is worse than what Derby achieved as the worst ever premier league team a few seasons ago. Rogers needs to go and if he doesn’t then City will go down and finish 18th.
League Table (predicted end of season)
- Man City
- Tottenham
- Liverpool
- Arsenal
- Man United
- Chelsea
- Newcastle United
- West Ham United
- Brentford
- Brighton
- Aston Villa
- Fulham
- Crystal Palace
- Everton
- Wolves
- Southampton
- Leeds
- Leicester
- Bournemouth
- Nottingham Forest