The 2022-23 English Premier League is set to kick off on the 5th of August and it is set to run until the end of May 2023 due to the World Cup break. Still the more football the better right? Anyway, this season looks set to be another split division with a top six a few pretenders and a bunch of clubs who are only a bad injury run away from relegation.
Leicester who shook the footballing world in 2015-16 and West Ham have recently broken into the top six, all be it briefly and newly minted Newcastle will have ambitions too. However, we think it will be the usual suspects filling the European places this year.
The division also has a bit of a London look to this year with seven teams from the capital taking part, which is the most ever if you exclude the 1994-95 season. It doesn’t count for us as Wimbledon was one of them but never was a London club as far as we are concerned. This will give us plenty of local derbies to enjoy.
Anyway enough preamble it’s time to make our predictions. Sadly we are probably not too original with our top six!
Winner
Manchester City will start the season without a few familiar faces, however, with the addition of Erling Haaland & Kalvin Phillips they don’t look any weaker. Plus we expect Jack Grealish to be better this season now that he has had time to adjust. Plus money is no object at the Etihad so they can easily dive into the January transfer market if they need a refresh.
We expect Liverpool to chase them home again. The departure of Sadio Mané has been offset by the arrival of Carvalho & Núñez but overall they don’t look any stronger. Once again it looks like a two-horse race, although the gap to third might be a bit less than last year’s 18 points.
European Places
Tottenham look to be on the up with a top manager in Conte and some solid additions to the squad. Perisic may not be the force of old but grabbing him on free looks inspired and Richarlison should flourish with the talent around him. He and Harry Kane look like being one of the league’s best striking partnerships in 2022-23.
Image: Cosmin Iftode/Shutterstock.com
Similarly, Arsenal should be better. It’s a little concerning that their top two signings are players Manchester City find surplus to requirements but Fábio Vieira looks a great addition. The Portuguese U21 International had a breakout season for Porto last year and he should add some goals from midfield.
Chelsea may find the recent upheaval a bit too much this year and like Arsenal, their main signing is another former Man City player. We think they will be edged out of for 5th place by Manchester United.
How Will the Newly Promoted Team fare?
All three promoted teams Fulham, Bournemouth & Nottingham Forest will be amongst the favourites for relegation and it will be no surprise if they fill the bottom three spots. Fulham is the epitome of a yo-yo team having fluctuated between the Premiership and Championship for the last 5 years.
A bit like Norwich they dominate at a lower level but struggle against the big boys. Will things change this year? Well selling Fábio Carvalho to Liverpool won’t help! Their hopes rest on Aleksandar Mitrović finding his scoring boots at this level. He scored a record 43 in 44 games in the Championship last season but has only managed 24 in his previous 104 Premier League starts!
Bournemouth has been all quiet on the transfer front, with Marcus Tavernier being the only addition of note. He is largely unproven at this level and they look set to struggle.
This leaves Nottingham Forest former champions of Europe who are back in the big time for the first time since 1999. They have spent big and are a totally unknown quantity at this stage. We are looking forward to seeing how Taiwo Awoniyi gets. His goals were instrumental in helping Union Berlin reach the Europa League places last year (against the odds). If he can replicate his Bundesliga form Forest could surprise a few.
Relegation candidates
Brentford may struggle to improve on last season’s magnificent effort. The second season up is always tough and the inspired signing of Christian Eriksen in the January window was a large part of this. They won seven of their eleven games after his arrival but he is now gone on a free transfer!
The three promoted teams will find it hard and Southampton & Crystal Palace could find themselves in the mire too. Leeds United survived on the last day and now with Phillips & Raphinha gone they too could struggle. Still, they at least got decent transfer fees for them and if their new signings gel then who knows.
Premier League Final Table Prediction
1 Manchester City
2 Liverpool
3 Tottenham Hotspur
4 Arsenal
5 Manchester United
6 Chelsea
7 West Ham United
8 Newcastle United
9 Leicester City
10 Aston Villa
11 Brighton & Hove Albion
12 Everton
13 Wolverhampton Wanderers
14 Leeds United
15 Crystal Palace
16 Nottingham Forest
17 Southampton
18 Fulham
19 Brentford
20 Bournemouth
So there we have it, our predictions for the 2022-23 English Premier League. Should be close again but Manchester City looks to have had the better of the summer transfer market and they should edge Liverpool once again to collect their third title in a row.
While you are here check out our most recent Premier League posts or indulge in a Football Quiz or Two and let the world know you know your football!
Header Image: Kai L Connell/Shutterstock.com
jordonc ✅
