**2014/15 Predictions thread**

1. Chelsea
2. Man City
3. Arsenal
4. Man Utd

Chelsea now have a squad which is not only full of great talent but now of depth. It is very strong and the mix of youth and experience makes it one of great potential. They will be there or thereabouts in all the other competitions as well.

Man City with their squad will be business as usual making it a two horse race but the additions to the Chelsea squad will make the difference in what will be a close race.
 
1. Chelsea - stronger than last year (as long as Costa stays fit)
2. City
3. Arsenal - lacking a strong defensive midfielder
4. Liverpool

5. Man U - there are still large holes in their squad and it will take time for the new manager/systems to settle
 
Andy7 said:
The squad has been strengthened for this coming season.

We lost out last season due to poor defending. The defence will be solid you watch.

As for Suarez....He will rue the day he left Liverpool. Mark my words.
Click to expand...

Impossible to be solid with Skrtel at the back.

omnomnom said:
Sturridge is the best striker in the league
Click to expand...

I'd wait and see what he does this season before labelling him as the best striker in the league.
 
Last edited:
Newbie007 said:
Whose better? Since joining us only Suarez scored more I belive.
Click to expand...

Well, on individual ability i'd take Aguero over him straight away.

In my eyes, Van Persie and Costa are also better strikers, although I appreciate Costa hasn't even kicked a ball in the EPL yet (and he also has only really had one amazing season)

I personally don't think Sturridge will emulate what he did last season this time round, losing Suarez is going to have an impact on his game also. If he scores 20+ goals again this time round, then there might be a case for it but he's only had one great season, it's a bit of a stretch to be calling him the best striker in the league.
 
Last edited:
Agreed with the above... Sturridge is a talented striker with bags of potential, but it'd take a brave man to compare him favourably with Aguero or Van Persie, who have shown that kind of performance for several seasons now.

Still wish we hadn't sold him though... another victim of the Fernando Torres debacle.

I really hope Costa joins the ranks of Aguero and Van Persie, but time will be the real test.
 
Moses said:
You could say as it stands, then post again once the window is closed.
Click to expand...

Hm, okay then. As it stands now:

1. Chelsea
2. Man City
3. Man Utd
4. Arsenal
5. Liverpool

3rd, 4th and 5th is a toss up at the moment, will come down to injuries/form/etc. If Arsenal weren't in Europe, I'd have them as 3rd, but given their injury records, form problems, and so on, I think we could pip them to 3rd. As it stands.

18. Leicester
19. Burnley
20. Aston Villa

I think Villa are pretty much already down looking at their signings, as well as the massive amount of negativity around the club.
 
I'm not really sure who will be relegated (though I agree Villa have to be among the favourites).

I think Leicester will survive though. Ambitious owner, and coming off the back of a dominant Championship season... I think they'll avoid tbe relegation zone pretty much all season.
 
Duff-Man said:
Agreed with the above... Sturridge is a talented striker with bags of potential, but it'd take a brave man to compare him favourably with Aguero or Van Persie, who have shown that kind of performance for several seasons now.

Still wish we hadn't sold him though... another victim of the Fernando Torres debacle.

I really hope Costa joins the ranks of Aguero and Van Persie, but time will be the real test.
Click to expand...

This is who the best striker is now, not for the past 5 years.

Sturridge has the best record by a mile and was only beaten by Suarez last season. He's scored 31 goals in 43 games for Liverpool.

He's the best striker in the league.
 
I'm quite surprised at how many people think that Liverpool wont make it into the top 4 tbh.

However, here are my predictions.

1. Chelsea - Dependent on Costa coming to terms with the English game quickly and settling in.

2. Arsenal - I actually think that Arsenal will come close this year, perhaps even as close as Liverpool were last year.

3. Man City - I've just got a strange feeling about City this year, I don't think that things are quite going to go right for them and I can see them finishing a half dozen points behind Chelsea and Arsenal.

4. Liverpool - Suarez may have gone, but Liverpool statistically have been just as good without Suarez and I think they've made some good signings, not the biggest names maybe, but the players all have a hunger that you sometimes don't get with the bigger name players. Sterling and Coutinho are going to be their key players.

5. Man Utd - They will be much better this time around, but as good a track record as LVG has, he hasn't had to face a stubborn, gritty Stoke on a crappy grim November evening. One thing that has tripped up many a big name foreign manager is that the EPL is a league where even the supposed lesser teams can trip you up, something you don't often see in the other European leagues which are all too often dominated by a few teams. That will take time to adjust to.


Relegated -

Burnley - My first choice for relegation, just don't think they have enough throughout the team to stay up.

Villa - Came close last time, think this time around it will be too close and they'll go down. On a positive note, I think they will come back up fairly quickly

West Ham - Seems that my 3rd choice is a surprise looking at the other predictions, but I really feel that West Ham are in a right state at the moment and I could see them imploding this season. Also my tip for first managerial sacking of the season. Was a close call this choice, between West Ham and Leicester, but I generally work under the belief that only 1 of the newly promoted teams goes back down straight away and Ive covered that with Burnley, so I'm taking West Ham on this one.
 
omnomnom said:
Sturridge has the best record by a mile and was only beaten by Suarez last season. He's scored 31 goals in 43 games for Liverpool.
Click to expand...

Aguero had a strike rate of one goal every 78 minutes. Sturridge was every 88 minutes. Injury prevented him from playing too many games.

Plenty of players have had exceptional seasons, only to not repeat them the following years. Playing alongside one of the best strikers the premiership has seen helps too.

Sturridge is one of the best strikers in the league, but if you believe that he's "the best by a mile" then you're deluding yourself.
 
Duff-Man said:
Also - where are you expecting to play Lallana? Don't you think he'll make the starting 11?
Click to expand...

I must admit, its a bit of a dilemma really, we've now got Lallana, Sterling, Coutinho, Sturridge , and lets not forget...Markovic. And that's if we don't buy another forward player.

In midfield, theres Can, Henderson, Allen, Gerrard and Lucas.

Frankly, I really have no idea at this point what our best 11 will be.

The defence I can see fairly clearly, Mignolet, Skrtel/Sakho, Lovren, Manquillo and Moreno/Flanagan. That seems fairly set to me.

Of course Gerrard and Sturridge go in...which just leaves 4 to be picked out of :

Can
Henderson
Allen
Lucas
Markovic
Sterling
Coutinho
Lallana

Its actually a more difficult choice than I realised :)
 
It's a good position to be in when you've got Champions League football on your plate. You can rotate and rest players without really dropping off quality.

It'll help maintain performance through the season, but I don't really see that the quality of the first 11 has improved over last season - something that can't be said for Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City, Man United.

As I said - I think it's the right move. But I'm not expecting a threat to the top two places this year.
 
I definitely see it as an improvement of quality myself.. I feel that Lovren, Manquillo and Moreno is a quality improvement over last years defence.

Sterling, Henderson and Coutinho have all improved over the last 12 months. So that's an improvement.

Markovic, Lallana and Can are all improvements over last years options for those positions.

I agree though that I don't think we will challenge for the top 2 this year, not unless things are a surprise..which is possible I suppose. I mean, lets face it...dig up this same thread from last year and just how many of us had Liverpool in 2nd (and almost 1st). I would wager that in this thread last year, most people didn't even have Liverpool in the top 4. Not that it means it will happen again, but I'm open to surprises :D
 
omnomnom said:
He's the best striker in the league.
Click to expand...

No.

Duff-Man said:
Aguero had a strike rate of one goal every 78 minutes. Sturridge was every 88 minutes. Injury prevented him from playing too many games.

Plenty of players have had exceptional seasons, only to not repeat them the following years. Playing alongside one of the best strikers the premiership has seen helps too.

Sturridge is one of the best strikers in the league, but if you believe that he's "the best by a mile" then you're deluding yourself.
Click to expand...

Says it all.

As I said before, if he emulates the same this coming season, then there might be grounds to put him up there. A player needs to show consistency over a number of seasons to really be considered the very best. Marcus Stewart scored a bucket load of goals in a season... then, er yeah, fell off the face of the planet.
 
Last edited:
Speak for yourself Tomb, I had us in at 3rd :p

I think we will continue to surprise people, everyone has written us off agin which is fantastic. Whilst I dont think we will be as amazing as last year, I fully expect us to continue blowing teams away, with Sterling and Coutinho having huge seasons. Sturridge if he can keep those pesky niggles away will hit close to 30 goals I think.

I also think we'll sign one more exciting attacker before the season is over, might not be this window but certainly in teh winter window.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom