Good day everyone,

I hope you are all having a good day, welcome to CryptoGod-1's blog on all things sports. Today I will be doing an analysis on the upcoming Premier League season, focusing on the title race and where I foresee each team finishing in the league. With the Community Shield pitting Liverpool and Man City against each other today the action is back after a long summer break. While neither team will consider themselves fully up to fitness and the need to bed in their new signings, it should be an exciting clash and give an indication of how the top two will play for the coming season. This season will see a break for the 2022 World Cup in November and December, while the five subs rule will be introduced back. Its guaranteed to be an exciting season ahead.

 

Biggest Premier League Summer Transfer So Far

 

Darwin Nunez - Benfica to Liverpool - €100m

Erling Haaland - Dortmund to Man City - €75m

Richarlison - Everton to Tottenham - €70m

Raheem Sterling - Man City to Chelsea - €56m

Lisandro Martinez - Ajax to Man United - €55m

Gabriel Jesus - Man City to Arsenal - €52m

Kalvin Phillips - Leeds to Man City - €52m

Kalidou Koulibaly - Napoli to Chelsea - €38m

Sven Botman - Lille to Newcastle - €38m

Gianluca Scamacca - Sassuolo to West Ham - €38m

Fabio Vieira - Porto to Arsenal - €35m

 

 

Title Race

 

Man City

There have been plenty of changes in terms of squad personnel at Man City this summer, with the likes of Jesus, Sterling, and Zinchenko some of the first team players to have departed. In terms of incomings, Pep has signed one of the hottest young strikers in the world with Haaland and got a solid alternative for Rodri in the signing of Philips. Pep will want to maintain his dominance of English football but the elusive Champions League is something they must push for this season. Their humbling against Madrid in the semi finals will be fresh in the squads minds, and the fact Liverpool closed a fourteen point gap from the beginning of January will be a warning to City that they cannot have a slow start. Pep is relentless and will most likely tweek his style to see the fast action passes being delivered to Haaland on a constant basis for the striker to put away. If he can stay fit, Pep has a real gem of a striker on his hands and could really aim for the League and Champions League double. If injuries persist as they have of late, Pep may rue allowing both Sterling and Jesus to depart.

 

Liverpool

After their season battling on all four fronts, Liverpool have had an interesting summer transfer window. They smashed their transfer record to bring in an out and out forward in Darwin Nunez, while also seeing one of their famed front three leaving as Mané signed for Bayern Munich. The biggest story to emerge over the summer has been Salah signing a new contract, but the lack of reinforcements in midfield could be costly over the season for the Reds. Klopp will hope to see Elliot remain fit and break back into the first team, while new signing Carvalho has been impressing so far during pre season. With a likely formation change due to the signing of Nunez, which could see a 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 with Firmino and Jota capable of playing upfront alongside him, it should be an exciting campaign where the Reds will aim to challenge on all four fronts again. If they can maintain their form from the second half of last season where they were one of if not the best team in the world, Klopp will have high hopes and expectations of his squad this season.

 

 

Top Four Race

 

Chelsea

With the drama of Abramovich behind them, Chelsea have instead had to focus on a mini defensive crisis as they lost Rudiger and Christensen on frees, with Azpilicueta wanted by Barcelona. Tuchel has managed to bring in Koulibaly but lost out to Barca in the signing of Koundé. The loan of Lukaku to Inter will be seen as a poor piece of business by the club, but Sterling will bring pace and technique along with a winners mentality to the front line. Whether or not they can push on and challenge for the league will depend on how Tuchel controls the mental aspect of his squad, as they looked favourites up until December last season when they started to implode.

 

Tottenham

Conte has certainly made his mark at Tottenham, and having secured top four he has pushed on in the transfer market to shape his squad in his own image. Perisic, Bissouma, Forster and Richarlison will help the Italian shape and implement his formation and style of wingbacks into the team even more for his first full season in charge. Kane and Son will have that added support from Richarlison while Bissouma will add steel to the midfield as they look to cement themselves as a regular Champions League side. With Conte in the final season of his short term contract, it will be interesting to see if he considers a longer term role at the club if they continue in their upward trajectory under his management.

 

Arsenal

Arteta has made a host of changes to his squad so far, including making Odengaard his captain. Lacazette and Tavares and have departed, while Zinchenko, Jesus, and Vieira have been the big signings so far. It was a disappointing end to last season for Arsenal, dropping out of the top four when they look certain to secure Champions League football. Having improved themselves upfront after relying on Lacazette and Nketiah for the second half of last season, this will be make or break for Arteta. He has been backed heavily in the market and if he does not finish in the top four, and potentially deliver more cup success, it could be curtains for his tenure at the club.

 

Man United

A new manager and a new style, Ten Haag will bring something different to the Manchester United dugout. So far the signs have been positive, but pre season means nothing once the real competitive matches start. Ronaldo remains a huge issue for the club, with rumours of his exit constantly in the news. Bar that niggling issue, Ten Haag has been active in signing players who will suit his style, with United bring in a host of players familiar with the coach or Dutch league, including Malacia, Eriksen, and Martinez. De Jong is still linked with the club and by having these players Ten Haag could see his new side adapt to his style quickly. While this cannot be seen as another season of transition, a push to finish in the top four and decent run in Europe would represent a good season for the club.

 

 

Relegation Battle

 

Bournemouth

Another Norwich, Bournemouth have spent no money on new signings so far. They played strong in the Championship last season but will be asking a lot of the likes of Lloyd Kelly, Solanke, and Brooks to step up and kept them in the Premier League. They may add to the squad before the end of the window, but it seems they will do like Norwich last season and be the almost guaranteed team to go down again. Scott Parker has a long season ahead, and he will hope to at least add Nataniel Phillips on loan again from Liverpool, but it still seems too little in terms of recruitment for a top flight campaign.

 

Fulham

Fulham have already made some additions to their squad, with Palhinha and Pereria the biggest additons so far. Leno is bound for the club and could add stability in goal, but loosing Carvalho to Liverpool will be a big loss. Aleksandar Mitrović smashed it in the Championship last year breaking the goalscoring record, but has struggled in the Premier League in the past. A few more additions and Fulham could have a good season, but on current terms it seem like they could be bound for the drop.

 

Brentford

Thomas Frank has a difficult task on his hands this season, especially seeing how their form began to dip at the turn of the year last season. It was Eriksen who helped galvanised them and provide that spark to help keep Brentford in the division, but he is gone to Man United now. Ivan Toney will need to step up and show he is true Premier League quality as a striker to help keep the Bees in the league, and they should expect a tough season ahead.

 

Leeds United

With both Raphina and Phillips leaving the club over the summer, Leeds will need to look ahead with a new superstar for the fans to adore. They have brought in over 100 million through those sales and reinvested in players such as Aaronson, Kristensen, Roca, Gyabi, Sinisterra, and Adams. How quick these players adapt to their new manager and the rigours of the Premier League will be a key factor in how their season goes, but I expect it to be a long season at Elland Road with relegation a constant threat throughout the course of the season.

 

Nottingham Forest

Forest are back in the top flight and seem determined to remain, having spent over €75m so far on new signings to improve their squad. Awoniyi and Williams, both former Liverpool players, will be the big key signings to the squad, along with the experience and desire of Henderson in goal on loan from United. Lingard was a surprise signing but could provide that spark, similar to his loan at West Ham. Things look bright for the club but as many promoted sides have shown in the past, getting a team to gel and click in the to league is often more complicated that signing top level players, just think of QPR and their 2 year stay in the league after 25 signings and relegation in 2013.

 

Everton

Another difficult season ahead for Everton with their star forward and the man whose goals kept them up gone, as Richarlison departed to Spurs. Lampard has a mighty task on his hands and whether he is up to the task will be shown this season. He managed to keep them up last year but it was as much because of the lack of quality at Burnley and Watford than his own abilities on show. With a pre season under his belt and time to implement his style, Tarkowski could be the key signing to shore up their leaky defence. McNeil and Vinagre are decent additions but a replacement for Richarlison is vital to remain in the top flight.

 

 

Final Table Prediction

Below is my prediction of how the Premier League table will league after the 2022/23 season.

 

1 - Liverpool

2 - Manchester City

3 - Tottenham

4 - Arsenal

5 - Chelsea

6 - West Ham United

7 - Newcastle United

8 - Manchester United

9 - Leicester 

10 - Aston Villa

11 - Wolves

12 - Crystal Palace

13 - Southampton

14 - Nottingham Forest

15 - Brighton

16 - Brentford

17 - Everton

18 - Leeds

19 - Fulham

20 - Bournemouth

 

 

Top Scorers Prediction

 

With so many talented attackers joining the league this season, along with Sterling and Jesus moving to clubs where they will get more game time, its certain to be a tight battle for the golden boot. My prediction of who the top scorers in the league will be are below:

 

1 - Salah - Liverpool

2 - Kane - Tottenham

3 - Haaland - Manchester City

4 - Nunez - Liverpool

5 - Son - Tottenham

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the article and look forward to the season ahead. Enjoy the Community Shield match today if you get to see it and have a great day.

Peace. CryptoGod-1.

 

Referral links:

Publish0x - https://www.publish0x.com/?a=olejZqrzej

Splinterlands - https://splinterlands.com?ref=rnabc1

Upland - r.upland.me/NQAH

Binance - https://accounts.binance.com/en/register?ref=143611368

 

NFT Market Sales

Opensea - https://opensea.io/RNabc

 

Follow Me :)

Twitter - @RNabc123