So the football season is pretty much into full swing and we are getting a rough idea of who has improved their squad sufficiently and who should have opened their cheque book a bit sooner albeit with just under a week until the transfer window slams shut.
Haven seen a lot of the matches that have been played up and down the leagues so far I thought I would share with you all my where I think teams will be finishing come May.
I will be naming who I think will win the Premier League, SPL and the European competitions. I’ll also add in who I think will over-achieve, underachieve and finish top goal scorer.
I’ll start with the Premier League, arguably the best year for it in terms of squads. Manchester City have added Sergio Aguero and Samir Nasri which makes their side deadly going forward, but are they a side accomplished at the back? I don’t think they are, and for that reason I feel they won’t be able to win the league, but will come second. Chelsea are just starting to improve their squad with new manager Andre Villas Boas, but they are in danger of having a lot of unhappy players in their squad, particularly in attack. Fernando Torres continues to be picked ahead of Didier Drogba but is still not producing the form which he so often showed at Liverpool. I haven’t been impressed at the start of this season with Chelsea, and with a lack of signings and players off-form, I’ll have to put them in third place for this season. Liverpool have added a lot of new players and quality into their side, and with Luis Suarez leading the line I think they’ll make a return to Champions League football finishing fourth. This means I only have first place to be taken and I can’t see past Manchester United for this place, with Rooney and Hernandez being complimented by Ashley Young now I think they’ll be stronger than last year and because of this I think they’ll occupy top spot next May.
Over-achievers I think will be Aston Villa who are now being led by Alex McLeish, he’s added Shay Given and Charles N’Zogbia and I think he has a squad good enough to make a push for Europe.
Underachievers has to go to Arsenal, they’ve sold their two star men and don’t look to be replacing them at this point and will have to rely on youth too much.
Relegated will be Blackburn, West Brom and Swansea.
Top scorer I think will be Luis Suarez who has already shown he has what it takes to make it in the Premier League.
Moving onto the SPL and it is Rangers and Motherwell who have set the pace so far in the season which started early to many people’s annoyance. Celtic suffered a shock at the weekend by losing at home to St.Johnstone, although they were missing arguably their three best players in Gary Hooper, Beram Kayal and Emilio Izaguirre. Celtic have tried shoring up the defence in the summer and look to have brought in a couple of good defenders in the shape of Kelvin Wilson and Adam Matthews but it is the goalkeeping position that worries most Celtic fans and many are still unconvinced that Fraser Forster is the man to have the number one jersey.
Rangers have managed to tie down their best players, including goalkeeper Allan McGregor, on long term contracts over the summer and bring in a raft of new players including Juan Manuel Ortiz, Alejandro Bedoya and Carlos Bocanegra. But there appears to be a lot of early season pressure because of poor results and performances including getting put out the Champions League qualifying stage by Swedish outfit Malmo. Results have started to turn around despite a huge thirteen players being unavailable to the manager. The fans aren’t thoroughly impressed with signings or results so far and I can’t see the signings being great for Rangers, I think Celtic have a greater strength in depth for later in the season and a better technically gifted side and for this reason I think Celtic will win the league this year and stop Rangers’ bid for four in a row.
Underachievers will be Dundee United without David Goodwillie.
Overachievers will be St.Mirren who have started brightly and are playing some good football along the way.
Relegated will be Dunfermline, their squad doesn’t look strong enough to deal with any relegation rivals.
Top goal scorer will be Gary Hooper.
In terms of the Champions League I can’t see past Barcelona retaining their crown, having added Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez to their ranks I can’t think of any team getting the better of them.
Follow me @markconnor7