Premier League 2024/25 predictions
So, last year went quite alright in terms of predictions. Some shouts were way off, don’t get me wrong (looking at you, Aston Villa), but it definitely could’ve been worse. The season kicks off tomorrow, which means it’s prediction time!
20th place: Southampton
Southampton went up via the playoffs last season, in what was a very competitive Championship season, especially the top 4. Even for a recently established Premier League side like Southampton I think it will be difficult to stay in the division. I do think they could have a better season than they did last time they went down, but it won’t be enough. Ben Brereton Diaz is a good signing for them, but after losing a few key players (including highly touted Armel Bella-Kotchap) their squad is just too weak in my opinion.
19th place: Leicester
Most of what I said for Southampton can also be said for Leicester City, however I think their squad is quite a bit better. They looked really impressive in the first half of the Championship last season, but looked massively shaky before finishing strong. It was a rollercoaster of a season, but they reached their goal comfortably in the end. Losing both their manager Enzo Maresca and key player Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to Chelsea will hamper their chances of staying in the league, but maybe a stable manager like Steve Cooper is exactly what a promoted side needs to stay up. There’s also the caveat of a possible points deduction looming over them which could prove disastrous.
18th place: Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest looked in real danger of going down last season, but narrowly stayed up with a couple of massive wins in the last few games. Their squad looks fairly similar to last season, and they haven’t gone on a massive signing spree like the past couple of seasons. Niakhate out isn’t the best news for Forest fans, but I think the signing of Milenkovic from Fiorentina will be an astute replacement. Elliott Anderson for £41m from Newcastle looks really steep (and it is), but it’s also balanced slightly as Vlachodimos went the opposite way for £23.6m. I can foresee a similar season from Forest this season, but this time it won’t be enough to stay up.
17th place: Ipswich
I must admit, this is more of a gut feeling than some hard-hitting analysis. There always seems to be one promoted side that defies expectations, and I just have a feeling that it’ll be Ipswich this season. I really like some of their signings, especially Jacob Greaves and Omari Hutchinson, but their biggest deal of the summer must be keeping hold of Kieran McKenna. He has done such an amazing job with Ipswich, and back-to-back promotions is simply bonkers. I’m also looking forward to see if Leif Davis can take the step up to become a Premier League level left back, as he could possibly be their most important player. Ipswich surviving would be an amazing achievement for them, and I just think they might actually do it.
16th place: Brentford
Brentford ended up surviving pretty comfortably last season, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see them dragged into a relegation dogfight based on the trajectory they’ve had since being promoted. I’m not moved by the business they have done this summer, but there’s still a couple of weeks left to get some deals over the line. I will admit I’m a big fan of Thomas Frank, both as a manager and by the way he speaks and expresses himself in the media. The rumours around Ivan Toney have cooled, so it will be interesting to see if he’s still a Brentford player come September. They also have Mbeumo who is a very effective attacker for them along with the likes of Yoanne Wissa and new signing Fabio Carvalho, so their attacking options will be solid either with or without Toney.
15th place: Bournemouth
Having Bournemouth regress after a very solid season may seem weird, but it’s almost entirely based on the departure of Dominic Solanke. By all means, they still have some exciting forwards, but replacing the amount of goals Solanke got is incredibly difficult. Iraola did a better job than anyone could’ve imagined, and I still think they will be decent this season, but they simply won’t have the striker to give them that extra edge that they had last season. Making Sinisterra and Ünal permanent signings while also getting the young defender Dean Huijsen from Juventus is good business, but in my opinion they will stagnate a little.
14th place: Everton
Based on actual performances from last season, I could see Everton doing quite well, and avoid being in a relegation battle. Losing Onana is a massive loss for them, but keeping Branthwaite for at least one more season could be game changing. It looked for a while like he was Man United bound, but the huge asking price kept them away. I like the signing of Ndiaye and Lindstrøm on loan, and if they keep up the same form as they had for big parts of last season (and their strikers can start scoring, which tend to be quite important) I can see them being comfortably safe. This is, of course, as long as they avoid further point deductions, which is still looming over them. We’ll see how that ends though.
13th place: Fulham
While they’ve lost both Tosin and Palhinha, I still quite like the look of this Fulham team. Emile Smith Rowe is a good signing, and the type of player that can elevate a team like Fulham if he plays like we know he can. Muniz proved to be a very good striker last season, and Fulham need him to keep up some of that form if they want to finish around mid table. Robinson is a great left back, and Bassey and Diop is a stellar partnership at the back, if a bit rash at times. I see Fulham as a 6/10 across the board, and that’s not meant as a bad thing.
12th place: Wolverhampton
I, as many others, were completely wrong about Wolves last season. I had them going down in 18th, but they proved me massively wrong. Gary O’Neil has shown to be a brilliant manager, and I expect them to build on last season and finish a few places higher. Pedro Neto is a big loss, but he was also injured a lot, so they might be able to deal with it better than most would think. In that sense, Kilman might be a bigger loss than Neto in my opinion. As a totally non-biased Norwegian, I’m a big fan of them loaning Jørgen Strand Larsen from Celta Vigo and think he could do very well, especially the link up with Cunha and Hwang.
11th place: Brighton
Two words: Yankuba Minteh. I am so excited to see how the Gambian will do for Brighton this season. I wanted Liverpool to have a look at him as an understudy to Salah, but playing consistently for Brighton is probably a better choice for him and his career. The link up with Joao Pedro, Evan Ferguson, Kaoru Mitoma and Simon Adingra will be something quite special I think. The rest of their team is also very nicely balanced, with new signing Mats Wieffer a possible gem in midfield. It’s also very exciting to see them take a punt on. 31 year old manager Fabian Hürzeler, who had massive success with St. Pauli in the 2. Bundesliga last season. We’ll have to see if a manager younger than a few of the players can guide them to a mid table finish.
10th place: West Ham
I think this area of the table will be really close, and West Ham could very well finish higher than 10th, but I simply think the teams ahead of them are slightly better. David Moyes is gone and replaced with Julen Lopetegui, who despite being Spanish is more similar to Moyes than some people think. West Ham will likely be defensively sound, especially with the additions of Max Kilman, Jean-Clair Todibo and Aaron Wan-Bissaka who are all quality signings in my opinion. Crysencio Summerville will add some flair and goal contributions from wide, and Niclas Füllkrug could very well prove to be the focal point that the Hammers sorely need. I am almost talking myself into bumping West Ham up a place or two here, but I’ll keep them here.
9th place: Crystal Palace
This could be recency bias as Palace finished the season incredibly well, but as long as they manage to keep the rest of their key players I think a top half finish is more than respectable for the Eagles. Olise leaving for Bayern München is very understandable, but a huge loss for Palace. Eze, Guehi and Andersen have all been rumoured to leave the club, but I struggle to see them being sold this close to the deadline. I can see Adam Wharton taking further steps after a brilliant second half to the season, and as long as Eze, Mateta and new signing Ismaila Sarr can deliver at their expected level, I can see Oliver Glasner’s lads doing quite well.
8th place: Chelsea
Well, Chelsea have bought some more players, who’s shocked? I just struggle to see the vision here, other than to stockpile players in the event of a transfer ban. Tosin, Pedro Neto and Dewsbury-Hall are players who can immediately come in and be of service to the first team in some sort of way, but they’re the exception so far. Chelsea still don’t have a top quality striker, and while Cole Palmer will deliver a lot of goal contributions from midfield or out wide, they need more players who’ll get into double figures. If they manage to pull someone like Victor Osimhen out of the hat, my tone will be slightly different, but as things stand I struggle to see them compete for top four once again.
7th place: Manchester United
Okay, so last season I was a bit too high on Manchester United, and there’s every chance that I’m now being too harsh on them. So far they’ve had a very decent window with some much needed defensive reinforcements, but I still think there’s some holes in the squad. A defensive midfielder is still a necessity, and I’m still not sure if they have enough goals coming from their forward line. Rashford obviously had a very disappointing season and United need him to come good again, because I’m not convinced Højlund and Zirkzee will produce enough goals to cover for another sub-par Rashford season. I also don’t believe Erik Ten Hag is safe by any means and a poor start to the season could see him out the door, especially after seeing the rumours surrounding the FA-Cup final. If that’s still INEOS’ stance on the manager, Ten Hag still has a lot prove, and it could very well be an uphill battle.
6th place: Aston Villa
Qualifying for the Champions League was a huge success for Aston Villa, but playing European Football could hamper them this coming season. Unai Emery is a genius when it comes to Europe (well, especially the Europa League), but Villa’s squad is mostly not, at least not at this level. I do think Villa have had one of the best transfer windows out of all the Premier League club, and though they’ve lost both Douglas Luiz and Moussa Diaby, I reckon the replacements are more than stellar. Amadou Onana was linked to higher profile clubs, Ross Barkley was a bargain if he can perform like he did at Luton last season and Ian Maatsen just reached a Champions League final with Borussia Dortmund. As long as Aston Villa can give a good account of themselves in the Champions League and finish in Europa League places, I reckon most of their fans would be content with that.
5th place: Newcastle
Just missing out on Champions League football (depending on the coefficient of course) is Newcastle United. What I wrote about Villa and the Champions League is basically what Newcastle went through last season, but with a buckload of injuries to boot. Their squad is very good, and having not lost any first team players at this moment in time (the window is still open for a couple more weeks) I think they are in good shape. Like I said, keeping fit and not losing any of Anthony Gordon, Aleksander Isak and Bruno Guimaraes is maybe the most important thing to them, but Sandro Tonali coming back from a lengthy ban is also (excuse the cliché) almost like a new signing. Without any form of European football I can absolutely see Newcastle getting into the top four, but the four teams ahead of them are too strong in my opinion.
4th place: Tottenham
After a rollercoaster of a first season for Ange Postecoglou where they were really close to claiming that 4th spot, I think they will manage to get over the line this time. Their squad was already very good, and the additions of youngsters Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall are really exciting, as I think they will be able to help the first team already despite both of them just being 18 years old. They may have overpaid a little for Dominic Solanke, but I think he can be good for them and maybe more importantly, let Heung-Min Son play in his best position out wide left. Square pegs in round holes is rarely a good idea, and with some new profiles that fit better in Postecoglou’s system I think Spurs will have a good season.
3rd place: Liverpool
There are a lot of unknowns when it comes to Liverpool this season. Arne Slot taking over after nine years of Jürgen Klopp is, as we say in Norway, like jumping after Wirkola (Does that work in English? I don’t know). The lack of a class defensive midfielder is clear as day, and has been for the past few years. Will they address it before the window shuts? Who knows, but missing out on Zubimendi hasn’t gone over well with the fans, I’ll say that much. Nevertheless, I think Liverpool’s squad is still very good, with a lot of world class players, but maybe not enough to challenge for the league title. There’s also the contract issues to sort out with Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, as the combination of that issue along with the inactivity in the transfer market is a bit worrying. Finishing 3rd again would not be a bad first season for Arne Slot though, especially if it’s complemented by a decent Champions League run.
2nd place: Arsenal
I almost feel bad for predicting Arsenal to finish 2nd for the third season running, but it’s just too hard to bet against Pep’s Manchester City. In last season’s predictions I said that City would run away with it, but it ended up being really close and I think that’ll be the case again. Arsenal have proved to be a very good team that’s tough to beat, and the addition of Calafiori is just going to help that. I still reckon they need a top quality striker to take them to the next level, as the output from their wingers isn’t necessarily enough to make up for the lack of goals from their centre forward. Again, the window is still open so much can still happen, but I can only go off of how the squad looks like right now, and I just think City have that cutting edge with a 25+ goal striker up front.
1st place: Manchester City
5 in a row would be quite disgusting, really. While Savinho have so far been their only signing, they haven’t sold anyone apart from Julian Alvarez that have played a significant role for the club. They still have the best DM in the world, the best striker in the world and last season’s POTY winner along with a plethora of world class footballers throughout the squad. There’s always the argument that as long as the squad isn’t rotated enough, the players will get complacent and their levels and intensity will drop a little, but that hasn’t happened to City so far under Pep’s tenure. They can’t allow that to happen either though, as Arsenal will likely be on their heels ready to pounce if that was the case. In reality though, Erling Haaland will likely score 30+, Rodri will play a billion passes and City will win the league with 90+ points yet again.