We predict eight likely events in the Premier League next year, as 2014’s footballing action comes to an end.
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Chelsea will win the Premier League
This may not be the most outlandish of calls – but it is hard to see the Blues failing to continue building on their form in the first half of the season and lifting the Premier League crown in May. Whether they are better one-off team than Manchester City is certainly debatable, but they are the most consistent and ruthless, which should be enough to see them home.
Manuel Pellegrini will leave Manchester City
The shelf life of a manager at one of the top Premier League clubs is no longer a particularly long time – and it is easy to envisage Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini coming under plenty of pressure if his side fail to overhaul Chelsea in the battle to win the Premier League, unless they pull off the remarkable feat of triumphing in Europe.
Burnley will stay up
They may have fallen back into the Premier League relegation zone on goal difference, but Burnley are putting up a remarkable fight under Sean Dyche when their resources, compared to the 19 other clubs in the division, are taken into account. The Clarets have fight, resilience and no lack of quality with the likes of striker Danny Ings.
Arsenal will sign a defensive midfielder
This may be the most outlandish prediction of them all – but we believe that Arsene Wenger is finally going to address the clear hole that his team has in defensive midfield. Rumours surrounding the likes of Sami Khedira and William Carvalho are picking up pace and we expect the Gunners to make a buy in January.
Manchester United will finish fourth
We expect Manchester United to seal a return to Champions League football at the first time of asking – but by finishing fourth in the Premier League, rather than third, meaning they’ll have to make do with a play-off. They’ll probably be overtaken by Arsenal, who should improve in 2015.
Southampton will finish fifth
Ronald Koeman’s Southampton appear to have come out of the other end of their poor run of form, and have now made it back into the Premier League’s top four. Whilst we can’t see the Saints quite sustaining that over the remainder of the season, we can see them being like Everton last season – just missing out and finishing fifth.
Crystal Palace will appoint Alan Pardew and get relegated
It’ll all end in tears. Crystal Palace look primed to name Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew as their replacement for the sacked Neil Warnock – but we can see him failing to make an impact at Selhurst Park and taking the Eagles down into the Championship.
An English team will win the Europa League
An extra layer of intrigue has been added to the Europa League, traditionally the lesser appreciated of the two continental competitions, with the fact that this year’s winner will earn qualification for the big one. With that looking unlikely in the league, we can see one of Everton, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur going all the way.