Top 4 race / race abandoned (or maybe not) / Leicester & Chelsea in the process of bottling it

Andycoleno9

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Time to start this i guess. So, lets meet contenders;

Liverpool. Champions with world class manager. Stronger than last year with Thiago and Jota.
Nailed in top 4. They will finish 1-2.

City. They want title back. Lost Sane but bought 2 players and will buy more i guess. World class manager and excellent squad. Nailed in top 4. They will finish 1-2. I think that they will win it.

Chelsea. Amazing transfer window. They have 2 players for every position. But they are shaky in defence. Manager showed that he has talent but lets see how he will work with result pressure.
Too strong to miss top 4 (if they start losing, Roman will hire top manager) but not good enough yet to challenge for title. Nailed for top 4. They will finish 3rd.

Spurs. Mourinho's second season. Very good squad, pretty good transfer window and without CL games this season. Strong contender for top 4. My opinion is that they will finish 4th. (unless Jose goes crazy).

Wolves. Solid team with solid manager. Will try to catch top 4 but need amazing season for that. My prediction 7th-9th.

Arsenal. Good squad but with only one top player. They look good though with Arteta. My prediction 4-5.

Everton. World class manager and decent squad. But Carlo is making them better than they are. Still not good enough for top 4. My prediction 6th-8th.

Leicester. Solid team with good manager. Very strong as a unit without top players. My prediction 7th-8th

United. No comment to avoid unnecessary discussion. But i don't think that we have any chance for top 4 in current condition.
 
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Cathy Ferguson

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Of course we have a chance, but it will not be much easier than last year which was not easy. Getting Telles and Sarr would be underwhelming, but how many games did all five of Pogba, Rashford, Martial, Greenwood and Fernandes start last season? Not many. Our defence is a major concern but maybe Smalling or Bailly can re-invent themselves?

City
Pool
Chelsea
United
Spurs
Arsenal
Everton
Leicester
 

Mb194dc

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Time to start this i guess. So, lets meet contenders;

Liverpool. Champions with world class manager. Stronger than last year with Thiago and Jota.
Nailed in top 4. They will finish 1-2.

City. They want title back. Lost Sane but bought 2 players and will buy more i guess. World class manager and excellent squad. Nailed in top 4. They will finish 1-2. I think that they will win it.

Chelsea. Amazing transfer window. They have 2 players for every position. But they are shaky in defence. Manager showed that he has talent but lets see how he will work with result pressure.
Too strong too miss top 4 (if they start losing, Roman will hire top manager) but not good enough yet to challenge for title. Nailed for top 4. They will finish 3rd.

Spurs. Mourinho's second season. Very good squad, pretty good transfer window and without CL games this season. Strong contender for top 4. My opinion is that they will finish 4th. (unless Jose goes crazy).

Wolves. Solid team with solid manager. Will try to catch top 4 but need amazing season for that. My prediction 7th-9th.

Arsenal. Good squad but with only one top player. They look good though with Arteta. My prediction 4-5.

Everton. World class manager and decent squad. But Carlo is making them better than they are. Still not good enough for top 4. My prediction 6th-8th.

Leicester. Solid team with good manager. Very strong as a unit without top players. My prediction 7th-8th

United. No comment to avoid unnecessary discussion. But i don't think that we have any chance for top 4 in current condition.
Agree with most of that, Spurs will implode though with the miserable one as manager. Also you're under rating your own team. Yes you were shite against Palace, still got a very good squad though and will be fighting for third or fourth again.
 

Powderfinger

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I'm skeptical of the seemingly conventional wisdom that Chelsea is nailed on for top four. I think they've probably got the best chance of making it beyond Pool/City but not overwhelmingly so. They've brought in talented players but its not really clear how everybody fits into the side, having a ton of squad turnover isn't always a good thing in the short-to-medium term, and who knows whether Lampard is the man to make it all work. It wouldn't surprise me at all if things go relatively poorly integrating all those players and two of United, Spurs, or Arsenal have relatively strong seasons and end up finishing ahead of them.
 

SilentWitness

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5-10 games or so to really tell but even then Leicester looked nailed on last year and ran out of gas. Looks like a fair few more teams could be in the mix though. We look excellent going forward but susceptible at the back which will probably harm our chances. I reckon we can push for EL though.
 

Siorac

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Nope. I refuse to engage in this again. All the awful top 4 races when every single contender keeps dropping stupid points one aftee another, as if no one actually wanted the 'prize'... nope. I'll watch our games, look for signs of improvement, ignore the standings apart from the number of United's points.
 

acnumber9

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As things stand United will struggle to make it. I’d predict a shit start followed by a run of great form and an underwhelming finish.
 

Nicolarra90

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Don't really trust much in the bluffdesliga stars, I wouldn't put chelsea as nailed.
 

WeePat

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My guess is same top 4 as last season - but Arsenal under Arteta worry me. I'm not as worried about Spurs, but I suppose if Bale can recapture even a little bit of what made him so great, then a front 3 of Son Kane and Bale is very scary.

United's front 5, as a group, when on form is probably 3rd or 4th best in the league. Greenwood is an elite talent, but I have questions about Rashford, Martial and Pogba's consitency.
 

ThierryHenry14

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I will be really happy if Arsenal makes it in top 6 this season with current squad.
Top 4
Liverpool/Man City
Chelsea
Man Utd/Spurs/Everton/Leicester fight for 4th spot.

4th place is wide open to be honest.
 

DRM

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Liverpool
City
Chelsea
Arsenal


Spurs
Man Utd
 

Statue of Limitations

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I don't think there are 4 teams better than us in the league and I'd back that to show over the length of a season.

Will wait until 10-12 games in before I'd hazard the make up but yes for sure it will be very close bar maybe the top 2 from last year.

A lot of teams will fancy their chances but how many of them could put a run together like we did when it mattered most last year? Not many.
 

ThierryHenry14

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I don't think there are 4 teams better than us in the league and I'd back that to show over the length of a season.

Will wait until 10-12 games in before I'd hazard the make up but yes for sure it will be very close bar maybe the top 2 from last year.

A lot of teams will fancy their chances but how many of them could put a run together like we did when it mattered most last year? Not many.
If you are refering to the penalties in that run then sure. This year squad depth is very important for the shorten and congested schedule due to fatigue so I rule arsenal out for top 4. Our bench option is not good enough.
 

Mount's Goatieson

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I'm skeptical of the seemingly conventional wisdom that Chelsea is nailed on for top four. I think they've probably got the best chance of making it beyond Pool/City but not overwhelmingly so. They've brought in talented players but its not really clear how everybody fits into the side, having a ton of squad turnover isn't always a good thing in the short-to-medium term, and who knows whether Lampard is the man to make it all work. It wouldn't surprise me at all if things go relatively poorly integrating all those players and two of United, Spurs, or Arsenal have relatively strong seasons and end up finishing ahead of them.
So basically you'll put Arsenal ahead of Chelsea in top 4? Decent start to the season for Arsenal but those are teams you were expected to beat last year and its no different now. Good points on Chelsea, but I personally would be surprised (and a bit disappointed) if Arsenal finished in the top 4 and above Chelsea to boot.
 

marktan

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I think Chelsea are a bit overrated in their current state - the defence is still flaky and the attack hasn't jelled. I think Ziyech and Chilwell will improve them, but it also depends how well Mendy does in goal. Yes they've spent big but they're an unknown.

City and Pool will get 1st and 2nd. The other 2 spots will be faught by United, Chelsea, Spurs and Arsenal. Everton I don't think they have enough unless they start performing against the rest of the big 6. Wolves I think have been weakened by the sale of Doherty and Jota and won't have enough in the end.

Arsenal I think have a decent shot at making top 4 - they've got 2 new CBs in Gabriel and Saliba which they were crying out for (Luiz and Mustafi being a starting pair..). Willian is also a solid pickup and they have a good amount of depth now in their team.
 

Andycoleno9

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I'm skeptical of the seemingly conventional wisdom that Chelsea is nailed on for top four. I think they've probably got the best chance of making it beyond Pool/City but not overwhelmingly so. They've brought in talented players but its not really clear how everybody fits into the side, having a ton of squad turnover isn't always a good thing in the short-to-medium term, and who knows whether Lampard is the man to make it all work. It wouldn't surprise me at all if things go relatively poorly integrating all those players and two of United, Spurs, or Arsenal have relatively strong seasons and end up finishing ahead of them.
You think that Roman invested 250mil to watch his team in EL next year? Few defeats and Lampard is history and proven manager comes to catch 4th.
 

DRJosh

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City
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United to secure a 5th place finish, in part propelled by the late acquisition of John Brooks who to the surprise of everyone, proves to be way better than Maguire and Lindeloff put together
 

el3mel

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Think we'll finish 4th. We're still better than Spurs and Arsenal imo. The season will be long though, and it won't be easy.
 

bosnian_red

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We have a good starting 11 with some key weaknesses and no depth. Every team apart from the top 2 have obvious weaknesses, Chelsea the clear 3rd but Lampard being their weakness (imo).

The issue for us is that while our starting 11 is probably 3rd, we won't meet our expectations unless we add reinforcements to lift the spirits at the club. Right now we're primed for a shite season, worse than our level, because of the mood everywhere caused by the board and management. So unless we do something in these last 2 weeks, I'm going for:
  1. Liverpool
  2. City
  3. Chelsea
  4. Everton
  5. Spurs
  6. Arsenal
  7. United
  8. Leicester
  9. Wolves
Everton have the 3rd best manager and a very good side with excellent players in key positions, with no European football. Huge benefit this season IMO. Wolves lost Jota so I think they'll drop a bit but nothing dramatic. Leicester struggle to balance multiple comps. Arsenal improve but not top 4, same with Spurs.

If United make some good signings and address LB/attack and ideally CB, then put us 4th and drop everyone else down. Sancho up to 3rd.
 

dove

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I don't think 66 points will be enough this time.
 

Lee565

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I think Leicester are big dark horses, people re completely dismissing them but they seem to have recruited well and I think they will have learnt from last season's stumble if they do once again find themselves in a champions league spot come February.
 

2ndTouch

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Liverpool and City to fight for the title
Chelsea to come in 3rd
Utd the favorite to get 4th out of a group with Arsenal, Spurs, Everton and Leicester
 

Powderfinger

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So basically you'll put Arsenal ahead of Chelsea in top 4? Decent start to the season for Arsenal but those are teams you were expected to beat last year and its no different now. Good points on Chelsea, but I personally would be surprised (and a bit disappointed) if Arsenal finished in the top 4 and above Chelsea to boot.
Naah, I'd bet on Chelsea at this point over Arsenal for sure. I'm just saying that Chelsea isn't that far ahead of United, Arsenal, and Spurs, with Everton also in with a shot given the lack of European football. A lot of posters are assuming that Chelsea is nailed on and its a race for one place. I'm just saying that its really a race for two places with Chelsea a favorite but not as strong a favorite as some believe.
 

DM07

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Aha. The most relevant thread of the season as far as we are concerned.
 

joedirt87

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There is enough on this team to finish top 4 provided they avoid significant lengthy injuries.
 

Blood Mage

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1. Liverpool
2. City
3. Chelsea

4th could easily go to any one of Arsenal, Spurs, United or even Everton right now. It depends on last minute signings or Spurs getting Bale fit and back to a very good level.
 

Marcus

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As things stand United will struggle to make it. I’d predict a shit start followed by a run of great form and an underwhelming finish.
This. It's called not having enough quality players to rotate and burning out. We used to finish strongly with Fergie.
 

JDoe

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Liverpool & City surely nailed on for 1st & 2nd. City with still the better squad/individuals and stronger first XI, but Pool has the better team and gained a truly world-class centre mid who will need little to no time to adapt, unlike their previous signings.

Chelsea will need quite a few time to get their signings to adapt (especially Havertz as it stands, Werner should cement his place quite soon). I think they'll get considerable stronger in the second half of the season. Both United & Arsenal I see on the same level as them though and those 3 will make 3rd-5th.
 

Wheato

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I wouldn't even make us favourites for 4th spot. Wolves, Leicester, Spurs, Everton and Arsenal have all out-muscled us in the transfer market. They have strengthened in depth, in what is going to be one of the hardest seasons in memory. Chelsea didn't like getting pipped to 3rd spot and they have completely blown us out of the water with their signings. We are way off it as things stand. It is going to be a hands over your eyes type of season for us. Meanwhile, Ed and his team of spazmonkeys, are busy trying to get a new salsa sponsor from Mexico. As the rest of the clubs disappear over the horizon, we'll rejoice in the breaking news tweet from manutd.com informing us all that Gonzalez salsa is the official Salsa sauce of Manchester United. Please shoot me now. Put me out of my misery.
 

TheLord

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I think this thread should be closed and opened after the transfer window closes. There's no sense in making predictions now when there's so much uncertainty in who's coming and who's going out