In preparation for the 2017-18 Premier League season, which kicks off Friday, FanSided’s soccer staff predict the table, individual award winners and more.
The Premier League’s top six appear stronger than ever heading into the 2017-18 season, but how will they finish? Will Chelsea be able to defend as champions, or have the Manchester clubs spent enough this summer to overhaul them?
What of Tottenham, the best team in the league over the past two seasons combined, and Liverpool, aiming to finish in the top four two years in a row for the first time since the Rafa Benitez era?
Twenty-four writers from around FanSided’s soccer network voted on how they expect the final table to look, who they expect to win the individual awards and more. These are the results, with the mean table position of each team in parentheses:
Premier League table
1. Manchester City (2.46)
2. Chelsea (2.54)
3. Manchester United (2.71)
4. Tottenham (3.58)
5. Liverpool (4.96)
6. Arsenal (5.13)
7. Everton (6.79)
8. West Ham (9.58)
9. Southampton (10.21)
10. Leicester (11)
11. Bournemouth (12.46)
12. Stoke (13)
13. Crystal Palace (13.04)
14. Newcastle (13.42)
15. West Brom (13.63)
16. Swansea (15.58)
17. Watford (16.13)
18. Burnley (17.25)
19. Huddersfield (17.75)
20. Brighton (18.79)
Tottenham are the clear favorite to finish fourth, but there was a lot of disagreement about how the top three end up, with Manchester City narrowly favored over Chelsea. Liverpool and Arsenal will be left to fight among themselves for fifth and sixth.
At the other end of the table, Brighton are the pick to finished last, and are expected to be joined in the relegation zone by Burnley and Huddersfield. The mid-table, meanwhile, is an absolute mess, with four teams finishing with an average table position between 13 and 14.
That reflects the clear drop off in quality after the top seven, and the added uncertainty resulting from the fact Swansea, Watford, Crystal Palace and Southampton all enter the season with new managers.
West Ham’s summer additions of Marko Arnautovic, Javier Hernandez and Joe Hart were obviously popular, as Slaven Bilic’s side separated themselves from the league’s bottom two-thirds.
Player of the Year
Alexis Sanchez – 4 votes
Harry Kane – 4
Romelu Lukaku – 3
Philippe Coutinho – 3
Kevin De Bruyne – 3
Eden Hazard – 3
N’Golo Kante – 2
Dele Alli -1
Paul Pogba – 1
The ongoing speculation surrounding Alexis Sanchez’s possible departure from Arsenal clearly doesn’t concern our writers, as the Chilean was tied with Tottenham’s Harry Kane for the most votes. Romelu Lukaku is also expected to have a big first season at Manchester United, and is joined by Philippe Couitnho, Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard on three votes. Last year’s winner, N’Golo Kante also got some love with two votes.
Young Player of the Year
Dele Alli -7 votes
Gabriel Jesus – 6
Marcus Rashford – 3
Dominic Solanke – 2
Leroy Sane – 2
Alex Iwobi – 1
Anthony Martial – 1
Michael Keane – 1
Timothy Fosu-Mensah – 1
Dele Alli’s won two Young Player of the Year awards in a row, and it’s hard to imagine he won’t be among the favorites again this season. The qualifications of the award should probably be changed to exclude previous winners, but since they’re you can’t really argue against Alli. Among the rest, Manchester City’s 20-year-old Brazilian striker Gabriel Jesus was very popular with six picks, while one brave soul think Jose Mourinho’s going to give Timothy Fosu-Mensah a lot of playing time this season.
Manager of the Year
Jose Mourinho – 11 votes
Pep Guardiola – 5
Antonio Conte – 3
Ronald Koeman – 2
Mauricio Pochettino – 1
Arsene Wenger – 1
Slaven Bilic – 1
Strangely, since our writers think Manchester City have a better chance of winning the league than Manchester United, Jose Mourinho ran away with the Manager of the Year prediction, getting six more votes than second-place Guardiola. Perhaps United’s expected improvement on last season’s sixth-place finish will be enough to push him over the edge. Everton’s Ronald Koeman also received some love heading into his second year at Goodison Park, with more votes than three of the manager’s at the teams that finished in the top six last season.
Signing of the Season
Romelu Lukaku – 8
Alvaro Morata – 5
Mohamed Salah – 3
Alexandre Lacazette – 2
Nemanja Matic – 2
Michael Keane – 2
Kyle Walker – 1
Sead Kolasinac -1
There was a lot of love for Manchester United here, with 10 votes between Romelu Lukaku and Nemanja Matic. Given Lukaku scored 25 goals last season and moved to a better side, his popularity here doesn’t come as a huge surprise. Alvaro Morata and Mohamed Salah round out the top three, while Michael Keane’s move to Everton also turned some heads.
Biggest disappointment (player)
Alexandre Lacazette – 4
Alvaro Morata – 3
Romelu Lukaku – 3
Kyle Walker – 2
Benjamin Mendy – 1
Ederson Moraes – 1
Eric Dier – 1
Giannelli Imbula – 1
Harry Kane – 1
Nemanja Matic – 1
Mesut Ozil – 1
Riyad Mahrez – 1
Gylfi Sigurdsson – 1
Victor Lindelof – 1
Roberto Firmino – 1
Unsurprisingly, our writers turned to some of the most high-priced new signings when picking the players they expect to disappoint. Alexandre Lacazette cost Arsenal north of £50 million and will be expected to fire them back into the top four, which won’t be easy, no matter how good he is. The two most expensive signings of the summer, Alvaro Morata and Romelu Lukaku, both received three votes, while two writers expect Kyle Walker to struggle in his first season at Manchester City.
Biggest disappointment (team)
Arsenal – 6 votes
Liverpool – 4
Chelsea – 2
Manchester United – 2
Stoke – 2
Tottenham -2
Burnley – 1
Everton – 1
Swansea – 1
West Ham – 1
Leicester – 1
Manchester City – 1
Biggest disappointment is a highly subjective award, but it’s hardly surprising to see Arsenal at the top of our list. The Gunners missed out on the top four last season and face a difficult task to break back in. Liverpool come in second, as they’ll face stiff competition to retain their spot in the Champions League places, while a clutch of teams picked up the remaining votes.
Most pleasant surprise (player)
Davy Klaassen – 3 votes
Chicharito – 3
Michy Batshuayi – 2
Mohamed Salah – 2
Wayne Rooney – 2
Kurt Zouma – 2
Alex Iwobi – 1
Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 1
Jack Butland – 1
Jordan Pickford – 1
Luke Shaw – 1
Olivier Giroud – 1
Paul Pogba – 1
Ross Barkley – 1
Sandro Ramirez – 1
Kieran Trippier – 1
Everton new boy Davy Klaassen tops the list along with Javier Chicharito Hernandez, who makes his (possibly) long-awaited return to the Premier League with West Ham. Michy Batshuayi, who had a difficult first season at Chelsea, despite scoring the goal that won them the title, was one of four players to receive two votes, including Wayne Rooney. Everton players received eight votes in total, the most of any team.
Next: Preseason Premier League interesting rankings
Most pleasant surprise (team)
Newcastle – 5 votes
Huddersfield – 4
West Ham – 4
Crystal Palace – 3
Everton – 2
Bournemouth – 2
Burnley – 1
Brighton – 1
Liverpool – 1
Arsenal – 1
Rafa Benitez’s return to the top flight with Newcastle is expected to be a success, it seems. The Magpies received the majority of our writers’ votes, but Huddersfield got plenty as love as well. Given their average league position in our predicted table was 17.75, perhaps they were helped here by the fact no one expects anything of them. Frank de Boer’s arrival at Crystal Palace clearly has people excited, while four voters think Chicharito is going to turn things around for West Ham.