2012/13 Premier League Predictions Including Southampton, QPR & West Brom to go down?

With the new season nearly upon us many fans will be itching to know how their team will perform. In this article I will address how I believe the new season will pan out. however, it is just my opinion so feel free to leave yours in the comments.

Top Four

The main question asked at the start of every season is: who will win the title? I believe the answer to that question is Manchester United. Sir Alex Ferguson will be fuming that Manchester City won the title last season, especially in the fashion that they did it – in the last minute of the last game of the season. Therefore he will be determined to fix that by ensuring Manchester United lift the trophy. They have hopefully solved their central midfield issues with the signing of Kagawa, whereas we have not yet seen Man. City splash their cash in this transfer window. In addition to this, Man. City will be looking to improve on last season’s Champions League Performance so they will be mainly focussing on that. I predict that they will finish runners-up because they still have a strong squad capable of beating almost every team. Third place will be that of Chelsea, who will want to improve on their poor performance in the League last season, finishing sixth. However, I feel that they will also be focussing more on the Champions League, looking to make history and become the first team ever to retain the Champions League. Arsenal will finish fourth in another average season for them. while they have made some new signings, I can’t see them having a great effect on Arsenal’s final position and I am also not sure if Van Persie will be in the same stunning form as he was last season.

Europa League

I think Newcastle will continue to build on last season’s grey form and finish fifth again, above Tottenham Hotspurs. I was shocked when Tottenham announced the signing of Andre Villas-Boas as their new manager, after what can only be described as a dismal reign in charge of Chelsea last season. I think he will leave them weak in defence, and they will also struggle to score goals, with Emmannuel Adebayor’s unreasonable demands meaning that it is looking more and more unlikely that he will move to White Hart Lane.

Mid-Table

I expect the same teams to be at mid-table next season, with Liverpool not improving much on their performance last season as the players will take time to adapt to Brendan Roger’s playing style. I expect the likes of Everton, Sunderland and Fulham to be mid-table, as they were the previous season. I am incline to believe that both Norwich and Swansea may slip down the table towards the relegation zone and perhaps have an outside chance of going down, with both teams losing two superb managers in Paul Lambert and Brendan Rogers respectively.

Relegation Zone

I expect all three of the newly promoted teams – Reading, Southampton and West Ham – to be fighting to stay in the league next season, but I expect both Reading and West Ham to stay up. Sam Allardyce will use his experience to keep the Hammers out of the bottom three, but their football won’t be pretty. Reading look to have made some good signings over the summer and could build in their fantastic form at the back end of last season. Southampton, unfortunately, don’t look as strong to me and I expect them to finish in a disappointing 20th position. And the two teams that will be joining them? I think QPR will struggle, having just survived last season and I predict that they will finish 19th with West Brom finishing just above them in 18th, because I am not sure if they will perform well under Steve Clarke. Aston Villa will be down there again scrapping, but I think they’ll stay in the Premier League.

So that’s my predictions for the 2012/13 Premier League Season. Will they be correct? Only time will tell, but I am certain about one thing – it’s going to be a corked of a season!