Season Predictions

“Three years of getting closer without winning it. This is either their moment or proof they never will. I think it is their moment. The squad depth is there. The manager knows what he is doing. The pressure of the moment is the only variable I cannot account for, and I am calling it in their favour.”

“Arsenal first. City second -- the depth question is real but they always find a way. Newcastle third is the call that will get me most grief and I am making it anyway. They are organised, they are well-funded, and they have a manager who outperforms his budget every season. Liverpool fourth -- in transition but still dangerous enough to squeeze into the top four ahead of Spurs and Chelsea, who both have structural problems.”

“Hull came through the playoffs. They almost always go back down. Ipswich are short in the spine for this level despite the one big signing. Chelsea is the call I will take the most heat for. Eight managers in ten years. A squad assembled by committee. I have been wrong about Chelsea before and I accept that. I am making the call.”

“I do not enjoy picking Haaland. It feels like cheating. But the record says he scores when City play, and City will still play enough football to put him in positions. If City have a poor season my call falls apart. Confidence two, not three.”

“Every season someone asks why I keep backing Brighton and every season they come close to proving the doubters right and do not quite do it. The system is real. The manager is real. The recruitment model is real. They will finish in a position that matches their process.”

“I do not believe this. But I am including it because my Spurs bias runs the other way -- I always discount them, which is its own kind of mistake. One year they will catch me out. I am flagging this now so that if it happens I cannot pretend I was not warned.”