2014/2015 Premier League Predictions
Yes Chelsea brought in Diego Costa, Felipe Luis, club legend Didier Drogba and youngster Mario Pasalc, but it’s the acquisition of Cesc Fabregas that makes them lethal
DREW THOMPSON
League Champion – Chelsea; The Blues have had the best summer out of any of the Premier League elite. Liverpool are doing their best Tottenham impression and both Arsenal and Manchester City have conducted good business, but what Jose Mourinho has pulled off this summer was simply brilliant.
Mou brought in La Liga assassin Diego Costa, Felipe Luis (the best left-back in Spain last season), club icon Didier Drogba on a free and Cesc Fabregas. In Costa, they have the 20-goal scorer they were craving, Luis is a brilliant replacement for Ashley Cole and Fabregas is a huge upgrade on Frank Lampard. All the signings have been terrific, but it’s the capture of the Spanish midfielder and his quiet creativity that makes Chelsea lethal. For me, they now have the best XI in the Premier League, surely they’ll be crowned champions come May.
Top Seven – Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, Everton, Tottenham
Relegation – Burnley, Leicester City, Hull City
Top Goalscorer – Most people would fancy Daniel Sturridge or Sergio Aguero here, but I’ll go against the grain a little bit. Sturridge no longer has Luis Suarez to pull defenders away from him, and while Aguero is himself brilliant, his fitness is piss-poor at best; for me, it has to be Diego Costa.
It’s often hard to hit the ground running as a striker when you come to the Premier League, but when you have Eden Hazard, Oscar, Willian, Andre Schurrle and Cesc Fabregas giving you chance after chance, you’re sure to at least crack 20 goals. It may take him a month, but once he gets going, his predatory instincts will take charge; besides, he also has Didier Drogba to learn from.
Young Player of the Year – This is truly a tough one to decide; the amount of young talent on offer in the league at current is endless. For me, the YPotY will be on Merseyside for sure, but I cannot decide between Raheem Sterling or Ross Barkley. The pair of Young Lions, now firmly rooted into the England framework, have nothing but a brilliant future ahead of themselves, and under the watchful eyes of Brendan Rodgers and Roberto Martinez, there’s no where to go but up.
Where Barkley may trump Sterling, is that he is first-choice week in week out, while Sterling may be subject to much more rotation given the Reds’ spending policy this summer. Still and yet, they’ll be brilliant, and it surely comes down to them.