Liverpool have 2nd sewn up - EPL 2018/19

I totally forgot about Cardiff, they are already preparing for the 21/22 season in league 1!

brighton had the best defence in the bottom half of the prem last season, they were just unable to score any goals. glenn murray only managed about 12, all the rest of their strikers were fairly useless. they've got rid of baldock this summer and signed a few interesting-looking attacking players, though they're all unproven at prem level. there's also the hope that locadia will refind the form he had at psv. certain to be the kiss of death, but i think they'll stay up

hart's gone to burnley

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/e3/88/f0/e388f010dcbcf0afb202d37e74e61e94.jpg

Buying Joe Hart that's really going to improve a side who not only couldn't beat Aberdeen over 180 minutes but were outplayed for much of the time.

Alex Smithies would have been a much better option if the transfer criteria is basically: truss no foreigns!

traore to wolves too

yeah, just want another centre half now i think

It's going to be both a bit awkward and really funny when everyone at Burnley realises that Joe Hart is the worst of the three keepers they have at their disposal.

Also, Arsenal, blimey.

1. Liverpool
2. City
3. Spurs
4. Man u
5. Arsenal
6. Chelsea
7. Wolves
8. West ham
9. Everton
10. Leicester
11. Fulham
12. Palace (if they keep wilf)
13. Burnley
14. Brighton
15. Southampton
16. Watford
17. Huddersfield
18. Bournemouth
19. Newcastle
20. Cardiff

Only really confident about the top 2 and bottom 2

#thisyearisouryear

Pessimism hasnt got me anywhere

lads

its tottenham

and 90% sure to sell alderweireld

Why do some people think City won't be champions? Liverpool seem stronger but I can't see them as a serious title contender. City can afford to be complacent or sloppy and still run away with it imo.

i'm going with "wishful thinking"

deep dive into posters in q to determine whether theyve ever *under*estimated lfc performance

im sure it happened once for me

but im an optimistic guy in general

1. Huddersfield (if they keep VLP)
2. City
3. Spurs
4. Brighton
5. Arsenal
6. Chelsea
7. Wolves
8. West ham
9. Everton
10. Leicester
11. Fulham
12. Palace (if they keep wilf)
13. Burnley
14. Brighton
15. Southampton
16. Watford
17. Liverpool
18. Man u
19. Newcastle
20. Cardiff

smoking crack cocaine is fun!

I know we're all assuming Leicester will finish somewhere blandly midtable but without Mahrez and possibly Maguire IDK they could be looking at a relegation battle here.

Mahrez is massive loss to them and was almost the difference alone between us getting something/getting absolutely battered, at their place last season.

Multi x posts but I'm going with the difficulty of retaining the trophy theory. It's not *that* outlandish to suggest the clear bookies second favourites having strengthened significantly in pretty much all key areas might have a shot of wrestling the title away from the mighty City

That and wishful thinking

Maddison looks a reasonable acquisition for Leicester but sure a relegation battle is possible and I don't see them finishing higher than 10th

LFC title talk not so outlandish. I'm all for teams overturning 25-26pt deficits from the previous season. EFC to edge LFC to 5th, then.

calz lay off that pipe man

im telling u no way spurs get third

Chelsea, arsenal and Man U all potential shitshows this season, in which case it's yours by default. Maybe one of them will pull it together but not looking great for any of them right now

my expectations for Man U largely revolve around them having a new manager by January

agree Chelsea will do poorly, Arsenal is an interesting situation waiting to reveal the form that its lulz will take

Liverpool unluckiest Premier League team & Manchester United luckiest, says study

However, the study found Huddersfield should have been relegated instead of Stoke when 'incorrect' refereeing decisions were taken into account.

:D

Sarri's plan appears to involve playing David Luiz in a 442 with the fullbacks not pushing too far up the pitch, which sounds like the absolute worst way to get the best out of the resources available.

xp
just like how some of our players can barely even control a ball at times, sometimes destiny is just as intractable;p

i think chelsea could be on for a good season tbh if (and it's a huge if) the fans / roman show a little patience. sarri knows what he's about.

kante / jorginho is as good a midfield base as any in the world, hazard is still hazard, there is a fair scattering of talent throughout the rest of the squad and they're apparently about to splurge on a couple of big new signings (kepa on his way in as a courtois replacement tonight im reading)

batshuayi is a weird one, apparently he's likely to go out on loan but it was only a few weeks ago that sarri was saying he's in line for a shot with the first team. wouldve thought after his form for dortmund he'd have earned his shot as the returning prodigal who's "like a new signing for us"

building the defence around david luiz looks like risky business though, yes

Generally Liverpool hype and optimism pre-season would be an obvious recipe for disaster and disappointment but with Klopp I'm not so sure. City for the title obviously.

Chelsea will do alright but I suspect it will take a while for Sarri to make his presence felt

Giroud/Morata are both problematic

I was very wary of this earlier because of the money involved but Chelsea have agreed to pay a world record £71m to sign goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga. Full story on @TeleFootball #cfc

— Matt Law (@Matt_Law_DT) August 7, 2018

Well that'll take a little bit of pressure of Alisson, if nothing else

pressure *off* Alisson, obvs.

Highly recommended watching the clip where Pep tells Carragher and Gary Neville that he'd "never forgive them" for not winning a trophy with England's golden generation. And then calls Gary 'Phil' to compound the matter.

"Shaqiri is not as supremely talented as Coutinho was but he possesses the same invention and guile as the Brazilian. With the forward trio of Mo, Mane & Bobby, a reborn Sturridge, Shaqiri's invention and the ever industrious midfielders, Liverpool are frightening"- #bbcfootball

— Esther Agbarakwe (@estherclimate) August 7, 2018

Liverpool fans getting excited about Shaqiri. Sturridge on fire in pre-season. That's Liverpool probably fucked then!

My gut says Liverpool are going to be decimated by injuries and not have a particularly good season.

all it'll take is one to VVD tbh

i'm sure athletic club will have plenty of other gk options if kepa goes :/

lol when aduriz finally retires theyre gonna have no keepers or strikers of la liga quality

p sure aduriz will never retire tbh

Herrerín's not too bad iirc.

http://e1.365dm.com/18/08/16-9/20/skysports-premier-predictor_4383576.jpg?20180808080626

The stats-based Sky Sports Predictor outed as bitter Leeds Utd fan-bot.

From what I can tell Kepa pretty much kept Bilbao in La Liga last season so they're right to extract such a ridiculous fee from Chelsea.

#thfc first bid for Jack Grealish was £3M plus Joshua Onomah. [Daily Mirror]

— Hotspur Related (@HotspurRelated) August 8, 2018

villa have told spurs to shove it according to sky

tbh

sounds about right

that Sky predictor some kind of fake?