Sportsnet’s special panel of soccer commentators, writers and pundits offer their picks and predictions for the upcoming Barclays Premier League season.
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Gerry Dobson, Sportsnet TV commentator
Top four: 1) Chelsea, 2) Manchester City, 3) Arsenal, 4) Liverpool
Relegated: West Bromwich Albion, Leicester, Burnley
League’s top scorer: Romelu Lukaku
Player to watch: Diego Costa
Here’s hoping the race to the title will be as exciting as it was a year ago, although that seems impossible. And yet both Chelsea, who finished third, and Arsenal, who finished fourth, have both strengthened their squads. Jose Mourinho complained all last season that he didn’t have the team he wanted, and yet they came very close to winning it all. Manchester City seem to be in position to mount a serious defence of their title. Manchester United will surely be better than they were a year ago under the leadership of Louis van Gaal. Only Liverpool appear to have slipped a little with the loss of Luis Suarez. Can’t wait!
James Sharman, Sportsnet TV commentator
Top four: 1) Chelsea, 2) Arsenal, 3) Manchester City, 4) Liverpool
Relegated: West Bromwich Albion, Leicester, Burnley
League’s top scorer: Daniel Sturridge
Player to watch: Cesc Fabregas
It really doesn’t matter what happens—whether Louis van Gaal’s succeeds, fails or something in between—Manchester United will be the story this season. The title race will be as tight as it was last time, but the race for fourth will be fascinating, and therein lies United as the X-factor. With his swagger, Van Gaal immediately adds colour to the Premier League; he could also be a tactical trendsetter with his 3-5-2-ish preference at Old Trafford. Luke Shaw is the new golden boy of English football, Wayne Rooney is finally playing up front alongside a Robin Van Persie who is coming off a questionable season, and Ander Herrera is being called the new Xavi! And don’t forget, more signings are on the way. United will have a major role to play this season and will likely improve on seventh place. How much? That is why they’ll be the story this season.
Craig Forrest, Sportsnet TV commentator
Top four: 1) Chelsea, 2) Manchester City, 3) Arsenal, 4) Manchester United
Relegated: West Bromwich Albion, Leicester, Burnley
League’s top scorer: Sergio Aguero
Player to watch: Luke Shaw
I’ll be interested to see what kind of influence Louis van Gaal will have at Manchester United. I have no doubt that the Dutchman will galvanize the squad and get the standards back up. But will that be enough to see United challenge for the title? I’m not so sure. Coming on the heels of the debacle of a season under David Moyes, I think van Gaal will be given a long leash–his job won’t be under threat this season. And if nothing else, I’ll be looking forward to his post-match press conferences–he’s a fiery character, and I can just see him getting into disputes with the English media.
Sid Seixeiro, Sportsnet 590 The FAN commentator
Top four: 1) Chelsea, 2) Manchester City, 3) Arsenal, 4) Manchester United
Relegated: Southampton, Leicester, Aston Villa
League’s top scorer: Edin Dzeko
Player to watch: Stevan Jovetic
Manchester United’s coming off one of the most humiliating seasons in club history. David Moyes wasn’t up to the near impossible task of replacing Sir Alex Ferguson. I’m not saying Louis Van Gaal is. But his resume dwarfs Moyes’ and he isn’t afraid of a little pressure. This will be a bounce back year for the Red Devils with Van Gaal being responsible for most of it.
John Molinaro, Sportsnet.ca soccer reporter
Top four: 1) Manchester City, 2) Chelsea, 3) Arsenal, 4) Everton
Relegated: West Bromwich Albion, Burnley, Hull City
League’s top scorer: Robin van Persie
Player to watch: Alexis Sanchez
Yes, I have Everton coming in fourth. I don’t think Louis van Gaal’s tactical acumen and managerial presence will be enough for Manchester United to make up for their lack of depth and overall quality, especially in defence. Even with all of Liverpool’s new recruits, I don’t think they’ll be able to duplicate their stellar 2013-14 season when they caught lightning in a bottle. The Premier League is primed for a new top-four team this year, and that’s Everton. The Toffees are coming off a strong campaign under Roberto Martinez, they were lights out when playing at home, they’ve locked up Ross Barkley, and broke the club transfer record to sign Romelu Lukaku to a permanent deal.
Brendan Dunlop, Sportsnet TV commentator
Top four: 1) Chelsea, 2) Manchester City, 3) Arsenal, 4) Manchester United
Relegated: Hull City, Leicester, Burnley
League’s top scorer: Robin van Persie
Player to watch: Bafetimbi Gomis
The big boys start the season with so much unfinished business. This is a paragraph that would look completely different if written three weeks from now. Still, I think Chelsea and Manchester City have done enough to make this a two-horse title race. Manchester United will return to relevance under the guidance of Louis van Gaal but it will be the slide of Liverpool that helps them the most. Brendan Rodgers invested plenty this summer but much like Tottenham last season, I reckon it will prove to be wasteful and insufficient over the course of a marathon 38-match season.
Greg Brady, Sportsnet FAN 590 commentator
Top four: 1) Chelsea, 2) Manchester City, 3) Arsenal, 4) Manchester United
Relegated: West Bromwich Albion, Leicester, Aston Villa
League’s top scorer: Sergio Aguero
Player to watch: Alexis Sanchez
I think we’ll be all watching Manchester United so very closely, and while the David Moyes season couldn’t have gone worse, the fact remains it did go far worse than any of us expected. It did raise the question: Was Sir Alex Ferguson fortunate to have great leaders as players, or did he make them the leaders they became? We know they’re not finishing seventh this season, but it’s dangerous to gift them a top three finish for certain. Luke Shaw will continue to improve. If healthy, Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney will hum like a reliable sports car in attack mode. But how United improve over both transfer windows will determine whether they can push Chelsea or Man City near the top, or whether they’ll battle it out with Everton, Arsenal, and Liverpool to squeak back into the Champions League.
Dan Riccio, Sportsnet FAN 590 commentator
Top four: 1) Chelsea, 2) Arsenal, 3) Manchester City, 4) Manchester United
Relegated: West Bromwich Albion, Aston Villa, Burnley
League’s top scorer: Diego Costa
Player to watch: Erik Lamela
Despite improvements made by all of the top-four teams, none have improved more than Chelsea. Jose Mourinho has only brought in world-class talent: Diego Costa, Cesc Fabregas and Filipe Luis, as well as Didier Drogba. Chelsea had two key ingredients missing last campaign: a creative midfielder, and a true goalscorer. Fabregas and Costa address those issues and then some. Mourinho will bring Chelsea to another level in his second year at the helm. With Porto and Inter, he achieved Champions League glory. With Real Madrid, he took down the mighty Barcelona, and now in his second year back as Chelsea bench boss, he’ll win the Premier League trophy.
Jamie Doyle, Sportsnet magazine
Top four: 1) Chelsea, 2) Arsenal, 3) Manchester City, 4) Liverpool
Relegated: Aston Villa, Leicester, Burnley
League’s top scorer: Sergio Aguero
Player to watch: Mesut Ozil
I think this year we’ll see the return of a throwback rivalry—Arsenal vs. Chelsea. With another transfer window to fully hone his team, Jose Mourinho has what he needs to push Chelsea back to the top. The addition of Cesc Fabregas could be like replacing and aged Frank Lampard with, well, a younger Frank Lampard, and Diego Costa looks to be the striker Chelsea have been doing without since Didier Drogba left. (Oh, and Didier Drogba’s back, too.) Meanwhile, across London, Arsene Wenger at long last has enough money at his disposal to have the means and motivation to stack Arsenal with established talent. In days gone by defensive support and attacking threat would have come in the form of promising-but-yet-unrealized youngsters. These days Arsenal is flush with cash and could afford to bring in top-class quality in Mathieu Debuchy and Alexis Sanchez. Along with Arsenal’s other acquisitions—and potential players-to-come—the Gunners have the firepower to compete for the title.
Thomas Dobby, Sportsnet
Top four: 1) Chelsea, 2) Manchester City, 3) Arsenal, 4) Manchester United
Relegated: West Bromwich Albion, Southampton, Burnley
League’s top scorer: Robin van Persie
Player to watch: Calum Chambers
Last season Jose Mourinho constantly reminded us that Chelsea shouldn’t be considered title challengers. And in the end he was right, as it came down to Manchester City and Liverpool. This year, he can’t make the argument again. After bringing in Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas, and bringing back Thiabut Courtois and Didier Drogba, Chelsea are rightly favourites to take the title. The old guard of Cole, and Lampard are gone, as is Romelu Lukaku (what did he do to Mourinho?). But the Blues have as much talent in their squad as title holders Man City. It could be another special season at Stamford Bridge for the new and improved Chelsea.
Thomas Michalakos, Sportsnet.ca contributor
Top four: 1) Chelsea, 2) Manchester City, 3) Liverpool, 4) Arsenal
Relegated: West Bromwich Albion, Crystal Palace, Burnley
League’s top scorer: Stevan Jovetic
Player to watch: Philippe Coutinho
Brendan Rodgers’ third campaign at Liverpool is mired in plenty of skepticism after the £75 million sale of Luis Suarez to Barcelona following a surprising second-place finish last year. Eight players have been brought in to plug obvious holes. The additions of Rickie Lambert, Emre Can, Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren are all well and good, but Daniel Sturridge will need more help to recoup the 31 goals that exited with Suarez. It will be interesting to see if Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling can exceed the level of performance exhibited last term, and if Jordan Henderson is the real deal following another impressive season.
