5 football predictions for the year 2020
2020 is now upon us, and while we’re already halfway through the current 2019-20 season, there’s still a ton of action to come; the knockout stages of the Champions League, the conclusions to Europe’s big domestic competitions like the Premier League, La Liga and the Bundesliga, not to mention the European Championship in the summer.
What might happen in this calendar year, then? 2020 could well end up being just as unpredictable as 2019 – who could’ve seen Tottenham making the final of the Champions League, for instance, and boss Mauricio Pochettino being fired just months later?
Here are 5 football predictions for the year 2020.
#1 Pep Guardiola will leave Manchester City
Could 2020 mark the end of an era at Manchester City? I think it could, as I predict that Pep Guardiola will no longer be boss at the Etihad going into the 2020-21 season. The Spaniard – who took over at City in the summer of 2016 – has seen massive success since arriving at the club, but there are plenty of clues to suggest his time there is coming to an end.
Firstly, Guardiola has only ever stayed at a club for a maximum of four seasons – and of course, 2019-20 is his fourth at City. He’s never had to perform the kind of squad rebuild that’s likely required at the Etihad; he’s already failed to replace Vincent Kompany when the Belgian departed at the end of 2018-19, and he’ll need to replace the outgoing David Silva this summer if he does stay.
Essentially, he’s the ultimate short-term boss, and we’re now reaching the end of that term.
Secondly, it looks like City are almost certainly going to fail to retain their Premier League crown for the third season in a row – they’re 14 points behind Liverpool and have played a game more – which means the only trophy Guardiola is really chasing is the Champions League – which isn’t exactly easy to win. If he fails, will he really want to try again? And if he succeeds, he has nothing left to prove in Manchester.
Add in the rumours of Raheem Sterling refusing to sign a new deal at the Etihad – just in case Guardiola departs – and there’s definitely a distinct possibility that the Spanish boss could be at another club, or even on a so-called sabbatical, by the start of 2020-21.