What to expect from EPL 2013-14
Chelsea, under Jose ‘The Happy One’ Mourinho, will be the dark horse to win the marathon league
The English Premier League is a little over two months but fans can’t wait to see what’s in store for the the new campaign. Its definitely going to be tougher and more exciting than ever. We have never had so many clubs being title contenders and its only going to get better and better.
The Manchester clubs will be declared the first choice title contenders by a majority of the fans followed by Chelsea. Arsenal will be right behind Chelsea and the outsiders would be Spurs and Liverpool. Everton under Roberto Martinez will lose their outsiders tag and will probably drop to the lower half so that leaves Swansea, West Brom, Southampton and Fulham completing the top half of the table.
The clubs who will struggle at the other end will probably be Crystal Palace, Villa, Newcastle and Stoke City with remaining clubs like Sunderland, Everton, West Ham scrapping for those mid-table spots.
Champions League qualification might not have any surprises this season but Spurs and Liverpool have both boosted their chances considerable from what we have seen in the transfer market so far.
Among the top four, the fight for the title will go down to the wire. Both clubs from Manchester will be at each other’s throats and Chelsea under ‘The Happy One’ Jose Mourinho should be very strong contenders this time . They have the money, they have a man who is a proven winner and so, the stage is set for them to end that title drought since 2009-10. Arsenal have a lot of work to do if they need to launch a title challenge . They have a chance to lift the Premier League trophy albeit a very minute one.
Swansea can influence the table in their own way and West Brom have rarely dropped points against teams that they are expected to beat. Fulham have become an eternal mid-table club since that wonder season under Roy Hodgson.
The reason I feel Everton will cease to be a team dreaded by the top 4 is because I don’t believe Roberto Martinez can do what it takes to keep Everton there. He is a manager who barely kept Wigan alive two seasons ago and couldn’t help them out of the bottom 3 last season. He did win the FA Cup but the Premier League is a much tougher platform .
Out of the three promoted clubs, Cardiff seem like the team which has what it takes to survive. I have my doubts on Hull who went on that surprising run when they returned to the Premier League the last time around. Crystal Palace have lost Zaha to United and I wouldn’t expect them to have a major impact on the table.
All that being said, predictions are just on paper.