Where will the top 7 Premier League clubs finish in May?

It has been a rousing Premier League season so far. Familiar plot-lines have been interspersed with incredibly unlikely success stories while new heroes have shone, even as older ones prepare to walk away.The uncertainty extends not just to the question of who will triumph at the end of it all, or even to who will go down. It would take a genuine trance from Professor Trelawny (remember her?) to predict the Top 7 in the Premier League come May. Our attempt at the same is more like one of her predictably over-dramatic, if patently fake trances that fool no one.Read on, as we try and make sense of the mess the League finds itself in this season, while glancing sideways and hoping no one notices that it takes little more skill than it takes Mario Balotelli to crash his camouflaged Bentley Continental GT.

#7 Liverpool

As anyone but Brendan Rodgers could’ve predicted, Liverpool have gone from title challengers to the league’s comedy club before Luis Suarez even had a chance to bite into the Spanish La Liga (in a manner of speaking. Or not). The new arrivals have done nothing to resurrect the pace and drive that was so irresistible last season, although Lazar Markovic, for one, is finally showing signs of life.

Daniel Sturridge’s injury concerns could not have come at a worse time, and in his absence, Raheem Sterling has led the line (literally and figuratively) with about as much poise as one could expect from him. However, it is not all doom and gloom for Rodgers’ men, who only have to look as far as Tottenham to see that it takes a while for an influx of new boys to bed in.

They may not want to look too closely at fellow Red Mario Balotelli, though. Yet again, anyone but Rodgers could’ve seen the disaster waiting to happen. A few of his team-mates will be privately glad that the Italian has been around to take most of the flak, but they cannot hide behind his propensity to self-destruct for much longer.

Captain and Messiah Steven Gerard has announced his intention to leave Merseyside at the end of the season - a shock to the senses if ever there was one. The entire squad will be raring to give the legend the kind of send-off he deserves. And if it is one thing the captain has repeatedly alluded to, it has been trophies, trophies and more trophies.

In Europe, Liverpool’s young squad is very inexperienced and Rodgers’ first experience in the Europa League led to a Round of 32 exit for the Reds.The inexperience will lead to Liverpool’s downfall in Europe and they won’t qualify for the Champions League virtue of winning the tournament they have won a record three times in its previous guise.

Realistically, Liverpool are not likely to make it into the top four, while there are a couple of better-drilled sides even outside that number. A seventh place finish would echo Rodgers’ first season in charge, but a Cup success would see a Reds legend walk away into the sunset with no regret. And so, purely on emotional value, I’m going for a spectacular FA Cup win for Liverpool.

Premier League – Seventh

Europa League – Quarterfinal

FA Cup – Winner

League Cup – Semifinal