The 2022/23 Premier League season is set to commence on Friday night as Crystal Palace host Arsenal at Selhurst Park. Before the big kick off, we here at CSN wanted to try and predict the Premier League Top 6, as well as giving our thoughts on who will be the players that stand out from the rest of the field.
Football is about opinions and we would love to hear yours! Leave your thoughts about our predictions and give us your own tips for the season in the comment section below!
Here are the all-important predictions
In somewhat unsurprising fashion, CSN are predicting that Manchester City will win the 22/23 Premier League title. Pep Guardiola’s side will be looking to retain the trophy after their success last season, which needed a dramatic final day turn around against Aston Villa to secure a sixth Premier League title. Whilst there was only a point between themselves and Liverpool after 38 games, the addition of ruthless goal-scoring cyborg Erling Haaland makes the Citizens a frightening prospect for any side to come up against. It would take a brave man to bet against City to have yet another golden season this time out.
Player to watch: Erling Haaland
Last season’s bridesmaids will be looking to continue to provide the closest challenge to City’s Premier League dominance and have spent the money to prove it. The Reds have brought in yet more attacking firepower, securing the services of Fábio Carvalho and Darwin Núñez in this transfer window. Many pundits and journalists alike have made the comparison between the acquisition of Núñez for £85 million and City’s purchase of Haaland for £85.5 million, with the two set to battle it out for the golden boot. However, whilst Liverpool have seemingly matched their title rivals for attacking talent, the loss of Sadio Mané to Bayern Munich cannot be underestimated. The Senegalese forward joined Liverpool in June 2016 and has since been a crucial part of all the success Klopp has had at the club. It will take time for Núñez to bed into the squad and he remains somewhat of an unknown quantity within this team which may make it more challenging for Liverpool to topple City’s title charge.
Player to watch: Darwin Núñez
Tottenham have been somewhat of a revelation under Antonio Conte, with Spurs managing to beat their North London rivals Arsenal into a Champions League spot with a good run at the back end of last season. The lilywhites have been active in the transfer window, with Richarlison, Yves Bissouma, Djed Spence, Ivan Perisic, Clément Lenglet and Fraser Forster all convinced to apply their trade for the club. Crucially, Spurs have also managed to keep hold of their talisman in Harry Kane, who faced an avalanche of transfer speculation at the start of last season, linking the England captain to a move away from his boyhood club. With the experience of Conte and the acquisitions the club has made, it would be difficult for anyone to predict Spurs finishing outside the top four, but whilst their squad seems to get stronger and stronger, CSN believes they won’t have enough to challenge the usual runaway leaders.
Player to watch: Harry Kane
Yes, after what would be nearly six years without Champions League football, CSN predicts Arsenal will claim a spot back amongst Europe’s elite this coming Premier League season. Whilst their failure to achieve that feat last season, mainly due to a very poor end to the season which saw the Gunners lose to Newcastle and Spurs within four miserable days for Mikel Arteta’s side, may give an indication that there is work to be done before they come close to touching past glories, their transfer business will put them in good stead for the season ahead. Since the departure of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Arsenal have been crying out for a clinical finisher and they may just have found their man in Gabriel Jesus. They have also managed to bolster their defensive options with another former Citizen, Oleksandr Zinchenko, making the trip to the capital. Question marks still remain over whether Arteta is the right man to take Arsenal forward, but the squad at his disposal is more than capable of achieving a spot at European football’s top table.
Player to watch: Gabriel Jesus
CSN predicts that Chelsea will miss out on Champions League football and finish in their lowest position since the 2017/18 Premier League campaign. Whilst Thomas Tuchel’s side had a fairly decent season last time out finishing third in the Premier League along with two cup final appearances, their transfer business has been somewhat baffling. The club spent just over £50 million on the acquisition of Raheem Sterling from Manchester City and just under £35 million on Senegalese central defender Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli. They have also recently secured the services of Aston Villa youngster Carney Chukwuemeka and Goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina from MLS side Chicago Fire. Whilst there is no doubt that these additions will add some quality to the side, the selling of Antonio Rüdiger, Andreas Christensen and Romelu Lukaku will have a bigger impact than some may think. Chelsea’s provisional defence for next season would include a wealth of experience but father time always has his say in the end and the lack of youthful exuberance may be detrimental in a long season.
Player to watch: Kai Havertz
CSN predicts that life won’t get easier under the management of Erik Ten-Hag, at least in the short term. United fans saw their side crawl to sixth position in a season filled with soap opera style storylines that didn’t help their poor performances on the pitch. With Cristiano Ronaldo being the only vaguely consistent performer in the side, many were expecting a bumper transfer window for the Red Devils as they look to give the new manager the best chance of climbing back into the top four spots. Rather predictably for United fans, it’s been more of the same with news of injuries to key players during pre-season like Anthony Martial and Jadon Sancho, failed drawn-out transfer saga’s and, of course, a Ronaldo transfer storm for good measure. Whilst the club have made a few good acquisitions in the form of Lisandro Martínez, Christian Eriksen and Tyrell Malacia, they head into the new season with the same midfield issues as they had three seasons ago when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over. If they don’t get the Frenkie De Jong deal over the line soon, it could be a long season for United fans.
Player to Watch: Christian Eriksen
There you have it! That’s how we think the 2022/23 Premier League top six race will end up. What do you think of our predictions? Have we missed anyone out? Let us know in the comments below and check out more Premier League content on CSN here!