2017-18 Premier League

[JGibson]

Who will win the league? Who will go to the Champions League or the Europa League? Who will go down to the Championship?

We're about to find out soon.

My table projections:
1 Chelsea
2 Arsenal
3 Manchester City
4 Tottenham Hotspur

=
5 Liverpool
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6 Everton
7 Manchester United
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8 Bournemouth
9 Southampton
10 West Ham United
11 West Bromwich Albion
12 Leicester City
13 Crystal Palace
14 Stoke City
15 Newcastle United
16 Burnley
17 Brighton & Hove Albion
=
18 Watford
19 Swansea City
20 Huddersfield Town

[NewYorkExpress]

Don't know a ton about International Football...but here goes...

1. Chelsea

2. Manchester City (loses the title on goal differential)

3. Manchester United

4. Arsenal

5. Liverpool

6. Everton

7. Tottenham Hotspur

8. West Ham United

9. Southhampton

10. Crystal Palace

11. West Bromwich Albion

12. Bournemouth

13. Stoke City

14. Newcastle United

15. Burnley

16. Brighton and Hove Albion

17. Swansea City

18. Leicester City

19. Watford

20. Huddersfield Town

[JGibson]

Next Friday opens the Premier League season, with Arsenal v. Leicester City as the opening match. Hopefully my Gunners win and get 3 points.

[mvd10]

Ronald Koeman's Cowman's team will do well, Frank de Boer's the Farmer's team will play dreadful football and relegate (unless they sack him in or before November in which case they still have a chance).

[JGibson]

The Premier League opener is here. Arsenal v. Leicester City kick the season off tomorrow afternoon (later today for those on EDT). #COYG!

[Phony Moderate]

The Premier League opener is here. Arsenal v. Leicester City kick the season off tomorrow afternoon (later today for those on EDT). #COYG!

Well it's been a really great advertisement for the defenses of both sides...

[JGibson]

It was going to be yet another opening week loss, but Giroud and Ramsey came off the bench and scored to give Arsenal a win and 3 points in the table.

[Phony Moderate]

Watford 3-3 Liverpool...another great advertisement for PL defense.

[JGibson]

Next year, for those in the USA, there will be some UCL/UEL coverage changes to know about:

Kartik Krishnaiyer at WorldSoccerTalk:

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[JGibson]

So ticked off about Arsenal losing 4-nil to Liverpool. Wenger must go!

[Leinad]

Ooh, EPL thread, yay!

Pre-season I was guessing City/Chelsea/United (in that order) for the title, which I still basically agree with although the order of the last two is based on if Hazard can be healthy and replicate his form of the league-winning seasons, not that other season which should go unmentioned (ahem). Chelsea have looked good against the good teams but horrendous at home vs. Burnley. Hard to get a good read. More wingback depth is necessary but if Alonso and Moses stay healthy that's not really a weakness.

As far as race for the 4th-place trophy I was guessing something like Spurs/Arsenal/Liverpool (again, in order), but after today I can't really see Arsenal getting it done. Wenger or not, most of their players seem either past their prime, unmotivated, or just not good enough (now watch them go on a title run and easily make top 4 ). Also a big question mark is the "Spurs can't win at Wembley" cliche...as in...can they?

But Liverpool, the team that could've easily scored 6 or 7 against Arsenal (there's a Salah chance and a Henderson chance right off memory, I'm sure I forgot some others). It's ironic how the big story for them is Coutinho not playing and maybe leaving, but from what I've seen their attack is excellent. Presuming those top 3 contenders I mentioned earlier continue to have a couple slip-ups here or there, Liverpool might be one Virgil Van Dijk away from a title run (now watch them finish 7th ).

Not sure about relegation. I really thought West Ham would be good but they seem to have gotten worse once again. Or...are Newcastle actually a mid-table team and their poor start was a blip? Hard to tell. Huddersfield and Burnley have had great starts, though, two candidates for the role of "pre-season relegation favorite that ends up being solidly mid-table" this year.

[JGibson]

BUMP. Arsenal thumped Bournemouth 3-nil.

Liverpool's Sadio Mané got a straight red for running into Manchester City keeper Ederson Moraes in their 5-nil loss to the Citizens.

[parochial boy]

4th place!!!

Ahahahahaha!!!

Champions league here we come!

[mvd10]

Ronald Koeman's Cowman's team will do well, Frank de Boer's the Farmer's team will play dreadful football and relegate (unless they sack him in or before November in which case they still have a chance).

Please clap

[Leinad]

So Burnley beat Chelsea, who beat Everton, who get a draw @ Man City, who smashed Liverpool, who smashed Arsenal. Burnley title contenders?

De Boer being fired after 4 is silly. Not saying he was right for the job, but if it's evident that quickly that their struggles aren't a case of "they're still learning the system," he was clearly a bad hire. Hodgson has been a good manager at many places (with notable exceptions), so I feel there's a good chance he can right the ship. In a sense it's good that they play the title contenders in 4 of the next 3 games, get the losses out of the way while Roy gets his team sorted out, then hit the ground running in the rest of the season (and by that I mean getting some tight home wins vs. bad teams and occasional draws to sputter to a 15th-17th-placed finish).

[JGibson]

Sorry for bumping this.

Some key PL developments:
- Manchester City wins the title.
- Arsène Wenger will step down as Arsenal's manager.
- West Brom likely relegated.