With the Premier League campaign set to kick off this weekend, SillySeason writers have got together and given their predictions for the 2015/2016 season.
After Chelsea stormed to the Premier League title this time last year, their closest rivals will be hoping they can make it harder for them this time around, and with Manchester United and Liverpool both making drastic changes to their squad, this season could be as exciting as ever.
How will the new boys in the Premier League cope? Norwich City are familiar with this league as they’ve been there before, but for Watford and Bournemouth, it’s unknown territory.
Who will be the surprise team of the season? Who will be the player to watch? Who will win the Golden Boot? We’ve asked it all to our writers and they have given their picks.
So now it’s time to look at the predictions made by a selection of our writers.
Who have our writers backed to win the Premier League title this season? Well the majority have Chelsea retaining their trophy, but there are a few that have gone against the favourites.
Out of 19 writers, only three chose against Chelsea, showing how strong favourites The Blues are going into the new campaign.
So who picked who? Lets find out!
Alex Batt, Charlie Gregory, Kieran Makin, Ben Kelly, Phil Wellbrook, Matt Derrig, Connor Billington, Jack Wynne, Steve Osborne, Nick Davies, Dec Meehan, Joseph Richardson, Connor Breen, Ben Reardon, Drew Darbyshire and Luke Adam – Chelsea
Ollie Brown and Louie Chandler – Manchester United
Steve Milne – Arsenal
The infamous Premier League top-four. The passageway to the Champions League.
There is a common pattern with most of our writer’s selections with the majority all backing Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City.
However, some have gone against the traditional top-four, so lets find out who has been backed to finish in a Champions League spot for next season.
Alex Batt – 1st) Chelsea, 2nd) Arsenal, 3rd) Manchester United, 4th) Manchester City
Charlie Gregory – Chelsea, United, City, Arsenal
Kieran Makin – Chelsea, Arsenal, United, City
Ben Kelly – Chelsea, Arsenal, City, United
Phil Wellbrook – Chelsea, United, City, Arsenal
Matt Derrig – Chelsea, Arsenal, United, Tottenham
Connor Billington – Chelsea, Arsenal, City, United
Jack Wynne – Chelsea, City, United, Arsenal
Steve Osborne – Chelsea, United, Arsenal, City
Ollie Brown – United, Chelsea, Arsenal, City
Dec Meehan – Chelsea, United, Arsenal, City
Nick Davies – Chelsea, United, Arsenal, City
Steve Milne – Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, United
Joseph Richardson – Chelsea, Arsenal, United, City
Connor Breen – Chelsea, Arsenal, United, City
Ben Reardon – Chelsea, Arsenal, United, City
Louie Chandler – United, Chelsea, Arsenal, City
Drew Darbyshire – Chelsea, Arsenal, United, City
Luke Adam – Chelsea, Arsenal, City, United
After predicting the champions and the top-four, it’s time for our writers to pick three teams that they think will be relegated come May next year.
Will it be three newly-promoted trio? Or will it be a team that narrowly avoided the drop last season.
Our writers have named their three teams they think will be relegated to the Championship after the 2015/2016 campaign.
Alex Batt – 18th) Aston Villa, 19th) Norwich City, 20th) Watford
Charlie Gregory – Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Watford
Kieran Makin – Norwich, Bournemouth, Sunderland
Ben Kelly – Watford, Leicester, Norwich
Phil Wellbrook – Bournemouth, Sunderland, Watford
Matt Derrig – Norwich, Bournemouth, Watford
Connor Billington – Bournemouth, Sunderland, Norwich
Jack Wynne – Sunderland, Watford, Norwich
Steve Osborne – Watford, Norwich, Sunderland
Ollie Brown – Watford, Norwich, Sunderland
Dec Meehan – Sunderland, Bournemouth, Watford
Nick Davies – Norwich, West Bromwich Albion, Leicester
Steve Milne – Norwich, Watford, Bournemouth
Joseph Richardson – Sunderland, Bournemouth, Watford
Connor Breen – Leicester, Watford, Norwich
Ben Reardon – Sunderland, Norwich, Bournemouth
Louie Chandler – West Brom, Leicester, Aston Villa
Drew Darbyshire – Leicester, Watford, Norwich
Luke Adam – Bournemouth, Watford, West Brom
So as you can see, a lot of the writers have picked the newly-promoted trio to go down, in particular Watford and Norwich City.
A few have said Sunderland and some have surprisingly picked West Brom. Unlike Tony Pulis to get a team relegated.
Every season there is a standout player. Eden Hazard, Harry Kane and Alexis Sanchez all stood-out last season, but who have our writers picked this season to be one to watch.
Whether it be a new signing to the Premier League or just a familiar face set to have a breakthrough or stand-out campaign, SillySeason writers have picked their Player to Watch for the upcoming campaign.
Who do you agree with?
Ben Kelly, Phil Wellbrook, Jack Wynne, Ollie Brown, Dec Meehan and Nick Davies – Memphis Depay (Manchester United)
Alex Batt and Drew Darbyshire – Jordie Clasie (Southampton)
Charlie Gregory and Connor Billington – Patrick Bamford (Crystal Palace)
Kieran Making – Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)
Luke Adam – Theo Walcott (Arsenal)
Steve Milne – Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
Matt Derrig – Callum Wilson (AFC Bournemouth)
Steve Osborne – Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
Joseph Richardson – Saido Mane (Southampton)
Connor Breen – Jordan Henderson (Liverpool)
Ben Reardon – Radamel Falcao (Chelsea)
Louie Chandler – Matteo Darmian (Manchester United)
So the writers have named their Player to Watch, now it’s time to pick which team they think will have a stand-out season.
Now this could be one of the newly-promoted teams to shine, or it could be an already established Premier League outfit having a great season.
But which teams do our writers think will have a stand-out campaign throughout 2015/2016.
Lets take a look.
Kieran Makin, Steve Milne, Drew Darbyshire and Connor Breen – Arsenal
Ben Kelly, Jack Wynne and Joseph Richardson – Stoke City
Ollie Brown, Nick Davies and Louie Chandler – AFC Bournemouth
Phil Wellbrook and Ben Reardon – Crystal Palace
Alex Batt – Newcastle United
Charlie Gregory – Manchester United
Matt Derrig – Aston Villa
Connor Billington – Watford
Steve Osborne – Liverpool
Dec Meehan – Everton
Luke Adam – Tottenham Hotspur
Which Premier League star will be taking home the 2015/2016 Golden Boot?
Last season it was Sergio Aguero’s despite him being injured for a large portion of the season, but who have our writers backed to lifted the individual award this year?
Unsurprisingly a lot of people have backed the Argentine to win it again at Manchester City, but there are a few other names thrown about in the mix.
Alex Batt, Charlie Gregory, Kieran Makin, Ben Kelly, Phil Wellbrook, Connor Billington, Jack Wynne, Steve Osborne, Dec Meehan, Nick Davies, Ben Reardon and Louie Chandler – Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)
Drew Darbyshire, Joseph Richardson and Ollie Brown – Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
Matt Derrig – Diego Costa (Chelsea)
Steve Milne – Christian Benteke (Liverpool)
Connor Breen – Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal)
Luke Adam – Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
So there we have it.
SillySeason writers have given their picks and predictions for the 2015/2016 campaign.
Which writer do you find yourself agreeing with? What are your picks for the upcoming season!
Make sure to comment below!