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The 2024/25 Premier League season is nearly upon us, allowing This Is Anfield‘s regular contributors to foolishly make our predictions!
Liverpool get their campaign started with a trip to newly-promoted Ipswich on Saturday lunchtime, as the Arne Slot era kicks into gear.
It promises to be another interesting nine months of action in the top flight, with twists and turns expected at both ends of the table.
Here’s how This Is Anfield‘s writers predict the season will play out – feel free to remind them of how wrong they were next May, and give us your predictions in the comments below!
Matt Ladson
Top four:
1. Arsenal
2. Man City
3. Liverpool
4. Tottenham
Relegated: Nottingham Forest, Leicester, Southampton
First manager to be sacked: Enzo Maresca
Surprise team: Crystal Palace – provided they don’t end up selling all their best players and Oliver Glasner stays all season.
Best new signing: Riccardo Calafiori or Yankuba Minteh. They are both players I think Liverpool should have been interested in.
Worst new signing: Anyone who has been stupid enough to sign for Chelsea.
@mattladson
Jack Lusby
Top four:
1. Man City
2. Liverpool
3. Arsenal
4. Man United
Relegated: Forest, Southampton, Ipswich
First manager to be sacked: Maresca, obviously.
Surprise team: West Ham have bought excellently and Palace will be up there, too.
Best new signing: Calafiori, Onana, Minteh or Wieffer – so far at least!
Worst new signing: Boring answer. He’ll be fine, but it’s Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall for £30 million.
@LusbyJack
Joanna Durkan
Top four:
1. Man City
2. Liverpool
3. Arsenal
4. Tottenham
Relegated: Ipswich, Southampton, Forest
First manager to be sacked: Enzo Maresca – Chelsea will be Chelsea.
Surprise team: Fulham, but not as a good surprise.
Best new signing: I think Aston Villa did well to land Amadou Onana, he ought to do well for them.
Worst new signing: How long do we have to go through Chelsea‘s new signings?
@JoannaDurkan_
Sam Millne
Top four:
1. Man City
2. Arsenal
3. Liverpool
4. Tottenham
Relegated: Forest, Wolves, Ipswich
First manager to be sacked: Maresca
Surprise team: Bournemouth
Best new signing: Minteh – Brighton‘s gain is Newcastle‘s loss. He looks an excellent player and was only sold to comply with PSR.
Worst new signing: Take your pick from Chelsea‘s squad. They might not be individually poor players but that club is a mess.
For arbitrary reasons, I’ll go with Dewsbury-Hall simply because it is a bizarre decision to sign him then force out Conor Gallagher.
@sam_millne
Henry Jackson
Top four:
1. Man City
2. Arsenal
3. Liverpool
4. Man United
Relegated: Southampton, Nottingham Forest, Leicester
First manager to be sacked: Nuno Espirito Santo
Surprise team: West Ham. Julen Lopetegui is a top manager and they have made good signings.
Best new signing: Calafiori looked great at the Euros, so I’ll go for him.
Worst new signing: I’m not sure Ross Barkley will be great back at Aston Villa. Better as a big fish in a small pond, like at Luton.
@HenryJackson87
James Nalton
Top four:
1. Arsenal
2. Man City
3. Liverpool
4. Spurs
Relegated: Ipswich, Fulham, Southampton
First manager to be sacked: Marco Silva
Surprise team: Leicester
Best new signing: Jean-Clair Todibo for West Ham
Worst new signing: Emile Smith Rowe and Pedro Neto are good players but gambles, given their fitness records.
@JDNalton
Karl Matchett
Top four:
1. Man City
2. Arsenal
3. Liverpool
4. Newcastle or Spurs, haven’t decided yet
Relegated: Ipswich, Southampton, Brentford
First manager to be sacked: Thomas Frank. Think it’s gone very stale there and the signings haven’t worked/been integrated well. Looking tricky to revive things as it stands.
Surprise team: What counts as a surprise now? I have Wolves and Palace as my two teams in the top half outside of “The Predictable Eight”, does that count?
Best new signing: Daichi Kamada on a free is ridiculous. Great fit, already knows Glasner’s system, tremendous player.
Ben Brereton Diaz for £7 million or so is also good work, and Smith Rowe might still be really good but we haven’t seen him for two years, so who knows?
Worst new signing: Dewsbury-Hall and Igor Thiago, both for £30 million.
I’m not sure Lewis Dobbin will enjoy the Aston Villa bench any more than he did the Everton bench either.
@karlmatchett
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