Man City favourites to once again win EPL, say SA footy fans
WE CHATTED TO SOME DIE HARD ENGLISH FOOTBALL FANS TO ASK THEM ABOUT THEIR THOUGHTS FOR THE SEASON AHEAD. THEY ALSO GIVE US THEIR TOP FOUR PREDICTIONS, AS WELL AS WHO THEY THINK WILL BE RELEGATED THIS SEASON.
IT’S only been two games since the new Premier League season started, and the most exciting football league in the world has already sprung plenty of surprises.
The most eyebrow-raising has been the woeful form of English giants Manchester United, who are yet to register a win this season and find themselves languishing at the foot of the table.
Meanwhile, last season’s title challengers Liverpool FC are yet to record a win having drawn both of their opening two games.
Arsenal, however, have shown the form that their fans have been dreaming of for years, winning both of their opening two games, finding themselves second on the table.
The one thing that hasn’t changed has been the fine form of English champions Manchester City, who continued their dominance from last season, winning both of their opening two games as well.
We chatted to some local diehard English football fans and asked them their thoughts for the season ahead.
They also give us their top four predictions, as well as who they think will be relegated this season.
MANCHESTER CITY FAN DIRK VALE:
Man City have started in a very positive fashion, scoring six and conceding none. Our defence is looking solid, our new signings look to be settling in quickly, and we are lucky we aren’t reliant on them making the difference. I expect to see a lot of goals from Erling Haaland!
City have had an excellent transfer window. It’s sad seeing Raheem Sterling go, but it’s the nature of things, and Haaland and Julian Alvarez give the team something different, and they’ll allow the team to go more direct. I’m happy they got Sergio Gomez for cover at left-back, and they can manage the challenges of a long season with the squad. City are favourites for the title, and the start of the season has shown why!
TOP FOUR:
Man City
Liverpool
Spurs
Arsenal.
BOTTOM THREE:
Southampton Bournemouth Nottingham Forest.
LIVERPOOL FC FAN ABDULLAH CASSIM
We’ve had a disappointing start to the season, considering we dropped vital points. But there were lots of positives to take from this season’s openers. After a long, gruelling campaign, playing every match possible, it is understandable the boys are feeling the effects and haven’t hit top gear as of yet.
After going down to 10 men, the boys showed incredible fighting spirit
to salvage a draw against Crystal Palace this week and were extremely unlucky in both games not to snatch all three points.
I feel like we definitely will be able to challenge for the title, without question. Losing out in previous campaigns to the finest of margins and equipped with a stronger squad then prior seasons, I expect the boys to use last season’s heartbreak as extra motivation to go one step further on this occasion.
Our transfer window has also been superb. We brought in a sought-after striker in Darwin Nunez, who could take that next step and become worldclass under the guidance of Jurgen Klopp and Pep Lijnders.
We have also provided cover for Trent Alexander-arnold in the form of Calvin Ramsay and added a young but dynamic starlet in Fabio Carvalho, who was arguably the championship player of the season.
TOP FOUR:
Liverpool Man city Chelsea Spurs
BOTTOM THREE: Southampton Bournemouth Nottingham Forest
MANCHESTER UNITED FAN SINEN MNGUNI:
The team couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start. The pressure will be piling on Erik ten Hag, and he probably did not need that so early into his reign. It doesn’t make matters easier that his next game is against a Liverpool team that will be desperate for a win.
One would have expected six points from the first two games, especially given how pre-season went, but that hasn’t been the case. The players are also not showing any signs of improvement from last season, and if anything, we seem to have gone backwards.
The Premier League title race over the last few seasons has left little margin for error for those contesting for the title. United have dropped six points against fairly weak opponents, leaves no room for belief that they can still contest for the league title. The squad sadly looks very thin in terms of quality and cannot compete against the teams who finished in the top four last season.
The transfer window has also been extremely disappointing so far. It’s clear that the scouting department has
failed to identify targets, and we ended up signing players who are not at the usual Manchester United level.
TOP FOUR:
Man City
Liverpool
Spurs
Chelsea/arsenal
BOTTOM THREE:
Bournemouth
Southampton
Nottingham Forest
ARSENAL FAN RIYAAZ ISMAIL:
It’s been a complete 360 compared to last season. We all know Selhurst Park is a very difficult place to play, especially the opening fixture of the new season on a Friday night, so that was a very good win. Leicester is a very good side, we totally bossed them, and that was another good win. This team can definitely challenge for top three this season.
But I think there’s still a clear gap between Man City and Liverpool’s quality, but it is closing, so those teams are still my favourites to win the English Premier League.
I would have to give Arsenal a 7.5/10 in the transfer window this season. If we get another number six and a wide forward on the left-hand side, then our window is a 9/10 out of ten all day long.
TOP FOUR:
Man City
Liverpool
Arsenal
Chelsea
BOTTOM THREE:
Bournemouth
Fulham
Everton
CHELSEA FAN LEESHARN ROSE:
Everton vs Chelsea wasn’t the best of Chelsea fixtures I’ve seen. I expected a lot more from them in that game. Chelsea didn’t cause Everton too many problems and inevitably came away with the three points. It’s all about the three points, particularly on the opening day, and Chelsea got them in the bag.
Our game against Tottenham Hotspur was filled with drama, drama, and more drama. This London Derby, without fail gets incredibly heated from the days of Diego Costa (who can forget that?). Chelsea were arguably the better team hands down. They held their own in both halves, with Spurs capitalising due to “ball watching” and very, very questionable calls by Referee Anthony Taylor and even more questionable calls by Mike Dean on VAR duty.
In terms of our transfer window, Kalidou Koulibaly is a great asset. I foresee a great partnership alongside Thiago Silva. The acquisition of Marc Cucurella was needed. He has been brilliant. I’m sorry that his hair got pulled. It appears it’s allowed according to the English FA.
My heart says yes, we can challenge for the title, and my head says no. Reason for me saying no is because one must remember that Chelsea have just come out of a state of new ownership and, more importantly, a sanction. It’s very clear that a lot of housekeeping had to be done.
TOP FOUR:
Man City
Arsenal
Liverpool
Chelsea
BOTTOM THREE:
Bournemouth
Fulham
Everton
SPURS FAN SELOM GAVOR:
It’s been a solid start so far from my boys in North London. We had a very slow start in both matches in both first halves and a much improved performance from us after going a goal down. We got away with a hit and run against Chelsea (lol), but I will take the point at Stamford Bridge.
If we can’t challenge for the title this season, it won’t ever happen for us. I don’t mind us even winning a domestic competition, but we have got to get some sort of silverware. We can definitely challenge City this year, as long as we can keep Antonio Conte!
It's possibly been our best transfer window in a long time. Making Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski permanent and adding Ivan Perisic, Yves Bissouma and Clement Lenglet has given us some serious depth which is what we have lacked, and you can see the impact those guys made against Chelsea when they came on.
TOP FOUR:
Spurs
City
Chelsea
Liverpool/arsenal
BOTTOM THREE:
I would love to see Man Utd there (LOL)
Bournemouth
Fulham
Wolves