Premier League Prediction Thread (EPL)

[Vasilije69]

Is anyone else amazed at how much clubs are spending on players.   I'm a big football fan but it blows my mind how people get paid tens of millions to kick a ball around while people are starving across the globe.

Anyways I always cheer for the underdog since a lot of matches are heavily one sided with the richer club always wins.  I wish there was more parity in the EPL since its usually the same teams at the top every year (Chelsea, Arsenal, Man U, Man City)

Yeah, you are right. Every year there are same teams at the top. Only I would correct about one. Just switch Arsenal with Tottenham and other is good. Arsenal wasn't that good this years as Tottenham was.

[Sutters Mill]

Is anyone else amazed at how much clubs are spending on players.   I'm a big football fan but it blows my mind how people get paid tens of millions to kick a ball around while people are starving across the globe.

The amount of money being spent is ridiculous, but that's business for you and I doubt you'd be complaining if you were getting paid vast sums to do something you love. Getting near one million a month is silly and nobody needs that much. Money has  given the game a sour taste in my opinion and there should be more limits on what you can spend and who you can buy as smaller clubs don't even have a chance at competing and the wealthiest ones always dominate and get the best players. Look at Manchester City. In 2001 they were a Championship team and they were always a mid-table team in the Premier League until their team was bought by some wealthy Arabs and then everyone wanted to play for them once they were making record-breaking signings. They essentially bought the title in 2011-2012 season and they've remained one of the best teams since only attracting the best players due to the wages they'll pay and obviously that also equals success. Wealthy owners could buy any team and just throw a load of money at them and hey presto you'll probably get your league title within a few years. Don't get me wrong, all these world class players in the Premier League makes for a great spectacle but if any other League in the world offered them better wages the players would soon leave. We're already seeing this with the Chinese league and MLS are poaching a lot of ageing players but I think it's only a matter of time before they will start to attract more star signings in their prime and become a dominant league.

[DIA7]

This seqson Liverpool looks more balanced then last year version they finally now can play a variety of modes of play and harmony between the lines away from the primitive style that we were watching last season in reliance on the front-end force 4 nill against West Ham is very good results especially when this year of West Ham is much stronger then the last with more 100m spent and better manager so Liverpool have shouwn their power In attack and Midfield still only the defense is not to be tested I hope that Klopp doesn't regret not signing one more center back before January.

[cazkooo]

Is anyone else amazed at how much clubs are spending on players.   I'm a big football fan but it blows my mind how people get paid tens of millions to kick a ball around while people are starving across the globe.

The amount of money being spent is ridiculous, but that's business for you and I doubt you'd be complaining if you were getting paid vast sums to do something you love. Getting near one million a month is silly and nobody needs that much. Money has  given the game a sour taste in my opinion and there should be more limits on what you can spend and who you can buy as smaller clubs don't even have a chance at competing and the wealthiest ones always dominate and get the best players. Look at Manchester City. In 2001 they were a Championship team and they were always a mid-table team in the Premier League until their team was bought by some wealthy Arabs and then everyone wanted to play for them once they were making record-breaking signings. They essentially bought the title in 2011-2012 season and they've remained one of the best teams since only attracting the best players due to the wages they'll pay and obviously that also equals success. Wealthy owners could buy any team and just throw a load of money at them and hey presto you'll probably get your league title within a few years. Don't get me wrong, all these world class players in the Premier League makes for a great spectacle but if any other League in the world offered them better wages the players would soon leave. We're already seeing this with the Chinese league and MLS are poaching a lot of ageing players but I think it's only a matter of time before they will start to attract more star signings in their prime and become a dominant league.

They have become a dominant league already, they are not afraid to spend huge amount because they know that they are going to get that back when the season end. As for the current state, most of the football fans are enjoying the premier league more compared to the other league which means that premiere league are broadcasting it worldwide and more coverage.

With more coverage, the sponsorship will have to pay larger amount of money therefore they are not afraid to spend money to sign any superstar because they are getting those money back

[Wendigo]

I would like to ask the Liverpool fans around here - do you think West Ham will be able to score today? The odds for over 2.5 goals are 1.45 while btts is @1.95 and Liverpool to win & btts is priced @2.40 odds. I am currently on the fence as I would like to take that sizeable 2.40 odds, but I am having doubts if the Hammers will get one past Liverpool's new star goalkeeper.

I think they can, considering Pellegrini wants his teams to play fast paced, attacking football too.  But the problem is Chicharito is on the bench, so it's less likely to happen.  And I'm not too sure about the current FW playing right now...  Arnuatovic is it?

I took the BTTS route for Liverpool - West Ham and Arsenal - Manchester City games and everything blew up on me today... I think the gap between the leading teams and the rest is steadily increasing. I don't want the Premier League to turn into another La Liga where a handful of teams dictate the top leaderboard rankings every year and there is zero competition for them. French Ligue 1 and German Bundesliga are getting kinda boring with PSG and Bayern Munich respectively claiming first place all the time.

[DIA7]

I would like to ask the Liverpool fans around here - do you think West Ham will be able to score today? The odds for over 2.5 goals are 1.45 while btts is @1.95 and Liverpool to win & btts is priced @2.40 odds. I am currently on the fence as I would like to take that sizeable 2.40 odds, but I am having doubts if the Hammers will get one past Liverpool's new star goalkeeper.

I think they can, considering Pellegrini wants his teams to play fast paced, attacking football too.  But the problem is Chicharito is on the bench, so it's less likely to happen.  And I'm not too sure about the current FW playing right now...  Arnuatovic is it?

I took the BTTS route for Liverpool - West Ham and Arsenal - Manchester City games and everything blew up on me today... I think the gap between the leading teams and the rest is steadily increasing. I don't want the Premier League to turn into another La Liga where a handful of teams dictate the top leaderboard rankings every year and there is zero competition for them. French Ligue 1 and German Bundesliga are getting kinda boring with PSG and Bayern Munich respectively claiming first place all the time.

It's something starting to look like LaLiga two teams competing for the league the other trying to catch up and finish in a soot that will take them to UCL or EUL City and Liverpool are defintly in another level just like in Spain when u see Barcelona and Real while United is something like Atletico madrid and's funny that they are the neighbors of City just Like Real Madrid while Spurs is  similaire to Valencia and Arsenal or Chelsea can be like Sevilla the only real difference is you have more cash in the EPL and kind of better known Managers. i hope that i'm wrong and see if United and Tottenham can get lucky and stay close enough to compete for the title i'm excluding Arsenal and Chelsea because they are in transition and in !chelsea u cannotrelay on eiter Morata or Giroud to bring u the title while Emre failed to win the league in the easiest league ever with PSG so don't expect a lot of him.

[vella85]

Well my luck finally ran out in the Arsenal/Man City game as I just need one more goal from either team to get my 5 leg parlay bet but it wasn't to be. I had a feeling that not many goals would be scored in this game but still went with over 2.5 goals for the value. Overall it was a good first round of the EPL for me betting wise. Liverpool looked amazing and I think they will be fighting it out with Man City for the title this year.

[hubballi]

Well my luck finally ran out in the Arsenal/Man City game as I just need one more goal from either team to get my 5 leg parlay bet but it wasn't to be. I had a feeling that not many goals would be scored in this game but still went with over 2.5 goals for the value. Overall it was a good first round of the EPL for me betting wise. Liverpool looked amazing and I think they will be fighting it out with Man City for the title this year.

The efforts from arsenal was very bad and he pressure from man city very good which did not allowed arsenal to make a single goal. Till now both team making goal is very less

[btctalk4life]

Well my luck finally ran out in the Arsenal/Man City game as I just need one more goal from either team to get my 5 leg parlay bet but it wasn't to be. I had a feeling that not many goals would be scored in this game but still went with over 2.5 goals for the value. Overall it was a good first round of the EPL for me betting wise. Liverpool looked amazing and I think they will be fighting it out with Man City for the title this year.

Liverpool is the best contender to beat man city in this season, what a good result on their first match though. They beat west ham 4-0, that's an amazing result. Btw, Fulham lose against Palace, what a waste though. Fulham is all out in this season and buy so many players, i hope it will give a good result on the next match.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Fulham is all out in this season and buy so many players, i hope it will give a good result on the next match.

I know. Fulham are the first promoted side ever to spend over £100 million. They have essentially bought an entire new team. Their team is good on paper, solid mid-table stuff, but it is going to take some time for all these players to gel together.

Will be hilarious if they go down after spending so much.

[buwaytress]

I took the BTTS route for Liverpool - West Ham and Arsenal - Manchester City games and everything blew up on me today... I think the gap between the leading teams and the rest is steadily increasing. I don't want the Premier League to turn into another La Liga where a handful of teams dictate the top leaderboard rankings every year and there is zero competition for them. French Ligue 1 and German Bundesliga are getting kinda boring with PSG and Bayern Munich respectively claiming first place all the time.

Tough on BTTS bettors on the last weekend, I think at least 7 teams failed to score and we had our first scoreless draw too (pity I backed Burnley on my failed parlay).

I don't think we're in danger yet of Premier League turning into La Liga or Serie A or Bundesliga (they're all the same to me, in the sense that there can really only be 1 or 2 victors). EPL still has a great competitive streak, and watching the teams that lost to the favourites (Arsenal, Leicester, even Newcastle) at least we know they still put up a good fight. Don't forget we had a fairytale champion just 3 seasons ago.

I personally thought it was all over when Chelsea brought in the oil money, but then more than 10 seasons ago, we've seen how money doesn't guarantee success. But you're right to be worried. I know I should feel happy Liverpool finally splashed this season and did their bit of business early, I particularly didn't enjoy that we HAD to splurge on VVD and Alisson, so I really hope more can be done about spending.

We've still got a great collection of amazing managers, so there's also part of the reason EPL is still so exciting. Really looking forward to Sarri and Emery push the rest to innovate.

[tokeweed]

I would like to ask the Liverpool fans around here - do you think West Ham will be able to score today? The odds for over 2.5 goals are 1.45 while btts is @1.95 and Liverpool to win & btts is priced @2.40 odds. I am currently on the fence as I would like to take that sizeable 2.40 odds, but I am having doubts if the Hammers will get one past Liverpool's new star goalkeeper.

I think they can, considering Pellegrini wants his teams to play fast paced, attacking football too.  But the problem is Chicharito is on the bench, so it's less likely to happen.  And I'm not too sure about the current FW playing right now...  Arnuatovic is it?

I took the BTTS route for Liverpool - West Ham and Arsenal - Manchester City games and everything blew up on me today... I think the gap between the leading teams and the rest is steadily increasing. I don't want the Premier League to turn into another La Liga where a handful of teams dictate the top leaderboard rankings every year and there is zero competition for them. French Ligue 1 and German Bundesliga are getting kinda boring with PSG and Bayern Munich respectively claiming first place all the time.

It won't, if you could see how EPL clubs are spending on transfers and trying to get really good managers to handle their clubs.  It's just City and recently LFC are around two years ahead of Arsenal and Chelsea, but they'll fill the gap imho.

[swogerino]

The reason why the Premier league is better than many other so called big leagues is because there is diversification. You rarely see in the Premier league a team that wins the title 5 or more years without stopping. In fact you can't see in Serie A a team like Chievo to win the Championship , we saw that on Premier league 2 years ago when a team like Leicester City won the Premier league.

The difference in quality between teams in Premier league and other leagues is smaller in Premier league that is why it is still the best league to watch on TV.

[gilangIDR]

This season's EPL is still in its initial session, it is still not seen how each team has an opportunity. But it's always fun when we talk about big teams like Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham. All of them are certainly the team that has the greatest chance of earning the EPL title this season. But surprises will always be there, it happens when leicester city can become champion. We are waiting for everything and we will watch interesting matches. EPL will present a very pleasant thing to witness.

[Aqualung89]

Arsenal seemed to have a very bad start, in fact it was a tough team but I did not expect such a passive game in my own home.

[LFC_Bitcoin]

Arsenal seemed to have a very bad start, in fact it was a tough team but I did not expect such a passive game in my own home.

I don’t think Emery can be judged until at least a couple of months into the new season. All new managers need time to get their tactics & ideas through to the players. 2-0 to Man City wasn’t a surprise, City beat most teams they play.

[btctalk4life]

Fulham is all out in this season and buy so many players, i hope it will give a good result on the next match.

I know. Fulham are the first promoted side ever to spend over £100 million. They have essentially bought an entire new team. Their team is good on paper, solid mid-table stuff, but it is going to take some time for all these players to gel together.

Will be hilarious if they go down after spending so much.

Yeah, i'm afraid Fulham will be the "Next" Everton. Spending so much money but the result is not good. Well it's only from 1 match though, let's see what will happen to Fulham on the next match.

[swogerino]

Arsenal seemed to have a very bad start, in fact it was a tough team but I did not expect such a passive game in my own home.

I don’t think Emery can be judged until at least a couple of months into the new season. All new managers need time to get their tactics & ideas through to the players. 2-0 to Man City wasn’t a surprise, City beat most teams they play.

I think Emery is a very good coach and he showed it with Sevilla where he won Europa League. Every new manager needs time to make himself feel comfortable in the ambient where he is working, he also needs time to know the players. Once he clears his idea of the team, I think we will see a very attacking team from Arsenal and attacking football is always good to watch but not always gives you results.

[DIA7]

Arsenal seemed to have a very bad start, in fact it was a tough team but I did not expect such a passive game in my own home.

I don’t think Emery can be judged until at least a couple of months into the new season. All new managers need time to get their tactics & ideas through to the players. 2-0 to Man City wasn’t a surprise, City beat most teams they play.

I think Emery is a very good coach and he showed it with Sevilla where he won Europa League. Every new manager needs time to make himself feel comfortable in the ambient where he is working, he also needs time to know the players. Once he clears his idea of the team, I think we will see a very attacking team from Arsenal and attacking football is always good to watch but not always gives you results.

if Arsenal wants to become a top middle team in the EPL Emre is their man to do so, I'm afraid that we will never see them finishing top 3 anymore true They had few successful signings but it's not good enough to take them higher then they did last season the only player that will be great to watch is Aubameyang the other have already reached their peak and now they are on downhill like Ozil Cech Koscielny and many more and don't find ElNeny and Xaka quality enough to play for the gunners I'm seeing Manchester United situation all over again after SAF resigned only this time Arsenal Knows that they are screwed.

[leea-1334]

if Arsenal wants to become a top middle team in the EPL Emre is their man to do so, I'm afraid that we will never see them finishing top 3 anymore true They had few successful signings but it's not good enough to take them higher then they did last season the only player that will be great to watch is Aubameyang the other have already reached their peak and now they are on downhill like Ozil Cech Koscielny and many more and don't find ElNeny and Xaka quality enough to play for the gunners I'm seeing Manchester United situation all over again after SAF resigned only this time Arsenal Knows that they are screwed.

I have to admit I knew nothing much about Emery as a coach. I even did not know it was him who was responsible for Sevilla being so strong winning Europa League so many times. I am noticing a lot of Turkish descent players playing and now managing in the Premier League,,, I did not realize there was so much talent in Turkey. For me, new managers have a tough time in any league in Europe now where clubs cannot be patient.

But perhaps with Arsenal, they know how to wait a little. Wenger showed this rare patience. Let us hope Emery makes Arsenal like he did Sevilla (winners where it matters). The league, is still tough to win, though.