Welcome to my team-by-team preview for the 2021/22 Premier League. Here, I will write a post for each team participating in the top tier of English football including their pre-season transfers so far and where I think they will finish this season. No doubt, we can look back at the end of the season and see how right or wrong I was.
Watford
One of the teams that have garnered a reputation for being a 21st century yo-yo club are once again back in the promised land after a short stint in the Championship. Head coach Xisco did well to guide the Hornets to a 2nd placed finish in the second tier of English football last season and there is hope amongst the Watford fans that maybe this time the club can stay in the top flight for more than one season.
Unfortunately, the high turnover of players and staff at the Hertfordshire club has continued. The squad last season was solid enough with the likes of Ben Foster, Jeremy Ngakia, Ismaila Sarr, and Joao Pedro providing the quality to get them up. However, the club has taken steps to bring in a wealth of new players including Danny Rose, Ashley Fletcher, and Joshua King. Are these really players that are strengthening this Watford squad?
I fear it could be a difficult season for Watford. I wasn’t that impressed with them last season. I’m not sold on Xisco as a head coach and I feel they still lack the quality throughout the squad to make a go of it this time.
My Prediction: 20th
Brentford
Undoubtedly, one of my favourite second teams of recent memory is this Brentford side. I have really respected the way the club is run and what they’re about. The fact they are surrounded by bigger teams such as Chelsea, Arsenal, and Tottenham yet continue to pull in the fans and be successful. I also love their attitude to youth development. They don’t have their own youth academy. They take in those lads released by other clubs and give them a second chance because they felt their own academy was just creating too much heartbreak for young lads around the local area when they had to tell them they weren’t good enough. This promotion to the Premier League feels deserved for a club that hadn’t been in the top flight since 1947.
The Bees had the crux of an exciting team ready to take on the big boys of English football. Despite losing the likes of Ollie Watkins, Said Benrahma, Neal Maupay, and Emiliano Marcondes over recent seasons, the club has re-invented itself. Ivan Toney is now the main man with Bryan Mbeumo, Mathias Jensen, and Sergi Canos among the other big performers. Head coach Thomas Frank has been keen to avoid adding too many new faces to this tightly-knit squad. Celtic’s highly-rated centre back Kristoffer Ajer has come in with Frank Onyeka from FC Midtjylland also arriving. The exits of Henrik Dalsgaard and Marcondes are disappointing but not hugely detrimental.
As much as I want Brentford to make a success of this season I feel there are a number of factors that will hold them back this season. A lot rides on how well Toney can adapt to Premier League football. He’s a potent finisher and looks ready after a previously doomed spell at Newcastle in his younger years. Can he get the service though? Is Frank a capable enough manager to adapt his highly intense game to this level? Marcelo Bielsa transitioned it successfully with Leeds but Frank isn’t anywhere near Bielsa’s calibre of manager. Is this squad good enough? To put it bluntly, no. I am expecting a brave campaign but one that will ultimately end in failure.
My Prediction: 19th
Norwich
The next team up on my list is one I wasn’t particularly comfortable putting in the bottom three and not a side I want to see being relegated but I just think it’s not going to end well for Norwich again this season. The Canaries have managed to bounce back to the Premier League at the first time of asking as champions and this squad is arguably better than the last time they were in the top flight but have they got enough to stay up this time around?
You look at this Norwich squad and it’s packed with quality. Daniel Farke has done well to hang on to the likes of Max Aarons, Todd Cantwell, and Teemu Pukki whilst also now bringing in Billy Gilmour on loan and Kosovan midfielder Milot Rashica. The loss of creative starlet Emiliano Buendia is massive though. He was such an influential character in the final third for Norwich and his departure is huge. How much will Rashica cover his exit? Is the arrival of Nice attacking midfielder Pierre Lees-Melou enough as well? Even if Rashica manages to fill Buendia’s boots they’re simply treading water and haven’t actually strengthened their team that much. It feels like they’re putting all the pressure on Pukki to get the goals again. He did score 26 goals last season but after an early purple patch his goals dried up quickly last time in the top flight.
If you don’t have a prolific scorer in your team then you’re not staying up. That’s going to be the nail in the coffin for this Norwich team. I think the defence could’ve done with a bit more investment in the middle. I’m not convinced Grant Hanley and Ben Gibson will cope effectively against the faster attackers in the Premier League. Pukki will defy expectations if he scores double figures again. It’ll be a courageous effort again but I can see them just falling short again.
My Prediction: 18th
Newcastle
Every season we talk about the potential relegation candidates in the Premier League and it seems that every season we’re discussing Newcastle. This season is no exception. The Magpies ended up finishing last season strongly with just 2 defeats from their last 9 league games including winning 3 of their final 4 league matches. Did that late run offer a deceiving evaluation of their season as a whole? I mean, even heading into the final couple of months of the season there was still a feeling that Newcastle’s final league game of the season away to Fulham could be a survival decider.
Steve Bruce remains at the helm of the Toon Army and the takeover talks continue with rumours of Mike Ashley’s departure still circulating. The London Mafia remains in charge at the club though and until that changes there will remain this uneasy feeling of discontent amongst the fans. No new signings have been made by the club this summer and that’s a red flag in my opinion. There is no doubt that the likes of Callum Wilson, Allan Saint-Maximin, and Jamaal Lascelles can help to keep the team up but last season showed that if one, two, or all three of those players get injured then they really struggle.
I’m expecting yet another underwhelming campaign for Newcastle. I’ve not really seen anything to make me think they’ll improve on last season and, if anything, I think we’ll see them fall off the 12th placed finish of last year. Bruce has surprised me at how well he’s done but I still don’t think he’ll keep his job if new owners come in. For the time being, he’s Newcastle manager and he’ll do enough to keep them up but until the Ashley-related toxicity disappears I don’t think we can expect much from Newcastle.
My Prediction: 17th
Brighton
If there is one team who will have been disappointed with their league position last season in the Premier League then you can argue it’s Brighton. The Seagulls were, statistically, far better than their results and 16th placed finish suggest. The only problem was that they just couldn’t put the ball in the back of the opposition team’s net. Graham Potter needed to add that clinical striker to his ranks during this off-season and ensure that his team didn’t lose any big name players if he wanted to see them evolve as a club.
Unfortunately, neither of those things have happened over the summer. Brighton have seen their superb centre back Ben White depart to Arsenal for a reported £50 million. Other departures from the club include Davy Propper, Bernardo, Mathew Ryan, and Alireza Jahanbakhsh. There have been additions but that much sought after striker remains elusive and no players coming in will really be strengthening the current first XI. It’s a disappointing transfer window for the south coast club and it’s also disconcerting if we’re being brutally honest.
I felt that Potter was building something positive at Brighton but this season has been a huge missed opportunity. I understand that covid has undoubtedly impacted on a club like Brighton’s finances but the sale of White should have allowed them to go out and not only get a replacement for him but also the much-wanted striker. It could still happen with just under a month left until transfer deadline day but as every minute ticks by the prices of players increase. I’m worried that Brighton won’t get the players they want in and it could severely hamper their season. I’ve put them 16th because they could still bring in the players they need but it’s not looking good. Another relegation battle could be heading their way.
My Prediction: 16th
Burnley
Another Premier League season arrives and we once again have to make a decision on what we think Burnley will do this year. Sean Dyche repeatedly seems to perform miracles with his Clarets team. Their dreadfully slow start last season looked like he might cost them their place in the top flight but, as usual, the former Watford manager turned things around and kept his team up. Can he do the same again this year?
Burnley have done something they rarely do this summer and that was spend big money on a single after the £12 million signing of Stoke centre back Nathan Collins. It could be a shrewd move. The team conceded 55 goals in 38 games last season which isn’t terrible for a team down the bottom but it shows Dyche is still keen to bolster his defensive options. Striker Chris Wood scored 12 goals in the league so you’d think he’d look to strengthen his attacking options too but no striker has arrived yet. The departure of Robbie Brady after the Irishman rejected the club’s contract offer is a blow and he’s a player that’s yet to be replaced.
There is still time for more players to come in but it’s already feeling like we could see a typical Burnley season in the top flight. There is enough quality still within this squad with Wood, Nick Pope, James Tarkowski, Ben Mee, and Dwight McNeil so I can’t see them going down. They are settled, well-organised, and tough to beat. It won’t always be plain sailing but I’d be surprised if they finish inside the bottom three. One or two additions could also propel them even further up the table.
My Prediction: 15th
Southampton
OK, let’s ask the big question for this season. Against which team will Southampton concede 9 goals this year? Ralph Hasenhuttl has clearly had some positive impact on this Saints team but he’s also not quite getting it right all the time. A lack of consistency plagued the team last season and restricted them to a 15th placed finish. Has enough work and preparation been done over the summer to resolve that problem?
Well, let’s start by saying that the sale of Danny Ings to Aston Villa probably hasn’t helped one bit. Ings scored 12 league goals last season which accounted for nearly a quarter of Southampton’s league goals scored. Mario Lemina’s exit to Nice will only have weakened the squad depth as well. The arrivals haven’t quite filled the Saints faithful with optimism. Theo Walcott’s loan from Everton has been made permanent. Left back Romain Perraud from Stade Brest has been brought in to replace the outgoing Ryan Bertrand. Other than that, it’s very uninspiring.
This isn’t rocket science. Southampton need to replace the loss of Ings. His goals were key in keeping Southampton away from the relegation zone last season. Pre-season matches against Fulham, Cardiff, Swansea, and Levante showed that the attacking midfielders can still be a threat for the club this season but the 3-1 loss at home to Athletic Bilbao on the weekend was evidence that if a team can expose the flaws of this Southampton side then they’ll get picked apart. The simple addition of a prolific striker could entirely change this. That’s easier said than done though because those players don’t go on trees. Without one, Southampton might end up seeing my prediction has very optimistic. I do trust in Hasenhuttl to get the right man in though but it might take time.
My Prediction: 14th
Wolves
A number of managerial changes have happened throughout British football this summer but certainly the one that will raise the most eyebrows was the departure of Nuno Espirito Santo from Wolves. The decision was “mutually agreed” apparently but Santo has now moved on to Tottenham and the new man at the helm at Molineux is the little known Portuguese manager Bruno Lage. The 45-year old was formerly Benfica gaffer and has also been assistant manager to Carlos Carvalhal at Swansea and Sheffield Wednesday. It’s a big risk from the Wanderers board.
There have been a number of interesting arrivals at the Black Country club. Barcelona winger Francisco Trincao has arrived on loan and he’s joined by Yerson Mosquera from Atletico Nacional, Jose Sa from Olympiakos, and Bendeguz Bolla from Fehervar. Are these additions enough to compensate for the loss of Rui Patricio and the loan signings from last season that have returned to their parent clubs such as Willian Jose and Vitinha. Personally, I think the loss of Patricio is the biggest one. Keepers play such a key role in the foundation of a team that can unsettle a team to the core if the replacement doesn’t fit.
I have lingering doubts over the appointment of Lage. Yes, he won the Primeira Liga when at Benfica but he’s generally got very little experience at managing at this high a level. He has big boots to fill following on from Santo. Can he do it? The good news is that he has a solid squad to use. Raul Jimenez is back from his fractured skull injury and that’s a huge boost for the club. Quality players such as Adama Traore, Conor Coady, Willy Boly, and Daniel Podence are all still involved so he has the resources. I’m just not sure Wolves have the right man in Lage.
My Prediction: 13th
