Man City will win the Premiership

The business of making predictions is complicated enough without having to do it with half the season gone. Doing it now makes it appear like one has waited for the contest to take shape -some sort of prediction rigging. Still as a matter of responsibility this is how the table will appear in May 2014, a combination of subjective opinion and inference.
Manchester City will reclaim their trophy after overcoming everyone by the sheer weight of quantity and quality.

From Joe Hart and Vincent Kompany through Yaya Toure David Silva to Kun Aguero they have the strongest spine in the premiership. All Manuel Pelgrini has to figure out is how to transmit home capabilities into away realities and they shall soon be top of the pile.
Early season momentum will carry a totally pissed off Arsenal into second with the ridicule of everyone still ringing in their ears.

Despite all the glitter of the season so far, Arsenal still emits indecisiveness and like Jamie Carragher says they lack the arrogance of a champion. Even then they will continue to dazzle and should be good for one of the cup competitions, a one-off game in which their long-haul credentials don’t have to be exposed.

Chelsea will be guided to third by the ‘Happy One’ who in a semblance of expectation management has admitted already that this is a season of transition.

Liverpool fourth
It could be gamesmanship this statement from Jose Mourinho but one thing for sure is that Chelsea only shows the swagger of yore in spasms and the Manager says work on a re-building project is already underway. I wonder though whether Roman Abramovich will not start to feel he has more projects than results.

Liverpool will come fourth courtesy of Luis Suarez. This is football and the discussion can’t be about one man but Luis Suarez is something else. He plays like a man possessed and if he manages to contain and direct whatever it is that possesses him Liverpool could actually finish higher. But seeing that Luis Suarez has never done an incident free season fourth will be a justifiable reward for all the improvements Brendan Rogers has brought to the team.

Manchester United Tottenham and Everton will trip over each other so much that it is practically impossible for anyone but a prophet to predict in which order they will line up. This however will be a defining season for Manchester United, a season in which the unspeakable alternative of dropping out of the top four will force them to come-up with some very clever solutions to the likely loss of their clout and pulling power two very critical factors for sustainable success in modern football. Still I don’t see how they can be any better than fifth.

I also don’t see any break away formation at the top as I believe consistency will be at a premium. I expect up to four teams to be in with a realistic chance all the way to May. At this point though I must close off with a disclaimer - readers with a gambling habit can only use this information at their own peril.

Enjoy the season and may 2014 come with all your expectations in football as in life. Happy New Year.

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