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( vote)football predictions? Do you enjoy nothing better on a Friday evening than piecing together your weekend football predictions for your office sweepstake? Chances are, this is not the time to be making any bold statements, as pre-season is that time of year where football fans are getting their fix of football from the smallest, and often most desperate sources. There’s the regurgitated rumour that’s been running all summer, the pre-season friendly against a non-league team where only one first team player got a run out, and of course the now yearly tour to some far flung corner of the globe. And yet every soccer fan grabs these pieces of minutiae as bona fide evidence of the club’s health – do the omens bode well for a promising campaign, or are all the signs pointing towards a long fight against relegation? Truth is, pre-season really is a time for optimism, but probably not the time for the best football predictions – at least where the man on the street is concerned. Can the fact that Raheem Sterling scored after just 137 seconds of his Manchester City debut point to him being the missing piece of the jigsaw in the blue half of Manchester’s title quest? Can the fact that Spurs have been linked with the new African Ronaldo (Clinton N’Jie, a 21-year-old Lyon forward who notched seven goals in 30 Ligue 1 games last season) point to a successful Champions League qualification campaign for the perennial Europa League participants? Basing today’s football predictions on such scant information can be tricky. Making the best soccer predictions requires much more.
Football predictions: Last Summer
Oh last summer. The Brazil World Cup. Luis Suarez and Giorgio Chiellini. Germany. Of course, hindsight is a beautiful thing, but we need look no further in our quest for the best football predictions, than the tips of many whopredicted the exodus at Southampton would lead to a difficult campaign for the Saints and their new coach Ronald Koeman, who at that stage had no Premier League experience. 12 months later and a 7th placed finished surely tell us that such predictions are folly. But that’s why most of us are amateurs. Today’s football predictions can very often become tomorrow’s source of jest if they are of the knee-jerk variety. Weekend football predictions can be difficult enough on a Friday in December, when the season is fully 4 months old, new recruits have bedded in (or not) and injury lists have been counted. Truth is, today’s football predictions require analysis of many competing factors in a club’s pre-season,
The Glamour Transfers
So what would the best football predictions, or at least today’s football predictions, involve at this stage of pre-season? Certainly an in-depth analysis of the signings made so far. It always takes a while for the relentless rumours to turn into something tangible – usually it’s one big move that triggers a free for all, and it could well be that the Raheem Sterling transfer from Liverpool to Manchester City for a fee rising to £59 million could well be that move. Already Liverpool are looking to reinvest some of that record transfer fee (for a British player, paid by a British club) as they have reportedly activated the £32.5 million release clause is Christian Benteke’s Villa contract. That in turn might provoke a counter-bid from Manchester United who recently off-loaded Premier League legend Robin Van Persie to Fenerbahce, and declined to take up the option of signing Radamel Falcao after his underwhelming season on loan at Old Trafford. Falcao, of course, has popped up at Chelsea. And so it goes… Other notable moves include Bastian Schweinsteiger’s arrival at United, accompanied by Morgan Schneiderlinand Memphis Depay, and Liverpool’s capture of Roberto Firmino , James Milner and Nathaniel Clyne. Between the sticks, the biggest winners have been Arsenal, with their landing of ex-Chelsea hero Petr Cech, something the best soccer predictions would incorporate into their factoring when assessing potential champions. Chelsea, in turn, have covered their number two ‘keeper slot with a move for Stoke’sAsmirBegovic.The Rest
Of course there is more to putting together than simply assessing the big money, Hollywood signings. Indeed, it’s a long season and the success of a team is often decided by the depth and quality of its squad rather than the ability of just one or two star turns.And of course, when assessing weekend predictions at the end of the week, knowledge of who is ready to step in at a moment’s notice is paramount to success. So what are the signings that have flown under the radar, yet will help shape next season’s campaign? Who are the signings that the best predictions would factor in? And when considering the weekend’s prevision, squad strength is paramount. There’s City’s snaring of Villa’s Fabian Delph, Newcastle’s big money moves for Georginio Wijnaldum and Aleksandar Mitrovic, West Ham’s captures of Pedro Obiang, Dimitri Payetand Angelo Ogbonna, as well as Tottenham’s reshaping of their defence with ex-Southampton loanee Toby Alderweireld and Burnley full back Kieran Trippier. Aston Villa have brought in Idrissa Gueye and Jordan Amavi, while the most surprising move of the summer must be at Selhurst Park, where Palace completed the excellent signing of Yohan Cabaye from PSG. Many successful weekend predictions will consider his impact.
Weekend prevision will also take note of Swansea who have been busy with the captures of Andre Ayew, Franck Tabanou, Kristoffer Nordfeldtand Eder, while Sunderland have moved for the more familiar (to the layman) Jeremain Lens, Sebastián Coates, Adam Matthews and Younes Kaboul. Stoke have been busy with the signings of Joselu, Philipp Wollscheid, and JakobHaugaard, among a host of free transfers and loan signings (Shay Given, Glen Johnson and Marco Van Ginkel among the most notable for weekend prevision). West Brom’s only notable addition so far has been James McClean from Wigan, whilst Everton have thus far only added Tom Cleverly and former loaneeGerard Deulofeu . Leicester have brought in Christian Fuchs, Robert Huth and Shinji Okazaki, whilst many eyes will be on Southampton to see if they can repeat last year’s magic with any, or all, of Jordy Clasie, Juanmi, Cedric SoaresorCuco Martina. The best football predictions of last season noted the shrewdness of the Saint’s signings, not their sales. Just as the best football prevision made this time of year will factor in all the comings and goings as important indications of the road that lies ahead for the 20 Premier League teams.