Topic: ⚽ Premier League 2023/2024 Discussion Thread ⚽ - page 101. (Read 58887 times)

Nothing wrong with being realistic, but we have 38 Games to play in the Premier League Competition, just 3 fixtures has been held, there'll be long term changes, my picks are simply based on long term not just for the moment.
The only reason why people are not rating Arsenal enough to win this Premier League Competition is because they don't have a proven striker like Erling Haaland. It was the same thing that happened last season, but I'm not giving up on them regardless of the fact that they're so recalcitrant towards getting one CF!  Liverpool don't have the sqaud depth to contest for this premier league campaign. Immediately the Champions League Competition kicks in, they'll definitely fall off due to stress and fatigue.. Week in and out Newcastle will be playing only the Premier League Competition, I placed Chelsea ahead of them but I've come to think about it, they stand a better chance of contesting ahead. Saying Manchester United are playing horrible is laughable but then, you are entitled to your opinion. Maybe about this particular situation.

I doubt if Manchester united and Chelsea will finish at the top 4 position given the realities on ground, looking at their pattern of play from last season up until this season which is without much improvement, I doubt if both teams stand a chance of being at the top 4 at the end of the season. Of course they are not underdogs but they are among the average team who are struggling to be among the top 10.
I totally agree with your top 9 favorite order, except for the fact Newcastle would have gone up a little maybe replacing Brighton.

If we are thinking realistically considering the current performances then my ranking would be like:

- Manchester City
- Arsenal
- Liverpool
- Brighton
- Tottenham Hotspur
- Aston Villa
- Chelsea
- Newcastle United
- Manchester United

I would love to put Arsenal ahead of Manchester City but there is still an obvious gap unfortunately. Otherwise I already want Arsenal to win the league title finally. 

Liverpool look solid but they have a new manager so I need to watch them more. I can trust Arteta more than Arne Slot now.

The reason why I put Chelsea ahead of Newcastle is that I believe they have a bigger potential. I put Manchester United to the last position because they are playing horrible. 

Aston Villa last season was able to surprise us with their ability to compete with teams like Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool, but as we know after the 2023/24 season ended Aston Villa had financial problems that forced them to sell some of their star players, so I think there will be a lot of changes happening to Aston Villa this season,  Just like you, I also think that it is very likely that Aston Villa will not be able to maintain their form this season because we know that if teams like Manchester United, Newcastle and Chelsea have also improved the quality of the squad they have at the moment, if we have Aston Villa who last season appeared Spartan of course this season maybe we will see Brighton become a dark horse ready to threaten big teams at the top of the Premier League standings,But to be honest, I am personally quite curious about Aston Villa ability this season in the Champions League after they have been absent for a long time.

Pinning Brighton as a dark horse team is very appropriate based on their performance in the last three matches, they have started the season well compared to other teams such as Tottenham, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Manchester United and Newcastle. Brighton form so far has been very good, they will try to give other teams a shock like Newcastle and Aston Villa did in the previous season.

Yes, the dark horse team is only able to provide surprises, but they are still struggling to compete with Manchester City or Arsenal in the title race, especially since Liverpool is showing its best quality since being handled by Arne Slot. Finishing in the top four would be enough for them, but given the competition this season, Brighton must maintain the form they have shown in the three games they have played.

Brighton are jokers, don't take them too seriously. It's really not how far but how well. Aston Villa will go far in the Champions League Competition but I can't boast of them in the Premier League Competition with the too many games to be played. I'd say Newcastle United but much has been expected from them for the past two seasons and they've done nothing. Too much criticisms and  pressure has been taken off Eddie Howe. I do feel like the pressure on Erik Ten Hag should be on Eddie Howe after all of the money spent, he's achieved nothing for them and this would be his third season in charge.

As per the list, I'd rank them this way;
Arsenal
Manchester City
Manchester United
Chelsea
Newcastle United
Liverpool
Tottenham Hotspur
Aston Villa
Brighton

The team that wins the match by playing with hard work and good performance in the league, then the league will definitely add its name to the strong one and Liverpool is among them.  We don't care which team is what, the difference is which team is stronger and more hard working.  So obviously he will definitely leave it for them because it is a proof of their performance.  If their coach isn't pushing them to work hard, that's their thinking, but it's foolish of them to do that in every match.  Because every coach has a duty to guide his team towards good performance and hard work and if they are not succeeding in this, then they should change the coach.  If they continue to do the same in the first matches, they will do the same in this season as well.  Or evaluate their performance by watching two or three matches.  Because every team performs well in the first matches and loses in the end.

I agree with you that it is going to be a very long and probably hectic season ahead for Aston Villa. They now have mid week fixtures courtesy of the champions which is now even two games longer than before and as such i also believe it will affect the club’s league form this season. But I don’t think it will affect it as much as it affected Newcastle last season and my point is Newcastle had a manager that hasn’t been in the European premier competition before but with Unai Emery, Aston Villa have someone with much needed experience to guide them through this long fixtures. Secondly Newcastle United were heavily struck with Injuries last season and that to me also affected their form but if Aston Villa could keep a fit squad then they could be able to get a better campaign in Europe and the league than them.

Aston Villa also have loss two key players in Douglas Luiz and Moussa Diaby but to me they have no excuse because the club currently have the best replacement for the two players. Amodu Onana is one talented midfielder that I think is a good replacement for Douglas Luiz while the depart right wing position by Diaby is filled with either Duran or Leon Bailey with both capable of doing their jobs perfectly there. So I think they have been able to replace their departed players well enough to not use that as a reason for failure

Yes - they are Newcastle, Brighton and Aston Villa.
Manchester United and Chelsea are not underdogs - they are widely expected to finish in the top four and qualify for next season's Champions League. But either way - I can't possibly rule out Tottenham for a top 4 spot.

I have a favorite order and here is the list:
1. Manchester City
2. Liverpool
3. Arsenal
4. Tottenham
5. Chelsea
6. Brighton
7. Manchester United
8. Newcastle
9. Aston Villa

I'm also expecting Newcastle to have another great season same way they did during the first season of Eddie Howe in charge as head of the club. They went ahead to play a cup finals and also qualify for the Champions League Competition. I see them doing that too this season dame way Josep Pep Guardiola has also predicted.
As for Aston Villa, it'll take consistent to see them thriving back with the rest of the big four in the Champions League Competition. Despite the sale of Douglas Luiz, they did bring in a power horse and engine room Andrea Onana from Everton. Aston Villa will host Everton anyways come weekend in the Premier League Competition, I'm.sure this would be the third win of the season for them as they couldn't get what they wanted against Arsenal. It was great to see how Arsenal humbled em.

Your analysis I think is very correct is is very similar to what I'll add now. Aston Villa despite their historic achievements of last season is still an average team and can't be measured with the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and even Manchester United when it comes to possession of quality players. Unai Emery's men managed to deliver an incredible campaign last that saw them finish in the top four of the English Premier League table this season but i think they were able to achieve that because they weren't playing in the UEFA Champions League unlike this season that they'll participate in the competition. Aston Villa might do well this season by finish in the top half of the league table but I doubt they'll near the top four this season.

Man, I feel EXACTLY the same. Weeks without Premier League feels so damn boring, it tires me. But at least the international games right now are of some enjoyment, so far the games have been really exciting. I also play in a Fantasy Premier League pool, so I am using this time to fix my team and plan forward. But I don't think anything can really fill the void of Premier League not being there.

Now just around six days where we go for the Premier League again. A lot to prove for a lot of teams because just two teams got all three wins so far. I think a lot of people will be keeping an eye on Manchester United and Chelsea because they are two of the most popular teams who had, weird starts to the league to say the least. I think Manchester United especially have a lot to show.



Erik Ten Hag must have been in turmoil since the devastating loss to Liverpool, and he needs to show his team away. A way to sort all of these out that can take the team to the next level. He needs to address things really fast now if he can't, things might get even worse for him real soon.

Winger Simon is just shaking the field at the #AFCON right now 

You know, Brighton always starts a season like the Dark Horses, they show promise, they start playing well against big teams. But I think I have seen this movie quite a few times already because something happens to them as time goes on, they lose their level of play, they lose their level of consistency. But I would really love to see Brighton keeping up this amazing performance because honestly, the Seagulls are a really fun team to watch. They have talented and electric wingers, a solid midfield, and strong and big defenders. They also brought in good depth, so this can really pay off well in the future.


I think another who can prove to be a dark horses this season are Brentford. The Bees started off well, and have all that it takes to be really good in the future. They also have a great coach in Thomas Frank, and recruited top quality players in the window. If they can maintain a fair bit of consistency, they can go a really long way this season. They are always very exciting to watch.

BBC took some public opinion about The Bees, i totally agree with Ian, here it is-

Leicester did it once, and ever since then a lot of people keep waiting for another team to do something that crazy. But people forget that when Leicester did that, City wasn't this dominant, and Arsenal wasn't this great ,and Liverpool didn't had a huge Klopp period ever since then.

So when you think about it, premier league is much tougher right now compared to when Leicester did it, doesn't mean that Leicester did something easy, it was still near impossible, people became millionaires when they bet on them, so it's clear that we are not going to end up seeing something similar again. Brighton is great, but a top four finish would be the only thing they can pray for, nothing else would be realistic result for them and shouldn't be expected.

Aston villa this season again made history after being able to qualify for the Champions League again, their performance last season with Unai Emery was indeed very extraordinary and even quite surprising for us to see them with a makeshift squad actually able to compete in the big 4 zone, this season will certainly be a very different season from what happened last season,  the tight schedule will certainly be a challenge for Aston Villa and I think they must be able to overcome that although it is unlikely that they will be able to do so considering the number of star players their has thrown away in the summer transfer market, to be honest, I think Aston Villa will still be able to compete in the Premier League but looking at their experience last season which was difficult in the Conference League, of course we can't expect much from them in the Champions League this season although Unai Emery is an experienced coach in European competitions so far.

It would be very difficult for Aston Villa to replicate their form of last season, they now play in the Champions League, thus more games, a game every 3 days means a tighter schedule, more fatigue and it is difficult for smaller teams to cope with it. In the 2022/2023 season, Newcastle were the dark horse, look what happened to them in 23/24 season when they played in the CL, i fear that's what's going to happen to Aston Villa this season. I might also add that they lost Douglas Luiz, who moved to Juventus, he was a very important player for them last season.

A good question it is... Brighton is a good example to take. Because after De Zerbi left, people were curious about how they would manage. But now Fabian Hurzeler is doing an impressive work. No loss in 3 games and stealing 1 point from Arsenal at Emirates at the same time. If their game stays strong for the most part of the season, I absolutely see them in top four race. 

I really like their squad as well. There are good talents such as Joao Pedro, Mitoma and so on. As long as the manager is capable of using the potential here, they should be able to have a good finish at the end of the season.

My choice is Aston Villa. I think Villa may be repeating their overachievement from last season. They will do it again, and I strongly believe they're the dark horse.

Brighton is apparently potential enough to become a dark horse. Their results against big clubs (Arsenal & Man.U) could support it. But they often run out of steam by mid-season. It makes me lose my confidence in putting them as a potential dark horse.

I'm still sticking with my preferred choice, which is Aston Villa.

The dark horse team is a team that is able to make it difficult for the top clubs, they give surprises with their unexpected performances, maybe Brighton has the opportunity to be the dark horse team this season, but it seems too early to see it now because the Premier League is a league with very tight competition.
Last season, Brighton also managed to occupy the top 5 positions in the middle of the season, but in the end they fell and their stability was disturbed until they finally finished in 11th place, maybe the arrival of Fabian Hurzeler as coach and Mason Greenwood will make Brighton's appearance better than before and we'll see how far their appearance will continue like this.

In the 4th match later, he will face the promoted club Ipswich, I think Brighton will win this match to get 3 full points.

The Brighton side have had a good start to the season. However, this team will not compete for the title. Even if the Brighton team performs well, their target will be to qualify for the Champions League. And if the performance is somewhat consistent, it will be possible for Brighton to qualify for the Champions League. In the last few seasons we have seen teams like Aston Villa and Newcastle do well. It is not surprising if the Brighton team managed to occupy the fourth place in the table this season.

The Brighton team is strong this season. Brighton won against Manchester United and shared the points with Arsenal. The Brighton team has performed well in the opening three matches of the season. Brighton's players performed well against a strong team like Arsenal.

Apart from Brighton, the Newcastle team has played very well in the first three games this season. Despite sharing points with Bournemouth, Newcastle managed to beat a strong team like Tottenham.