Premier League 2019/20 Predictions – Who’s going down?

Who’s staying up? Who’s going down? FInd out my predictions below.

Here I am, back with another prediction. This time, I am going to be focusing on the Premier League, and more specifically what teams could be staying up and who could be going down.

20th – Brighton:
Honestly at this point, Brighton just seem to be preparing for the championship. I quite like their manager, although he only managed 14th in the Championship with Swansea and even though I didn’t expect them to return to the Premier League, I still would’ve expected more. Obviously, the Premier League is a tougher competition, as it is the pinnacle of English football, so I have my doubts about this season. As for signings, I don’t really know about the players but they don’t exactly sound the most exciting in comparison to some of the other clubs that I think will be fighting for their Premier League status. It’s also interesting to see Anthony Knockaert going out on loan to Fulham this season. I know he’s not been at his best in the top flight, but I went to a pre-season game there against Atlético Madrid when they first came up, and the fans seemed to love him, so what happened there?
19th – Sheffield United:
They are going to have to massively rely on Dean Henderson, who they’ve managed to get back on loan, and their well-drilled defence for keeping other teams out. To be honest, I don’t think they’re a lost cause, because Billy Sharp could have a great season in the Premier league and carry over his scoring form from theEFL, and I really like Chris Wilder as a manager and I appreciate the job he has done by guiding them from League 1 to the ‘promised land’. However, I think they are the most likely to get relegated of the promoted 3.
18th – Newcastle United:
How different this would be if they had Rafa Benitez in charge. This is the kind of thing that happens when you have an owner in charge of a club that does not care about it at all. Honestly, what happened to *that* alleged take over, and the links to players like Kylian Mbappe? I feel like they will come close, but I’m entirely not convinced about Joelinton – who I presume is a replacement for Ayoze Perez. He scored 7 goals in 29 appearances, averaging 1 goal every 4.14 games, which isn’t what I’d call prolific – and Newcastle desperately need a player that can score a lot of goals.
17th – Norwich City:
I believe this will be tight, but I am backing Norwich to stay up. I think they will be aided by Newcastle’s situation this season, but they do play some very nice football – whether it’ll be enough to keep them up though is a question that will be answered as the season progresses. They will by no means do what Wolves did last season (which I doubt Norwich fans realistically think this will happen) but they definitely have a shot of breaking their yo-yo status and staying in the Premier League for the next season. It will also be interesting to see what the form is like of some of best players from last season – the likes of Teemu Pukki, Mario Vrancic, Emi Buendia and the young players Ben Godfrey, Max Aarons and Jamal Lewis – and how they play in the big time. They’ve managed to build on some of their weaker areas from last season, by signing goalkeeper Ralf Fahrmann on a season-long loan from Schalke and signing Sam Byram (who could prove a good signing by staying fit) from West Ham, despite having one of the lowest budgets in the league, although they could probably do with signing a defensive midfielder before the transfer window shuts, but they do seem poised for a fairly decent season.
16th – Crystal Palace:
They’ve lost Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and are set to lose Wilfried Zaha too, so the question is what now? They are a very inconsistent team, and without their key man (who they barely win without) they will struggle. Also, they haven’t really signed any important players, Jordan Ayew is the only notable name, but he only managed 1 goal in 20 appearances whilst on loan last season. I worry for Palace this season, as without Zaha they don’t have a stand out squad, and they will lack goals. Benteke has no longer got the form he once had at the club, and it’s quite worrying. I can find many negatives about this Palace team, but they do have their positives – for instance, an experienced manager, and a few consistent players (mainly Luka Milivojevic) within the club. So due to these few factors, and their knack at getting good results against the top clubs, I have a feeling that Crystal Palace could stay up, even though they are probably about to lose the person that brings the most value to the club in Wilfried Zaha.

These are the teams that I predict will struggle most this season – based on transfers in and out and the general state of the club. What do you think? Who’s going down this season?

Sebastian Vettel to retire?

As Formula One heads towards its summer break silly season is well underway…

Formula One silly season is well underway, and there have been quite a few strange rumours this season. Here, I am going to look at a few rumours and make my predictions for the 2020 Formula One grid.

My predictions:
Mercedes – Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas
I think this prediction is a fairly straightforward prediction. I have no doubt that Lewis Hamilton will stay with Mercedes for the 2020 season, since he has a contract and is winning races all the time, and is poised to win his 6th world championship this year. Valterri Bottas is a different story, as there have been links with Esteban Ocon, and even moves for Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo. However, Bottas has had a good season and hasn’t been too far off Lewis’ pace, so I think they don’t need to change it. It is also worth considering how sour the relationship between former teammates Hamilton and Rosberg turned, and I think this partnership is definitely the best option for both team and drivers, as with some other drivers (like Verstappen and Ricciardo previously mentioned) they would be fighting for the number 1 driver spot, whereas this partnership has an almost clear cut Number 1 and 2 driver.

Ferrari – Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc:
This one is simple, despite the rumours of Sebastian Vettel retiring. Both drivers supposedly have contracts (Leclerc is rumoured to have a contract to 2022), and team principal Mattia Binotto hinted that Ferrari were not looking to change their lineup when speaking to Sky Sports prior to the Austrian Grand Prix. Unless Vettel does decide to retire, I believe that this will stay the same, especially because Binotto ruled out a move for Verstappen and Ricciardo seems to have signed for Renault for the long-term plan.

Red Bull – Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly:
This one is tough, as Gasly has significantly underperformed this season and Verstappen is being linked elsewhere. I think Max will stay, because he has a contract and Austria proved that Red Bull can be competitive. The second spot is harder to predict, as Gasly has not lived up to Red Bull’s expectations. Although they have been harsh in the past, I think that they will keep Gasly as Silverstone showed a glimpse of what he is capable of, but he does need to keep that form going otherwise Red Bull will look at their junior team, Toro Rosso. Daniil Kvyat has looked a much better driver since his return to the sport, and has only made 1 major mistake (hitting Norris at the Chinese Grand Prix). In my opinion, Kvyat has been dropped one too many times for Helmut Marko and Red Bull to consider him, however based off results it would not be a surprise to see him back at the senior team and Marko has given him and his teammate a second chance. Alexander Albon also has a chance, since he has had a good debut season in Formula One, but I think it’ll be too early to promote him.

McLaren – Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris:
This is easy, as both drivers were confirmed for next season before the British Grand Prix weekend.

Renault – Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg:
I don’t see this changing. There have been links with former test driver Esteban Ocon, but in my view both Ricciardo and Hulkenberg will stay. Hulkenberg seems comfortable at Renault, and I don’t think he will consider a move (unless a few quiet rumours of him to Red Bull are actually quite true). As I previously mentioned, I firmly believe Ricciardo is at Renault until at least after the scheduled 2021 rule change.

Alfa Romeo – Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi:
This one is again quite simple. Kimi has another year on his Alfa Romeo contract, and he seemed to suggest that he wants to see that out in the German Grand Prix drivers’ press conference. Giovinazzi was at risk, but even though he only has 1 point to his name, he has been quite consistent and has even outqualified Raikkonen 4 times, reaching Q3 twice, so it is unecessary to change it in my view.

Racing Point – Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez:
Again, I don’t see a change happening here. Stroll’s seat is pretty much confirmed since his dad owns the team, and Sergio Perez brings in money and sponsorship (and for F1’s sake, large crowds at the Mexican Grand Prix). I think the team has underperformed this season, considering they have only had 1 best of the rest finish this year despite being the only team in recent years (as Force India) to get on the podium outside the top 3 teams, but I think this is a stable line up for Racing Point so I don’t think it will change.

Toro Rosso – Alexander Albon and Daniil Kvyat:
This lineup very much depends on Pierre Gasly’s second half of the season at Red Bull. If Red Bull remain loyal to Gasly, then this lineup will not change. Either driver could be promoted if they decide to demote Gasly back to Toro Rosso but I think they will be kinder than they were to Kvyat, since Gasly has not been the liability that Kvyat was in the senior team (although his results are worse than Kvyat’s were). There would be a chance for Patricio O’Ward and Juri Vips to impress during their seasons in IndyCar and Super Formula (for O’Ward) and Formula 3 (for Vips), but I doubt that they are ready and that if Gasly was to be demoted, he would have a seat at Toro Rosso and not be out of F1 altogether. I believe that this lineup will not change due to the loyalty I expect Red Bull to give Gasly.

Haas – Kevin Magnussen and Esteban Ocon:
I’m one of those people that actually likes Romain Grosjean, however I cannot see him on the grid in 2020. He has lost his consistency and I don’t think Guenther Steiner actually trusts him to drive the car (especially after spinning in the pit lane in Silverstone). Kevin Magnussen is clearly preferred by Guenther, and he has said that he feels more comfortable at Haas than he had done at both Renault and McLaren. I believe that Esteban Ocon may partner him. Ocon has been out of racing since losing his Force India seat to Lance Stroll last year – and he needs to start looking elsewhere to save his racing career in Formula 1. I can’t see him getting the Mercedes seat in the near future, so he might have to look outside Mercedes-powered teams to find his path back into F1, and I think he would be a good match for Haas if they are able to find the speed that they had last season.

Williams – George Russell and Nicholas Latifi:
As nice as it is to see Robert Kubica back in Formula 1, I don’t think his results are good enough to keep him in the sport (Russell could beat him in the qualifying head to head at this weekend’s German Grand Prix). Russell’s seat should be safe, considering the Mercedes backing he has, as well as dominating his teammate all season – he is just going to have to wait and see if Williams can improve or if a seat becomes available at Mercedes in the near future. I think Kubica should be and will be replaced by Nicholas Latifi, who has taken part in free practice sessions for the team and has been going well in Formula 2 this year. He would also bring money and sponsorship to Williams, which they are in dire need of, and I think he would have the potential to challenge Russell within the team.

These are my predictions, what are yours? Do you agree, or do you think there will be a big driver shake up next season?


Welcome!

Welcome to my blog. This is an introduction about myself and my hobbies – which as you can tell include sports.

So a good start is to introduce myself, right? I’m Eden and I am an aspiring journalist based in the UK. My main interests include sport and music.

I am going to use this blog to use as a basis for writing posts about my 2 favourite sports: Football and Formula One. In the future, I would like to be professionally writing about these things, however I think this is a good start to potentially get my work read.

I’ll try to remain as unbiased as possible, however I will mention my favourite drivers/players/teams to make everybody aware. Starting with football, the team I support is Middlesbrough; I went up to the Riverside to watch my first live game a few seasons back during the play-offs against Aston Villa (which – unfortunately – we lost). I also like Liverpool and Chelsea, since my family support them, alongside West Ham, Bournemouth and continentally Atletico Madrid and Juventus.

Currently, my favourite players are quite random, so I’m just going to list a few players I like in each position:

  • Goalkeepers: Jan Oblak, Gigi Buffon (who could hate him?), Alisson and Darren Randolph (probably the best player at my club)
  • Defenders: Virgil Van Dijk and Matthijs de Ligt
  • Midfielders: Frenkie De Jong, N’golo Kante, Kai Havertz, David Brooks and James Maddison
  • Forwards: Mo Salah, Eden Hazard, Sadio Mane and Sergio Aguero

I know there are 2 notable absentees in this list, but truth be told I’ve never truly ranked Messi or Ronaldo amongst my favourite players – as I find both quite arrogant and hard to watch at times even though they are both superior talents.

In Formula 1, my favourite driver is Charles Leclerc, who I have been watching since his Formula 2 days. I just think he is a brilliant racer and have no doubt that both Leclerc and Max Verstappen will be fighting for and winning world championships very soon. I also like Max Verstappen (a true racer) and Sebastian Vettel, although he is not exactly covering himself in glory right now. To be honest, there isn’t a driver I particularly dislike, maybe Lewis Hamilton, although I think it’s because it feels like he’s winning all the time and it bores me that there’s no real season-long challenge.

I think that’s all you need to know about me and the basis of the contents I will be posting about. So, for now that’s it from me, see you all soon.

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