Your Route to Real News

Pundits' Prem pre-season predictions and how they fared – including Gary Neville

20 May 2024 , 11:25
764     0
Jamie Carragher fared better than Gary Neville (Image: Getty Images)
Jamie Carragher fared better than Gary Neville (Image: Getty Images)

The Premier League season has concluded - and it won't just be Arsenal fans trying to forget what happened.

That's because it's now time to reflect on the predictions made all the way back before a ball was first kicked last August. Naturally, Manchester City were the popular pick to emerge as champions for the pundits who grace our TV screens on a regular basis.

But they won't have got all of their selections right, with some now looking worse than others with the benefit of hindsight. It's only fair to call out the good with the bad.

So Mirror Football is taking a look at how some of the well-known names fared with their pre-season shouts, including the Monday Night Football team and Match of the Day regulars.

Gary Neville

Manchester United icon Neville went against the grain, backing Arsenal to end City's dominance. "I’m banking on three things. Post-treble, [City] have a little bit of a [drop off]," he explained.

Premier League odds and betting tips eiqrhiqzxiqueprwPremier League odds and betting tips

"The difficulties over a season when you’re playing in Super Cups, Club World Cups. They haven’t got the biggest squad. With Haaland, last season he only missed three matches. If he was to miss 10 or 15, I think that would be enough to give Arsenal a real chance."

None of those factors truly came into play as City secured a record-breaking fourth successive title. Another thing he got wrong was his former side getting top four.

But Neville did correctly back Liverpool and picked Aston Villa to get European football, albeit not the Champions League qualification they achieved. He was also correct with Chelsea finishing in the top six.

His choice of Bournemouth to be relegated alongside Luton and Sheffield United aged like milk, and tipping Andre Onana as the one to watch wasn't particularly successful. He had Erling Haaland as top scorer though, and Declan Rice as the impact signing.

Jamie Carragher

Unlike his colleague, Carragher got it right with City finishing above Arsenal. He too reckoned United would finish third ahead of Liverpool, and had Newcastle coming sixth behind Chelsea.

Other than that, it was largely successful across the board for the Reds legend, who is often on the money thanks to his encyclopaedic knowledge of the game.

He had the relegated three spot on, Haaland to top the scoring sheets, and Andoni Iraola as his one to watch - a great shout as he guided the Cherries to a record points total of 48 and a 12th-placed finish.

His pick of James Maddison as the impact signing wasn't as good as Neville's though, with both he and Tottenham tailing off towards the end of the season after a promising start.

Karen Carney

Making her predictions alongside the MNF duo, Carney had the top three down to a tee. It was United again who let her down for a full sweep of the Champions League spots.

Like Carragher, she had Newcastle fifth and Chelsea sixth, with the Magpies actually coming up just short in seventh after struggling to contend with fighting on four fronts in the first half of the season.

World Cup hero wants Man Utd move as doubts over Harry Maguire's future growWorld Cup hero wants Man Utd move as doubts over Harry Maguire's future grow

Her relegated picks were also spot on, but it deteriorated thereafter. She "wanted a different name" and went with her "gut feeling" of Mohamed Salah as top scorer, with Liverpool's star man falling nine goals short down in seventh place.

Similar to Neville, she selected Onana as the impact signing of the season, and had Kaoru Mitoma as the one to watch. He was absent through injury for the large spells of a trickier season for Brighton.

Micah Richards

Pundits' Prem pre-season predictions and how they fared – including Gary NevilleMicah Richards had mixed success (Getty Images)

Richards has already been left with egg on his face when it comes to predictions this season, hilariously getting all four Champions League quarter-final results wrong for CBS Sports last month.

It's a bit better for him looking back at his Premier League picks for the the BBC. He was certain former side City would retain their crown.

"Their squad is still better than everyone else's. They won't win the Treble again, but they will win the Premier League," he said, an almost-prophetic comment. Richards was accurate on Arsenal too.

He admitted: "I was close to picking Arsenal to win the title, because no team has ever won it four years in a row, but they are without Gabriel Jesus at the start of the season and I think that is just going to kill them."

Like many, his top four forecast was undone by United's underwhelming campaign in which they never looked likely to return to the Champions League.

Martin Keown

Arsenal legend Keown was virtually reading from the same hymn sheet as Richards. "I still think City will be too strong for Arsenal to overcome but I see the Gunners finishing a close second," he predicted.

However, that was about as good as it got for him. He too was tripped up by putting United fourth, despite pointing out: "United lost eight away games in the league last season, compared to just one at Old Trafford. I am not sure you can change that overnight?"

He expressed concern that Liverpool had "lost their way a little bit in the transfer market", but the signings of Wataru Endo, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai have proved wise so far.

And Keown reckoned the "excitement" of European football might've meant Newcastle wouldn't be impacted domestically, which turned out to be the complete opposite in reality.

Pundits' Prem pre-season predictions and how they fared – including Gary NevilleMartin Keown didn't do too well in predicting the Prem (Allstar via Getty Images)

Robbie Savage

Our columnist won't thank us for reminding him of his 1-20 prediction, which in fairness is tougher than just calling just the top and bottom of the table - but it shows.

In descending order, it starts off well with City at the top. But Savage thought they'd be closely challenged by their improving Manchester neighbours, with Arsenal third and Chelsea fourth.

That meant Liverpool were incorrectly placed fifth, followed by Newcastle in sixth and Aston Villa down in seventh. Nottingham Forest in 11th and Burnley in 12th are other glaring errors.

Savage tipped Wolves to join Sheffield United and Luton in succumbing to the drop, which they were never at risk at in the safe hands of Gary O'Neill.

Danny Murphy

Match of the Day pundit Murphy was a fan of the business Erik ten Hag did in last summer's transfer window and was "a bit worried" for the rest of the league, which isn't a good look nine months on.

He felt they were going to improve away from home with the introduction of Onana in between the sticks, but they actually picked up more points at Old Trafford this season.

Murphy was excited by the arrival of Mac Allister at his old club Liverpool, and he was indeed one of the standout signings. And he accurately assessed Newcastle's slim chances of making top four again and the injury issues they suffered.

"The intensity and huge physicality they play with means playing that way twice a week will be hard," he insisted. "They have made some really good signings, don't get me wrong, but I still think they are short of a centre-half or, ideally, two if they have any injuries there."

Chris Sutton

Sutton foresaw City's success and even called the emergence of Josko Gvardiol as an attacking threat, which fully transpired in the second half of the season.

He predicted: "Guardiola evolves something every year - some tweak to his tactics will emerge and another player always seems to step in and become key."

He was also wary of "reading too much" into Arsenal's Community Shield triumph and didn't fancy United's chance, although still picked them in third.

Claiming "the top four is too big a step" for Aston Villa wasn't a good move. But on the flip side, he was excited for Ange Postecoglou's debut season at Tottenham, considering them for fourth had Harry Kane stayed - and they were ultimately fifth.

Pundits' Prem pre-season predictions and how they fared – including Gary NevilleChris Sutton had a solid showing (SNS Group)

Stephen Warnock

Sky Sports News regular Warnock deserves major props as one of only two BBC pundits to choose Villa for top four, along with England legend Ellen White. But while she tipped United for third over Liverpool, he was correct on all counts.

Warnock had seen Unai Emery's side up close in the United States Summer Series, which convinced him they were contenders. He was also scarily spot on about Ten Hag's Red Devils.

"United were bailed out massively last season by Marcus Rashford's incredible form after the World Cup, but he couldn't sustain that and I am not sure they have got anyone else who can take over when he's not in top form," he said.

He backed Chelsea to improve but fall short of the top four, and reckoned Liverpool "desperately need to bring in players" which they duly did later in the summer transfer window.

DON'T SCRAP REPLAYS!

and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our

Dan Burnham

Print page

Comments:

comments powered by Disqus