My buddy Eugene Bernshtam and I have been doing an EPL soccer podcast for over 3 years now, and it is fair to say that when it comes to predicting what will happen, Eugene always beats me with his selections, much to my frustration. Last week on the podcast Eugene and I were discussing relegation candidates for the coming Premier League season, which at this stage is more difficult to predict than I can remember. Normally at least 1 team looks dead in the water by the new year, but this year it could be anyone. Eugene has made his picks and as per usual they do differ from mine, and here are the sides which I think are in trouble.
AFC Bournemouth
One team that both Eugene and I have suggested will get relegated is Bournemouth, who have had a terrible campaign so far. In fact were this to be any other team the manager would have probably been fired by now, but given the miracles that Eddie Tower has done since his time at Bournemouth, he has earned the right to try and turn things around. To be fair to the club they have been ravaged by injuries but their performances have been so poor that I can’t see them really kicking on. They are just 1 point from safety now, but I think they’ll continue to drop.
Norwich
The one team that nobody wants to see go down is Norwich, a small club who play wonderful football and who don’t have the finances to compete with the rest. Daniel Farke and his team are so likable but unfortunately that doesn’t earn you any points. Norwich will fight tooth and nail to the end of course but I just think that a 38 game premier league season is going to be too long and too arduous for them to stay up. Even if Pukki and Cantwell stay fit, I worry that this will be the Canaries’ last season in the elite division of English football.
Southampton
The Saints are on a wonderful run at the moment and target man Danny Ings is scoring for fun. Southampton do have a high quality team but I do worry greatly about their dependence on the goals of Ings. In players like Bouffal, Redmond and Bertrand the team have some real ability but once this bounce of confidence is over, I worry that they will once again begin to slip down the league, owing to nothing else than a small squad, and one which is very beatable. The Saints have been flirting with relegation for a couple of years now, and history shows that teams who do that are highly likely to eventually hit rock bottom. It will be incredibly tight at the end of the season but I just fancy Southampton to nick that last relegation place.
How do you think everything will pan out?
