Who Will Finish On Top This EPL Season?
The English Premier League is one of the most popular sporting leagues in the world. Every year millions of fans watch the top teams in English football battle each other to be crowned number one.
The competition was reformed in 1992 (previously known as The First Division) and has over 30 years of rich history. In this article, we look at which teams will finish in the top 4 in the 22/23 EPL season.
How Did The Teams Perform Last Season?
The 2021/2022 EPL season was different from the previous year, as both clubs and spectators came out of lockdowns and filled stadiums to watch their favorite teams compete again.
The season was usually filled with action, as millions of fans tuned in to watch and bet on their favorite teams.
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Last season, only one point separated the winning team, Manchester City, and Liverpool in 2nd place. These teams ended up on 93, and 92 points respectively. Following almost 20 points behind in 3rd position was Chelsea with 74 points, then Tottenham on 71 points in 4th.
Arsenal ended up 5th on 69 points, followed by Manchester United with 58 points in 6th, and West Ham in 7th on 56 points.
The goalscorer list shows eight players scored over 15 goals for their teams, with three from Liverpool and two from Tottenham. The winners for top EPL goalscorer in 2021/22 were Tottenham’s Heung-min Son and Liverpool’s Mo Salah with 23 goals.
EPL Transfer News
Each year after the Premier League season has finished, the team’s management starts strategizing about which players they plan to buy, sell, or trade.
The transfer window for the EPL season traditionally runs through summer, starting on June 10th 2022, and wrapping up on the 1st of September 2022 at 11 pm local time. At the time of writing, in this transfer window, over £400,000,000 has been spent.
Manchester City
Manchester City performed beautifully last season, finishing on top of the ladder. So far, they’ve signed Dortmund’s Erling Haaland for £51,000,000. This is a significant deal, as Haaland was the top Dortmund scorer last season, hitting the back of the net 22 times.
This placed him third on the Bundesliga goalscorer list. Before signing Halland, City managed to snap up talented Argentinian striker Julián Álvarez, who will most likely be loaned out.
They also managed to sign Yorkshire local boy and Leeds fan-favorite Kalvin Philips in a £42,000,000 + £3,000,000 in add-ons deal. Philips rejected multiple offers from other clubs for a chance to work with Pep Guardiola and is set to compete for a place in the starting eleven with Spaniard Rodri.
With this strong attacking power and reinforced midfield, Manchester City looks to be gunning for back-to-back titles.
Liverpool
Liverpool have stepped out and made some big moves to ensure they have the best chance to win an EPL title next season.
They signed Fabio Carvalho from Fulham for an undisclosed fee, Calvin Ramsey from Aberdeen for £6,500,000, and made an incredible £85,000,000 deal for Darwin Nunez of Benfica, who have been in strong form and finished 3rd last season in Portugal, along with an impressive display in the Champions League, where they lost to Liverpool in the quarter finals.
Darwin Nunez was the highest goalscorer in Liga Portugal, with 26 goals, six more than his closest contender Mehdi Taremi.
Early in May, Liverpool expressed plans to make a bid for Son Heung-min from Tottenham, but the Spurs aren’t keen on the idea.
At the same time the EPL giant has released 7 players including Divock Origi, Loris Karius, Sheyi Ojo, Ben Woodburn, Elijah Dixon-Bonner, Luis Longstaff, Sean Wilson, and are selling Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich for £35,000,000 that may potentially rise to £41,000,000 depending on performances.
Chelsea
Chelsea are always a strong contender for the Premier League title and won their last trophy in 2017. Since then, the team has consistently placed in the top 5 each season.
The club’s previous owner, Roman Abramovich, recently sold Chelsea for $5.2 billion to Todd Boehly, the co-owner of the Los Angeles Lakers. This transfer window gives the new owner the ability to explore new signings to strengthen the Chelsea squad for the 22/23 season.
Rumors are swirling that they’re prepared to spend up to £200,000,000 this year to acquire five or six top players. They reportedly have started talks for Raheem Sterling and Nathan Ake from Machester City, Matthijs De Ligt from Juventus, Richarlison from Everton, and Jules Kounde from Sevilla.
The most notable signing here would be Raheem Sterling, who was the second-highest goalscorer for City last season, with 13 goals. This strong attacking power would be a vital asset for Chelsea and their dreams of another trophy, after sending out problematic striker Lukaku on loan to Inter.
Tottenham
The Spurs performed well last season, ending up in fourth place with 71 points. The team has stepped out and signed a few players this year in hopes of bringing themselves closer to an EPL trophy.
This year they’ve signed Ivan Perisic from Inter Milan, and Fraser Foster from Southampton, both for free.
Starting their paid campaign saw them sign Yves Bissouma of Brighton for £35,000,000. Meanwhile, the Spurs are set to lose Cameron Carter-Vickers to Celtic, for a private fee.
There’s also a recent rumor that city-rivals Chelsea are set to battle the Spurs for Raphinha’s signature, who has an alleged £65,000,000 price tag set by Leeds.
Arsenal
Arsenal have signed a £34,000,000 contract for Porto player Favio Viera. The FC Porto midfielder helped the team secure first place position in Portugal last season. 19-year-old Brazilian left winger Marquinhos of Sao Paulo has also completed his move to Arsenal for a bargain price of just €3.5 – representing a good deal for the future.
Recent developments suggest the team has all but signed Gabriel Jesus of Manchester City for £45,000,000. The Brazilian striker scored 8 goals last season and helped City win the EPL trophy.
Now Arsenal looks to be lining up a strong finish for next year with two multi-million pound signings on the table so far this season.
Manchester United
Apart from appointing a new manager in Eric ten Hag, Manchester United have been relatively quiet on the transfer front, with no new signings announced yet. The team has until the end of August to make their moves, with many anticipating some action in the coming months.
Currently, they’ve released 10 players, including Paul Pogba, Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard, Edinson Cavani, Lee Grant, D’Mani Mellor, Reece Devine, Paul McShane, Connor Stanely, and Paul Woolston.
They will need to set their eyes on some great players to replace the ones that may leave this season. So far, the only transfer rumor is Barcelona’s Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong.
West Ham
West Ham played well last season, finishing seventh on 56 points, just behind Manchester United. The team has been in good form, and they recently signed Nayef Aguerd of Rennes for £30,000,000 in hopes to continue their performance and climb higher up the ladder.
Aston Villa
Under Gerard, Aston Villa has caused quite a few upsets and we believe that they might be a surprise next season. So far, the Villans have agreed to pay £26,000,000 for Diego Carlos of Sevilla, marking the former Chelsea player’s return to the Premier League.
Diego helped Sevilla have a good season last year and finish fourth on the La Liga table. Villa have also signed Philippe Coutinho from Barcelona for £17,000,000. So far, the team has spent £43,000,000 this transfer window and secured two excellent players, giving them a strong chance to place towards the top of the EPL ladder next season.
Newcastle
Having managed to avoid relegation last term after appointing Eddie Howe as manager, The Magpies are set to spend their unlimited Arab money this transfer window. They finished in 11th place with 49 points last season, and are now looking to strengthen their squad aiming for a top-half finish.
In transfer news, they’ve paid £15,000,000 to sign Matt Target from Aston Villa and £10,000,000 for Nick Pope of Burnley. On top of that, it looks like they finally managed to get Lille’s towering defender Sven Botman for a hefty price tag of £32,000,000, beating Italian champions A.C. Milan in the race.
On the other end, they will lose Jack Young to Wycombe, and Freddie Woodman to Preston – both for undisclosed amounts.
Our Predictions for the 2022/23 EPL Top 4
At the time of writing (and based on the signings) we strongly believe that Manchester City and Liverpool are going to be the teams to beat next season again. Both teams had a magnificent season last year, with over 90 points scored – something that hasn’t happened in years!
That only leaves two spots in the top four and we believe that Chelsea are strong contenders for one of them, with Tottenham and Arsenal battling it out for the final place.
Manchester United might break into the top four, but it seems unlikely as the Red Devils have a lot of internal issues to take care of first before they can compete with the big boys.
Of course, anything can happen in the game of football, and there are plenty of teams who can be the surprise of the season (as Leicester was, not so long ago).
The only thing we can do is enjoy and hope for another exciting EPL season!
