Predicting the final table for the 2024-25 Premier League season

Alright, let’s do it. Getting your prediction for the final table in before the Premier League season kicks off is a must, be you an expert of a casual fan. It’s a rite of the end of summer. The 2024-25 season brings us plenty of intrigue. Maybe not atop the table, but then again you never know. Perhaps that tips our hand a bit as we head into our prediction for what the final table will look like when the 2024-25 Premier League season wraps up.

1. Manchester City (1 of 20)

The Premier League title race is shaping up to be a two-team race. While that race used to be between Manchester City and Liverpool, as you will see the second team in the race has changed. Of course, in the end, you bet on City. As long as Pep Guardiola is in charge on the blue side of Manchester, and also as long as the team has the kind of money to use somebody like Jack Grealish as a super sub, this is the team to beat. We won’t zag just to be clever.

2. Arsenal (2 of 20)

Arsenal did give City a real challenge last year! The two clubs finished even on goal differential, but City picked up two more points than the Gunners, so another title came to town. Arsenal will be operating with largely the same squad, including, crucially, David Raya in net. However, not wanting to try to take down the reigning behemoth of English football with the same roster, promising young Italian defender Riccardo Calafiori has been brought on board. We feel Arsenal is comfortably the second best team in the Premier League, but we aren’t going to go as far as to say it wins it all.

3. Tottenham Hotspur (3 of 20)

In the first year of “Angeball,” Spurs finished fifth in the Premier League. Harry Kane and Hugo Lloris both moved on, but Tottenham survived. Now, manager Ange Postecoglou is in his second season with his roster, and he has had a chance to help it start to take shape. If Son Heung-Min, now 32, can still pace an offense, Spurs should be playing Champions League football next season, and we have it finishing third.

4. Liverpool (4 of 20)

There is bound to be a hangover in the wake of Jurgen Klopp’s tenure ending. Liverpool has a couple things going for it, though. One, there is still a ton of talent here. Two, there aren’t too many teams threatening to climb above the Reds and knock them out of the top four. We envision some growing pains for Arne Slot, but if Mo Salah, Alisson, and Virgil van Dijk are still around, the team should be fine. Not a title contender, but fine.

5. Chelsea (5 of 20)

Chelsea has enough talent to finish in the top four, but not enough stability. It has changed managers…again. The Blues have brought in several transfers as per usual, and the previous transfers are still trying to find their footing at the club. Who will emerge in goal? Does Romelu Lukaku still have anything to offer? On the other hand, Cole Palmer, Conor Gallagher, and Reece James are around. Talent gets Chelsea to fifth. Everything else keeps it out of the top four (and definitely from being a title contender).

6. Aston Villa (6 of 20)

Aston Villa finished fourth last season, earning a Champions League spot for the first time in decades. We aren’t knocking a quality club with an excellent manager in Unai Emery. Finishing sixth in the Premier League is no disappointment. Plus, the thing about making the Champions League is that you have to handle balancing that with your Premier League schedule. That’s new for a lot of these players. A slight step back would be understandable.

7. Newcastle United (7 of 20)

Newcastle was a bit unlucky last season. It finished seventh in the table, but with the fourth-best goal differential. And yet, we see no change in table position for it. Perhaps wisely, even with that major influx of cash Newcastle ownership hasn’t thrown around money left and right. That hasn’t worked out for Chelsea, after all. The club maybe should have looked to improve in net, though. That could have gotten them into sixth, maybe even fifth.

8. Manchester United (8 of 20)

We know the legacy of Manchester United. We know its storied history. However, United was not hard done by finishing eighth last year. It had a negative goal differential! Frankly, we were looking for reasons to drop Man U down the table a bit. No team below it really feels threatening enough, though. Also, keeping Erik ten Hag around gives the club a bit of stability, which should help. Of course, that stability is going to yield another eighth-place finish, which will likely mean the end of ten Hag.

9. West Ham United (9 of 20)

Now, West Ham? They were lucky to finish ninth. The Hammers had a negative-14 goal differential and allowed more goals than any team that wasn’t relegated. West Ham hasn’t really solved its goalkeeping issue, adding the questionable Wes Foderingham to an already-questionable group, but it did add Wolves centre back Max Kilman on a big transfer deal. Oh, and the guy who brought Kilman along is his old manager Julen Lopetegui. David Moyes is out at West Ham after years of calls for that very move. That change should help shore up the defense a bit, which should be enough to improve that goal differential. Thus, less luck will be needed to finish ninth.

10. Brighton & Hove Albion (10 of 20)

The fact that finishing 11th in the league qualified as something of a disappointment for Brighton speaks to how far the club has come. Robert De Zerbi dipped out so fast after the season he left tire tracks in the parking lot, so maybe his eyes were already wandering, to the detriment of the club. On the other hand, Pascal Gross, long a steady presence in the midfield, is also gone. The additions Brighton made this offseason were young players, and to that end the club hired Fabian Hurzeler as manager. He is all of 31 years old. Yes, really. This youth movement speaks to a club thinking about two-or-three seasons from now, so we don’t expect too much improvement in this specific campaign.

11. Everton (11 of 20)

Everton was fighting relegation for a bit last season, but do recall it faced a 10-point deduction, which eventually rounded into an eight-point deduction. Also, when all was said and done, the Toffees finished 14 points clear. Sean Dyche will grind out results. He has Jordan Pickford to rely on in goal. Presuming there are no points deductions this season, Everton should be comfortably mid-table.

12. Bournemouth (12 of 20)

Well, Bournemouth has basically the same roster as last season (even Enes Unal was a matter of turning a loan into a permanent move). Andoni Iraola is in his second season as manager. Fittingly, we have the Cherries finishing 12 in the table again. That is what this club is these days. For longtime Bournemouth fans, not having to sweat relegation is almost as good as a title.

13. Wolverhampton Wanderers (13 of 20)

Last year, former Bournemouth manager Gary O’Neil took over at Wolves, but he will likely be looking up at his old club again. The team didn’t replace Kilman in any major way, which opens up a question on defense. However, the attacking talent is still there. Jose Sa is still in goal. Mario Lemina, its player of the year last season, is now the captain. Wolves should avoid any real relegation scare.

14. Crystal Palace (14 of 20)

Palace was struggling last season. Then, Roy Hodgson stepped down as manager, Oliver Glasner took over, and when all was said and done, the London club climbed all the way up to 10th. Was that a sign of things to come, or the product of a jolt from a new voice in the locker room? Crystal Palace has a few guys who were on England’s Euro 2024 team, including starting centre back Marc Guehi. However, it also lost talented youngster Michael Olise to Bayern Munich. There may be some of the old “plexiglass principle” in play here.

15. Leicester City (15 of 20)

Leicester is not the kind of club that gets relegated. It was a surprise when it went down at the end of the 2022-23 season, and it was not a surprise it steamrolled the Championship to earn an immediate return. Due to the expected swift return, Leicester was able to keep much of its talent, including club legend Jamie Vardy. Also, if you didn’t pay attention during the Championship interregnum, it added a new starting netminder in Mads Hermansen. We don’t see Leicester soaring up the table, but this is not about to become a yo-yo club.

16. Brentford (16 of 20)

Finishing 16th last year was a bit of a disappointment for Brentford, even if it is still establishing itself as a regular Premier League team. We think they will be better this season, even if they finish in the same spot in the table. Ivan Toney’s gambling suspension won’t rear its head this year. Mark Flekken showed the team can get by without David Raya (though obviously he’s a step down). Brentford is good about working around the margins, but unless Igor Thiago is a real diamond in the rough, there’s not potential for major improvement here.

17. Nottingham Forest (17 of 20)

Forest finished 17th last season, but a four-point deduction hurt it. The club should be fully in the relegation battle regardless, quite frankly. If we could have talked ourselves into two of the just-promoted teams staying up, we would have called for Forest to go down. Nottingham will be lucky to stay up. Yes, even with a full season of Nuno Espirito Santo as manager. This team is just too lackluster.

18. Fulham (18 of 20)

Yes, we see Fulham going from 13th to relegated. Don’t forget that Fulham has been a yo-yo club for the last decade. It lost defensive midfielder Joao Palhinha. Fulham finished 15th in expected goals (xG) last season. Three of the teams below it were relegated. The margins are thinner than you might think. Fulham is not a definite relegation team, but we have it here.

19. Southampton (19 of 20)

Like Leicester, Southampton was one-and-done in the Championship. However, Leicester had the most points in the league and a plus-48 goal differential, 10 goals better than the nearest competition. Southampton finished in fourth with a plus-24 goal differential. It eked by Leeds, frankly a better team, to get promoted. Russell Martin has never managed in the Premier League before. Southampton brought in a lot of players, but none of them are notable. The club is banking that the team that finished fourth in the Championship won’t get relegated. We don’t like that bet.

20. Ipswich Town (20 of 20)

Ipswich Town probably won’t pull a Sheffield United…but it’s not out of the realm of possibility. Last season, Ipswich was new to the Championship. It had spent the four prior seasons in League One. Ipswich is in the Premier League for the first time since the 2001-02 campaign. Its likely new number-one goalkeeper, Aro Muric, couldn’t cut it at Burnley last season. Club captain Sam Morsy has never played at the Premier League level. Neither has Conor Chaplin. Nathan Broadhead has played one game in the Premier League. Hey, that’s something! What we’re saying is we will be no more surprised by Ipswich finishing last as we will be if Manchester City wins it all.