5 Bold Predictions For The 2023-24 Premier League Season

The new season is almost upon us, so we’re making 5 Bold Predictions for the 2023-24 Premier League season! The English top flight of football returns on Friday night and we can’t wait to see what’s in store for this campaign.

We’ve already made our EFL Championship predictions and just like last season, we’re making some bold predictions for the Premier League. We were actually pretty spot on with our predictions last season, so can we repeat the feat in 2023-24?

5 Bold Predictions For The 2023-24 Premier League Season

What constitutes a “bold prediction” is quite subjective, but we’d classify it as a “hot take”, without it necessarily being controversial. For example, we thought that Leicester City were going to struggle in the Premier League last season and the Foxes were relegated. So, it’s fair to say we were right.

However, despite Nottingham Forest surviving, we thought they’d be comfortable in mid-table. Despite signing north of twenty players, they only just stayed up, so we were wrong on that front.

1. Wolves to be relegated

Wolverhampton Wanderers were once the envy of most clubs in England and looked as though they could crack the top six teams. Wolves finished seventh in both of their first seasons back in the Premier League and qualified for Europe as a result.

Although, the good times didn’t last much longer, thanks to their Chinese owner pulling investment. The Wanderers finished 13th last season, but only just got above the fabled 40-point mark. The side needed significant investment, but hasn’t received anything like that.

In fact, the opposite has occurred, as a fire sale has been in effect at Molineux. Ruben Neves, Conor Coady, Nathan Collins, Adama Traore, Joao Moutinho, Diego Costa and Raul Jimenez are amongst over 20 players that have left so far this transfer window.

The returning Matt Doherty, Bouboucar Traore and Matheus Cunha will all help Wolves, but we think there’s a real chance they won’t be enough to keep the West Midlands side above the dotted line in May.

2. Newcastle to miss out on the Champions League

Newcastle United had a brilliant campaign last season. In their first full campaign under their new ownership, the Magpies reached the final of the EFL Cup and sealed a top four finish. This means that UEFA Champions League football will return to St James’ Park for the first time in 20 years this season.

Eddie Howe has transformed the Toon from a side threatened with relegation to one that broke the top six dominance in the Premier League last season. As impressive as that is, we don’t think they’ll repeat that feat again in 2023-24.

For an English side to qualify for the Champions League, they need to finish in the top four places of the Premier League. It’s hard for us to see Newcastle within those places again, as we’re opting for Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United to make those places.

Furthermore, even a resurgent Chelsea are more likely to make the top four this season, although we think they’ll miss out again. Newcastle will make Europe again though, either via winning the FA or EFL Cup or finishing in one of the Europa spots in sixth or seventh.

3. Tottenham missing out on Europe again

Newcastle will finish above Tottenham Hotspur though, who we’re tipping to miss out on a European place again. There is a caveat to this prediction though, as we think this will be in part down to whether Harry Kane stays at the New White Hart Lane Stadium.

Bayern Munich have been trying to recruit Kane, but as of the time of writing, a deal hasn’t yet been reached for the Englishman’s services. Even if Kane does stay though, we’re not optimistic about Spurs’ chances in 2023-24.

Jose Mourinho once described Arsene Wenger as a “specialist in failure”, but the term is much more accurately used when describing Spurs. No team has spent as much money nor has as impressive a stadium as Tottenham with nothing to show for it.

We’re also not optimistic with their new manager Ange Postecoglou, either. The Aussie has enjoyed success throughout his career by making the best of what little he had. The one exception to this is his time at Celtic, but any half-decent can win the SPL with them.

Postecoglou now has a lot of money to play with, big egos in the dressing room and huge expectations on his shoulders. We’ll be very surprised if he’s still employed in North London this time next year.

4. Burnley to stay up comfortably

Burnley were very deserving champions last season in the Championship, as Vincent Kompany’s first season in management in England couldn’t have gone any better. The Clarets topped over 100 points in the previous campaign.

While the step up from the second to the first tier in England is a large one, we think the club from the North-west will do so with relative ease. Kompany has transformed Burnley from a side renowned for being direct, tough and physically dominant to one that plays football that’s effective and easy on the eye.

It’s not uncommon for newly-promoted sides to survive comfortably in their first Premier League campaign. Just ask Sheffield United, Leeds United, Brentford and Fulham fans, who have all seen this happen with their sides.

While Burnley will probably lose by a few goals to Manchester City when the Premier League kicks off on Friday, this shouldn’t be something they expect to be a regular occurance.

The other promoted sides, Sheffield United and Luton Town, won’t fare so well. We’re tipping the Hatters and the Blades to make an immediate return to the second tier.

5. Liverpool to be City’s closest challengers

It’s a very brave bet to go against Manchester City winning a fourth Premier League title in the row and while we’d love to see someone else win it, we don’t see it happening in 2023-24.

The only thing in our opinion that can stop Pep Guardiola’s Citizens is the Spaniard leaving as manager, and that hasn’t happened yet. So, it’s a race for best of the rest, one that we’re going for Liverpool to win this season.

The Reds had an awful first half of last season, but Jurgen Klopp’s men were excellent in the second half of 2022-23. They almost finished in the top four and would’ve been up there with Arsenal had the Merseysiders been more consistent through the season.

It’ll be tight though, as both Manchester United and Arsenal can make very strong claims to finish above Liverpool this campaign. We really like the signings of Mac Allister and Szoboszlai, who are an upgrade on the departing Jordan Henderson and Fabinho.

What’s absolutely certain though, is that this season will be very entertaining and there will be plenty of surprises along the way. Friday night can’t come quickly enough!