Surely none of the well known Top 6 will battle relegation (Liverpool, Man City, Man United, Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal),Top 7 more recently with Leicester, but I also don't think an Everton with James Rodriguez could be anywhere near relegation, Wolves has the continuity from last year and I can't see Wet Spam there either given that they have players like Michael Antonio up front, Fornals, Felipe Anderson, Haller, Bowen. They had a bad season last year but they got Bowen who seems to assist whenever he wants to, their manager put some order in the defence and central midfield (Soucek) and I don't really see them having big problems this year.

That leaves 10 teams fighting to escape 3 positions.
What do they all have that can save them?

Sheffield United- despite last season being wonderful for them, I doubt they will repeat the performance. I have seen it many times- a drop after a fantastic season for a newly promoted team which played with a lot of heart in the first year. They are no Wolverhampton even though they finished next to them and Arsenal. They do have a good defence and a good midfield, but their attack is pretty poor. Stand out attacker is Lys Mousset, who has played little in the last years. McBurnie and the other attacking players aren't that good.

Burnley- pretty much like Sheffield, rely a lot on their defence and play long balls to their main center forwards- Chris Wood and Jay Rodriguez/Ashley Barnes. Aging squad, one could tell last season that they're not finding their ground so easily anymore. Poor finances, don't really have who to sell in order to buy. They're pushing Dwight McNeil to develop, but he isn't playing astoundingly.

Newcastle- they seemed like the poorest team at the start of last season, but embraced counter attacks without possession and in worked for them. Alain Saint Maximin seems to have found his feet, they got Ryan Fraser and Callum Wilson who were some of the best from relegated Bournemouth and suit their counter attacking style and Shelvey still contributes from midfield.

Southampton- very dependant on Danny Ings, who was amazing last season. But if he gets injured (which may happen again given his precedence, though I don't wish him to), Southampton doesn't really have many players who can keep them up. Redmond is decent, but not great, Djenepo hasn't really hit the PL alight, Che Adams works but hasn't scored a single goal and Stuart Armstrong... who?? Manager got them back from that 0-9 loss to Leicester and saved the season. But he got a lot of help from Danny Ings.

Aston Villa- they have Grealish and Wesley will come back after injury, Ollie Watkins has just been bought, El Ghazi on the wing is good and McGinn and Hourihane push from the midfield.

Brighton- not a terrific squad, but they have a good manager and the team offers some good possession football. Maupay and Trossard are regular scorers or creators, Conolly may make the jump this season and MacAllister or Gyokeres are youngsters in which they were smart to invest. Also brought in Lallana instead of Mooy.

Us- if Zaha stays, then it's a decent team with Zaha, Jordan, very likely Batshuayi linking up. If he goes, then it falls on the shoulders of the youngster Eberechi Eze, who doesn't have a fixed position and has been tried anywhere up front by QPR by the age of 22, with moderate success in the Championship. The defence is pretty good, with Tomkins and Guaita being soem of the best players last year and Palace conceding few goals.

The 3 newly promoted ones:

Leeds- very hard to se them relegated with manager Bielsa, new sensation signing Rodrigo, but also oldie Pablo Hernandez, Portuguese ace Helder Costa or youngster Tyler Roberts coming from behind.

Fulham- they may have actually had a better attack last time and they still got reelgated because of their defence, but this time with an in-form Mitrovic, Ivan Cavaleiro and even older Knockaert, they have some chances of staying up.

West Brom- their main star is Matheus Pereira, who I covered a lot in my thread about players who were or could have been selected at the 2019 Copa America for Brazil. Benfica let him go for very litttle and he was the best player in the Championship, by far. Also, WBA has oldie Grosicki on one wing, still a starter for the Poland national team and they bought Diangana for 13 million, who could make a good season. They suffer up front, cause Austin and Hal Robson-Kanu are neither fit Premier League center forwards anymore.

So which 3 out of those 10 do you think made the worst transfer window? Can Palace finish in the same position with a similar number of goals scored like last year? Or could the 1-0 results not be in our favour this time? (Take out 2-3 of those and we'd beeven below Bournemouth if this happens)

Edited by mattteo (09 Sep 2020 5.31pm)

[quote=Red & Blue Pharaoh;3556235]

I personally feel you're being particularly kind to West Ham there; apparently they need to sell before buying, and judging from their captain's comments last week it would appear all is not well behind the scenes either...

I agree. Like Everton, they've spent fortunes over recent years to achieve...?

Not a lot. Moyes will probably keep them up.

As for 3ts question
I reckon 3 teams who should finish below us are:
Baggies
Fulham
Villa

YESSSS

This operation, will make the 'Charge Of The Light Brigade' seem like a simple military exercise.

I agree that we look mid table with Wilf but in serious danger without him (unless we replace with Sarr).

Think Sheff U have more about them than triple T thinks. Same for Burnley.

Which is a shame because then the glaringly obvious relegation candidates really thin out.

West Ham and Everton might be s*** but it's far from a banker for either.

If you want to live in a world full of kindness, respect and love, try to show these qualities.

Aston Villa close to sealing move for Rashica for just 16 million, which would probably put them out of the relegation zone for this season.

Rashica>>>even Grealish if they sell him.

Don't know why Palace doesn't go for him. 20 million Benrahma?Rashica is just amazing for less.

Oh,now it's 29,not 20??

Why would someone from the Bundesliga not settle in the PL? They run their asses off there. I'd understand if it was about someone from Spain or Itaky, where they play a different type. At least,it's not more risky than getting a guy from the Championship.

Now don't get me wrong, I actually like Benrahma, but Rashica is at another level internationally. I thought he'd go for 40 million, so seeing Villa so close to him for as little as 16 is strange. His contract is only until 2022 so that might be the cause. And the German Budesliga sells pretty cheap compared to England.