Premier League 2021/22: Preview, Analysis, and Predictions
The last Premier League season ended with Manchester City crowned champion, in a comfortable run for Pep Guardiola’s men. Will they repeat it or do you believe another team will take their place as champions? With the Premier League set to return this weekend, it’s fair to say there will be millions upon millions of … Premier League 2021/22: Preview, Analysis, and Predictions
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The last Premier League season ended with Manchester City crowned champion, in a comfortable run for Pep Guardiola’s men. Will they repeat it or do you believe another team will take their place as champions?
With the Premier League set to return this weekend, it’s fair to say there will be millions upon millions of bets staked before the big kick-off.
Before placing your punts on the CoinPoker sportsbook, why not check out our betting preview of the Premier League season?
We’ll be covering everything from the title favorites, the race for Champions League football down to the relegation battle with a few dark horses thrown in too. Let’s get cracking.
Who will win the league?
We guess we might as well start at the top. There seem to be two genuine sides that are fancied for a title charge. They are Man City and Chelsea. How are the two teams shaping up?
Man City
City is the favorite after winning the league at a canter last season, but many cite the capture of Harry Kane as a key ingredient for their title defense.
We’re not sure we buy into the necessity of it quite so much; Sergio Aguero is a big loss in terms of his name on a team sheet but he played just 558 minutes in the league last year scoring four goals. None of them were decisive strikes.
We don’t disagree that Gabriel Jesus isn’t nearly as lethal as Aguero but, when City creates so many chances, he’ll score goals; as will anyone playing as the false nine.
That’s particularly true with the additional creativity of the £100m man Jack Grealish, who made his debut in the Community Shield.
Kane, who was the top scorer last season playing for Tottenham Hotspur, is obviously a target for Pep Guardiola but the England skippers’ presence will be more important to a Champions League run than the Premier League.
It’s not like they concede many goals either with Ruben Dias proving a man mountain at the back last year.
Odds to win the title on Coinpoker Sportsbook: 1.66
Chelsea
Chelsea is the other side that is truly considered contenders. Thomas Tuchel has done a marvelous job since replacing Frank Lampard; the improvement defensively has been huge.
In fact, Chelsea conceded the fewest goals in the top flight after the former PSG man took control of the reigns. A big part of that is the presence of Edouard Mendy between the sticks; he could easily become the standout keeper in the league this season.
That defense solidity was a recipe that saw them lose just three times in the final 19 matches, which – along with Man United – is less than anyone else whilst Tuchel also got the better of Guardiola in the three head to head meetings after his appointment.
With Romelu Lukaku rejoining the Blues after a £93m fee has been agreed, Chelsea has a proper striker too. It could prove the vital difference.
We believe Chelsea has the upper hand. As they proved in the Champions League final against Manchester City, they have what it takes to break Pep Guardiola’s tiki-taka with patience and a solid defensive backline, commanded by the sweeper N’golo Kanté.
Odds to win the title on Coinpoker Sportsbook: 6.00
The top 4
So, if we assume that pretty much everyone has Chelsea and Man City in their top four then that leaves two spots open for Champions League qualification.
Who are the contenders for those?
Manchester United
The big movers in the transfer market have been last year’s runners-up, Manchester United. Say what you want about Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but the club clearly has a long-term plan that sees him at the helm.
They’ve backed their man too in the shape of two big-name signings. Jadon Sancho is a vast improvement to their options in the final third; he’s provided a minimum of 20 goal contributions in the last three Bundesliga seasons peaking in 19/20 with 17 goals and a further 17 assists.
At the back, Raphael Varane is due to arrive from Real Madrid. He’s in his prime years at 28 and will form, on paper, arguably the strongest center-back pairing in the league with Harry Maguire alongside him.
Odds to win the title on Coinpoker Sportsbook: 9.00
Liverpool
Just after the top 2 favorites, you have Liverpool. They’ve been quiet in the transfer market with just one notable but important addition, which is Ibrahima Konate.
The former RB Leipzig man’s signing has flown massively under the radar but he ticks two enormous boxes for the Reds.
Firstly, he’s a good player and colossal presence. Secondly, it means that Jurgen Klopp’s men are not nearly as reliant on Virgil Van Dijk.
VVD missed most of last season with a knee injury picked up in the Merseyside derby and, boy, was he a notable absentee as Liverpool offered up a turgid defense of the title they’d waited so long to win.
A lot has been made of their limited incomings but if their squad stays fit, they’ll be right up there again come the latter months.
It’s not impossible for Liverpool to push for the title, but they need another flawless campaign and maybe another signing on their midfield. They haven’t bought anyone yet to replace Wijnaldum, who departed to PSG.
Odds to win the title on Coinpoker Sportsbook: 6.00
Our top four: Chelsea, Man City, Man Utd, Liverpool.
Who are the underdogs who can challenge the big 4?
It’s very unlikely that we see a surprising team breaking these 4, but let’s look at which team has higher chances of succeeding.
Leicester City
Coming up first on this quest is Leicester City. The Foxes are no longer an outsider and their surprising title victory in 2016 is just a memory now.
The fact is they won the FA Cup last year and just last weekend they defeated Manchester City to win the Community Shield. Brendan Rodgers is still in charge and Leicester has made some important signings.
Patson Daka is the most notorious one, with the Zambian arriving from Salzburg. Daka is one of the fastest players in the world and he also has a keen eye for finishing, with 68 goals scored in just 125 games in the Austrian league.
They also added Boubakary Soumaré from Lille and the most important part is that they resisted so far the harassment of other teams for their players.
You can backup Leicester City to finish top 6 and perhaps even break into the Champions League spots.
Odds to win the title on Coinpoker Sportsbook: 51.00
Tottenham Hotspur
It’s quite a gamble to put Spurs in the race for the top 4, considering they changed managers and that it’s still unsure whether Harry Kane stays or not.
Nuno Espirito Santo arrived this Summer. He left Wolverhampton, after a successful spell at Wolves, taking the team from Championship to an 8th place Premier League finish.
Does he have what it takes to give Spurs the confidence they need? The team saw the departure of Lamela and Alderweireld, two players who had been in North London for more than 5 seasons.
Meanwhile, they got two reinforcements. Youngster Bryan Gil arrived from Sevilla and Cristian Romero from Atalanta. Romero was named the best defender from Serie A last season, but the Argentinian needs an adequate pair in defense.
Are Davinson Sanchez and Joe Rodon enough options for Spurs to have a solid backline? We doubt it. So, we don’t rule out Spurs chances just yet, but it all depends on the market conclusion.
If they sell Harry Kane and use that cash injection to buy some class signings, it’s not impossible to imagine them finish at least comfortably on the top 6.
Odds to win the title on Coinpoker Sportsbook: 41.00
Arsenal
Since they are one of the teams with the most following in the Premier League, a few might be hopeful of Arsenal’s chances of ending on top 4 (or 6 at least).
The Gunners splashed the cash this Summer already, bringing in promising young center-back Ben White from Brighton. A vital addition indeed, it still seems they lack some experience on the defensive end.
Mikel Arteta also got two other reinforcements: Lokonga from Anderlecht and Nuno Tavares from Benfica. Both players are talented and young, but still unproven at the highest level.
We believe Arsenal needs to add to their roster before the transfer window closes a player that brings the experience and leadership.
Only then the team can be taken to another level. However, we still believe they are the outsiders for a top 6 position and they will likely finish 7th or 8th.
Odds to win the title on Coinpoker Sportsbook: 51.00
The Relegation Battle
Now we turn our eyes to the other end of the table; the place nobody wants to be – the relegation zone.
The newly-promoted trio seems to be the obvious place to start in the ‘who goes down’ analysis; as it happens though we only have one of the three nailed on for the drop and that’s Watford.
Watford
Watford meanwhile looks good to drop and, we’ll call it now, they’ll finish rank bottom.
Ismaïla Sarr will carry a big threat for the Hornets but if he’s marked out of a game – or worse injured – then where is the attacking threat coming from?
There are offensive-minded players in the squad but none of them are what you’d describe as Premier League proven. They made only three signings so far, Emmanuel Dennis and Josh King for the attack and Imran Louza for midfield.
The Moroccan midfielder looks sharp, showing quality while in Nantes, but their biggest gap is on the defense.
Defensively there will be big questions to answer and they haven’t signed any player who could upgrade their backline. It’s not a good combination and a long season awaits.
Odds for Watford to be relegated on CoinPoker’s Sportsbook: 2.10
Newcastle
The next name is one that a few people will have heading for the drop; particularly their own fans. Step forward Newcastle. Steve Bruce has never been accepted by the Toon faithful.
In fact, having the fans out of the stadium last year probably helped his team. This year it’s back to business as usual though and the atmosphere at St James’ could turn horrible pretty quickly.
Through no fault of his own, Bruce hasn’t been able to bring in any players as yet. It leaves Newcastle massively reliant on the likes of Allan Saint-Maximin and Callum Wilson.
The duo has quality and know-how in the Premier League but a recent interview by Wilson has put further pressure on his gaffer after he was interpreted as saying Bruce didn’t have the tactical knowledge for the top level.
Expect some deadline day signings, or else they are contenders to drop.
Odds for Newcastle to be relegated on CoinPoker’s Sportsbook: 3.00
Who else?
The final relegation spot will go down to the wire. The other promoted clubs will be in a battle but, as mentioned, we think debutants Brentford will escape courtesy of the goals of Ivan Toney.
Other teams that could get dragged into the relegation picture, for our money, are Crystal Palace and Southampton.
Crystal Palace
Palace have seen a huge turnover of players this summer whilst the appointment of former Arsenal invincible Patrick Vieira is a gamble.
His best win percentage as a manager is 44% in the MLS. Roy Hodgson has had the Eagles boringly safe for the last few years and Vieira will be looking to transform that style I play; we all know how that worked when Frank De Boer tried it.
Their transfer window so far has been odd. They recruited one of the biggest Championship talents, Michael Olise as well as former Fulham center-back Joachim Andersen.
That’s not nearly enough, looking at how this Summer some big names left the team: Townsend, Sakho, Van Aanholt, and Cahill. The experiment of bringing youngsters can cost them, as they will lack experience and captainship going forward.
Odds for Palace to be relegated on CoinPoker’s Sportsbook: 3.25
Southampton
For Southampton, their problems are worse. Palace is going through a transition that could go either way. Southampton just looks to be facing a season full of pain.
It’s all down to one thing too – they’ve sold Danny Ings. Ings has been the top scorer for the Saints for the last three seasons on the bounce and their other striking option, Che Adams, just isn’t good enough to pick up the load. They’ve replaced him with Adam Armstrong.
Armstrong, who has cost £15m from Blackburn Rovers has a good pedigree in the Championship but he’ll be stepping into big shoes. On top of that, it’s now looking likely that their best center-back, Jannick Vestergaard, is off too. Leicester is the reported destination.
Of course, they still have James Ward-Prowse in their ranks but even he’s been attracting interest. If they lose him, they might as well give up now.
Their best addition so far has been Romain Perraud, who was a standout left-back in Ligue 1 last season. However, considering the departures they had, they will need some deadline day miracles to pull through.
Odds for Southampton to be relegated on CoinPoker’s Sportsbook: 5.50
Norwich
Finally, we have Norwich. They were brilliant in the Championship last season but have lost a couple of key players.
Oli Skipp has returned to his parent club, Tottenham Hotspur, and Emi Buendia has moved on to Aston Villa.
They got a decent fee for the latter but he has been their main source of creativity over the past couple of years; even with him creating chances the last time they were in the Premier League the Canaries struggled for goals.
Additions like Billy Gilmour, Milot Rashica, Christos Tzolis, and American forward Josh Sargent look like decent enough business.
We’re still left wondering if they’ll have enough in the tank to keep their heads above water. Well, let’s just say they are making a bigger effort than the teams above to keep their head up high, so we believe they will finish above the drop.
Our bottom three: Watford, Newcastle, Southampton.
Odds for Norwich to be relegated on CoinPoker’s Sportsbook: 1.83
The Race For Top Scorer
If instead of betting on a team, you prefer to gamble on the player who will take the golden boot, there are some options you might fancy.
The current favorite, having just signed this week, is Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea. His resume speaks for himself, he has Premier League experience and he will complete Tuchel’s gap in the attack just fine.
Harry Kane comes second, although it’s still unsure whether he stays at Spurs or he moves to Manchester City. Either way, he will continue to bang in the goals.
Mohammed Salah comes third, and the Liverpool frontman is always a decent shout if he stays fit.
Some interesting outside picks can be Edinson Cavani from Manchester United, Patson Daka from Leicester, or Aubameyang from Arsenal. Who do you believe will win the golden boot?
Final Thoughts
There you have it, our preview of the Premier League season. In our mind, that covers off a couple of nailed on certainties along with some more ambitious predictions that may keep our interests peaked all season long.
If you have any personal guesses that differ from us, head on to CoinPoker’s sportsbook and place your bets. Either you are supporting a team, a player or you just have a gut feeling that someone is going to overcome the odds, put your chips on it, and best of luck.
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