eejay

Face it, we are all having football withdrawals from WC2018, and as a legal drug dealer, I can GUARANTEE you that the best way to curb withdrawal is to get a regular supply of whatever was causing it in the first place! Enter EPL 2018/2019!!

Key

Pretenders: Teams that are competing for the title by virtue of being in the Premier League

Challengers: Teams that are genuinely competing for the title but will likely not win

Contenders: Teams that are competing for the title and may win based on how the chips fall

Favorites: Teams that have the edge to win the title; the ones to put money on

The Challengers

Arsenal. Last season, Arsenal lost eleven away games. Eleven! It was their worst finish in twenty years. It seemed like there was nothing left to do but to get rid of the Professor and replace half the squad. In fact, the only reason they are included in this list is because of their history, otherwise, this is the last team to put any money on. With the new coach, they have officially entered that dreaded rebuilding phase that usually takes three to five years to either work or fail. Welcome to the life, Arsenal! One more piece of business left: Lock in Ramsey. That man has ten years with the team under his belt and is the engine of that squad. The scoringest midfielder in Arsenal history has no business being in a contract war with the club. Spend that money!! Everything else is left to be seen.

Chelsea. Two seasons ago, Chelsea won the league. Last season, they finished fifth. The main difference? They played more matches. Add the grueling Europa league to their schedule this year, and it doesn’t get better. Few coaches can join a team and inspire Favorite status, but Sarri doesn’t look like he’s one of those coaches. He’s already realistically preparing the fans to expect some time for the team to rebuild after Conte’s departure. And to top it all, they have gone and lost the second best goalie in the league. Frankly, ‘Challenger’ may be too kind a status for them.

Tottenham. The past two seasons, Tottenham have looked like they were ready to cause damage, and then they somehow fall short. This year will not be better. They have failed to strengthen their squad yet again, and no amount of cohesiveness from keeping the core of their players for the last four years together will help them. Of course, Harry Kane will do Harry Kane things. It just will not be enough. As usual. 

Manchester United. The rumors surrounding the squad are deafening. To hear everyone tell it, Pogba and Martial are halfway out, and Mourinho is not getting the support he needs for the players he wants. Ultimately, their style of football won’t surprise anyone, and history tells us that they won’t finish this season with their coach. The woes for Manchester United will likely continue. None of that Solid Second stuff from last year.

The Contenders

Liverpool. Two seasons ago, Liverpool had the famed Robin Hood syndrome. Last year, they were streaky, but played the most sensational attacking football when they were ‘on.’ The only thing that keeps them in the Contender, and not in the Favorites column, is their tendency to bottle leads and choke on the biggest of stages. Mohamed Salah will also be in his sophomore season, and you always want to give a player two seasons to make sure a spectacular first season is not a fluke.

Manchester City. After almost having an unbeaten season and shattering all sorts of records, you are probably wondering why Man City is not the clear Favorite. The answer is Liverpool. Not because they will beat Manchester City to win the title, but because they beat City three out of four games last season. They’ve essentially shown the blueprint for handling City. If any team dares attack and disrupt their flow, points can be taken away from them. There is a chance that City could be dethroned in 2018-19.  

The Favorites

Favorites? There ARE no FAVORITES!

The Best of The Pretenders

West Ham. They struggled last season, but they’re getting a class coach in Manuel Pellegrini. He can definitely do one or two things with the players on his squad (especially with some of the Arsenal DNA joining his squad)

How would YOU rank the Top 6 teams?

by EeJay Enekwa

The Quarterfinals are here!

Again I ask, ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED???

After having to throw away my initial bracket and create a new one for the Round of 16, I was excited to see that I was 7 for 8 in my predictions. Don’t believe me? Click here to see.

Here are my predictions for the semis.

France vs. Uruguay. You should know by now that I plan to ride the France train to the very end. But even if I wasn’t already committed and I wanted to be a bit more analytical about things, I would still give France the edge. With headlines reading ‘Cavani would have to destroy medical science to make France game,’ it’s going to be asking a lot for Uruguay to pull off the upset. On the other hand, as we saw against Argentina, France is hitting their stride. Mbappe is looking unstoppable, Giroud is being as good a hold-up forward as he ever has been, and the team looks up for it. Expect them to crack the Uruguayans’ almost impenetrable defense (They have only conceded one goal throughout the tournament) and earn their spot in the semi-finals.

Brazil vs. Belgium. I don’t expect Belgium to show Neymar as much respect as other teams have shown him in this thus far, I think we will probably see his best match of the tournament here. There’s no doubt about the attacking prowess of the Belgian squad, but their consistency in letting goals in will be their downfall. If we see anything similar to what we saw against Japan, Brazil will not be as kind. Look, I have never wanted to be wrong about a prediction as I do now. My heart is with the Belgians. I see many of them week in, week out in the EPL. One of my favorites of all time is their assistant manager. I feel like I know them. They are truly an individually talented team, and they have gelled even more since the last world cup. My heart is with them. But my head knows that Brazil is sending them home on Friday.

Russia vs. Croatia. Based on the Round of 16 matches, I think it’s fair to say that both teams could have been out of the tournament. Take nothing away from some of the acrobatic saves the goalies from both teams made, but penalty shoot-outs to me are hit or miss. You may as well draw lots. That being said, I love that Russia has made it this far, beyond expectations and have been a good host for the tournament, but is there really anyone who thinks they will make it past the Croatians? They haven’t scored a goal in open play in about 210 minutes of soccer, and they surely they can’t defend their way into the semis. Russia, this is where I leave you.

England vs. Sweden. I have been trying to write Sweden out of the world cup with my predictions. I didn’t bring them out of the group, and I certainly didn’t bring them into the quarters. Yet somehow, they’re still here. So I asked myself, am I missing something? Can they get into the semis? Can they win the world cup? Was Ibra holding them back? The answer to all is no. The ride stops here. Three Lions should see their way into the semis, and will live to say ‘It’s Coming Home’ another day.

Who do you got?