Swansea City
Manager:
Gary Monk
Most Influential Player:
Gylfi Sigurdsson
Last Season’s Finish:
8th
Predicted Finish:
Europa League
Transfers In:
Eder, CF, for £5m from Braga
Franck Tabanou, LB, for £3.5m from Saint-Etienne
Andre Ayew, LW, Free Transfer from Marseille
Transfers Out:
Jazz Richards, GK, Free Transfer to Fulham
Preview:
Swansea is going to be a sneaky good team. After just missing out on the Europa League, they are back with smart buys and the advantage of not competing in Europa League. That may give them a leg up on teams like Liverpool, Tottenham and Southampton.
Tottenham Hotspur
Manager:
Mauricio Pochettino
Most Influential Player:
Harry Kane
Last Season’s Finish:
5th
Predicted Finish:
Europa League
Transfers In:
Toby Alderweireld, CB, for £11.5m from Atletico Madrid
Kevin Wimmer, CB, for £4.3m from FC Koln
Kieran Trippier, RB, for £3.5m from Burnley
Transfers Out:
Paulinho, CM, for £9.9m to Guangzhou Evergrande
Benjamin Stambouli, DM, for £6m to PSG
Lewis Holtby, CM, for £4.6m to Hamburg
Younès Kaboul, CB, for £3m to Sunderland
Preview:
Tottenham is in the solid Europa League position. Similar to Liverpool, they’re good enough to likely be assured of a Europa League spot but a bit behind the top four teams to mount a fight unless they put forth a flawless season. Spurs has a chance to make top four if one of those top teams goes on a bad run but they’re most likely fighting with Liverpool for 5th place.
Watford
Manager:
Quique Flores
Most Influential Player:
Troy Deeney
Last Season’s Finish:
2nd in Championship
Predicted Finish:
Relegation survivor
Transfers In:
Steven Berghuis, RW, for £4.6m from AZ
Juanfran, RB, for £1.5m from Real Betis
Transfers Out:
Lewis McGugan, CM, for £300k to Sheffield Wednesday
Jonathan Bond, GK, for £250k to Reading
Preview:
Watford, out of the three Championship promoted teams, is arguably the best equipped out of those teams to stay in the Premier League. The team is equipped to eek out points and while it won’t be pretty, it’s going to keep them in the EPL.
West Bromwich Albion
Manager:
Tony Pulis
Most Influential Player:
Darren Fletcher
Last Season’s Finish:
13th
Predicted Finish:
Midtable
Transfers In:
James Chester, CB, for £8m from Hull City
Ricky Lambert, ST, for £3m from Liverpool
James McClean, LW, for £1.5m from Wigan
Transfers Out:
Graham Dorrans, RM, for £3m to Norwich City
Georgios Samaras, LW, Released
Preview:
West Brom is slowly but surely moving their way up the table. They got the best manager in Tony Pulis in terms of surviving relegation. Now that they have survived relegation, this may be the year that moves West Brom up from a relegation fighter to a midtable contender
West Ham United
Manager:
Slaven Bilić
Most Influential Player:
Diafra Sakho
Last Season’s Finish:
12th
Predicted Finish:
Midtable
Transfers In:
Angelo Ogbonna, CB, for £7.74m from Juventus
Carl Jenkinson, RB, on loan from Arsenal
Transfers Out:
Stewart Downing, AM, for £5.5m to Middlesbrough
Preview:
West Ham is going to suffer due to playing in the Europa League. Because they earned their spot via the Fair Play rankings, West Ham got to begin their season on July 2. That extra month of action is going to affect them in the last half in the season. I’m not saying West Ham is going to drop all the way down to the relegation zone but I can definitely see them play like Everton last year and experience a huge drop in the table.