May is upon us which means the Premier League season is slowly drawing to a close, yet this year is somewhat different with the title race, top-four and relegation all yet to be decided, much to the dismay of some pundits’ predictions.
Cast your minds back to August and everyone and their mother seemed to have a take on the 2021/22 campaign. Who will be top goalscorer? Will four clubs be challenging for the Premier League title? How badly will Arsenal do this season?
Yet like most season predictions, most if not all end up never coming off, yet there are some comments from pundits that do become a reality. And today, we look at five claims made back in August that actually came true in this memorable Premier League campaign.
Jamie Carragher – Emile Smith Rowe will have a breakout season
Arsenal have without question been the surprise team this season, with essentially every pundit, reporter and tipster not even predicting the Gunners to finish in the top-six, let alone challenging for fourth place.
Yet whilst nobody predicted Mikel Arteta’s side to impress this season, Jamie Carragher tipped Emile Smith Rowe to be one of the breakout players of the year, and the Sky Sports pundit hit the nail on the head with this prediction.
Labelling the 21-year-olds as ‘outstanding’ at the time, Smith Rowe has been one of Arsenal’s best players this season, with the youngster making his England debut earlier in the campaign and providing the Gunners with some huge goals throughout the year.
Stats Bomb – Brentford will clinch Premier League safety
Brentford were one of the most exciting storylines for the Premier League this season, and for Stats Bomb, they were one of the few publications to tip the west London side for comfortable safety in their first year in the top-flight this century.
Whilst the Bees were a side many wanted to do well this season, very few predictions from pundits actually placed Brentford away from the relegation zone. Yet Thomas Frank’s side has blown expectations out of the water this campaign, and in some style too.
From beating Arsenal on opening day to thumping Chelsea 4-1 at Stamford Bridge and to signing Christian Eriksen, Brentford have been a breath of fresh air this season, and Stats Bomb were one of the few publications to call it.
Danny Murphy – Liverpool will finish in the top-two
Danny Murphy is a pundit who draws more criticism and rolled eyes than praise, yet the analyst was just one of three people at BBC Sport to predict that Liverpool would finish in the top two.
Indeed, it’s easy to forget at the start of the season that the two Premier League favourites were Manchester City and Chelsea. And whilst the former look set to retain the title, Thomas Tuchel’s side have completely bottled it this season, much to the enjoyment of Liverpool.
Where the Blues have failed the Reds have been exceptional, with the entire squad staying fit for most of the season and the likes of Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota firing Liverpool to another Premier League title race, something that Murphy, of all people, predicted.
Micah Richards – Manchester United won’t have enough to get top-four
Another BBC Sport pundit who got a prediction bang on, Micah Richards was one of the few names to question Manchester United’s credentials as top-four candidates, let alone their ability to challenge for the Premier League title.
And the former Manchester City star would be proven right in a big way, with the Red Devils enduring their most embarrassing Premier League season to date with United missing out on top-four and now potentially looking set for a UEFA Europa Conference League finish.
Whilst the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo was bombastic, the great man hasn’t been able to drag United to glory this season, with the Manchester giants also once again failing to win any silverware.
Bleacher Report – Bukayo Saka will win Young Player of the Season
As mentioned earlier, very few pundits had predicted Arsenal or any of their players to impress this campaign, yet Bleacher Report stuck their neck of their in their season preview to predict that Bukayo Saka will win the Young Player of the Season award.
Whilst the PFA awards are yet to be announced as of writing, Saka is arguably the favourite to win Young Player of the Season, with the Arsenal star having his best season to date in the Premier League and becoming a crucial source of goals and assists.
After the heartbreak of Euro 2020, Saka has buried his penalty demons by scoring two huge penalties this season against Chelsea and United, and the 20-year-old winger looks like a shoo-in to win the Young Player of the Season award.
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