Prediction Recap – Everyone Is A Winner with LFC
As we get ready for the new season and dust off the crystal ball, let’s take a look at what we did with our predictions for this past season.
Top Four
Here is the good news: Everyone correctly predicted the champions, as the Reds took the title. You may call it bias or simply being good at seeing the future, but we nailed the #1 spot across the board.. that is, except for the cynic J.L. Robert, who thought City would pip LFC to the title yet again. Unfortunately, that is where the good news mostly ends.
Looking at the predictions, most of us definitely did not predict the rise of Chelsea… nor were we expecting such a stinker from Arsenal. The Gunners’ summer signings combined with the way they ended the prior season fooled us into thinking they were ready for a breakout season. Tottenham was another team we all expected to perform better coming off of a good season and a Champions League final… but their collapse in the season dropped them out of the top four. The same logic also applies to Leicester, who went from challenging City for #2 to barely hanging a Europa League spot.
No one got this 100% correct, but the closest was Lingherr Senghor, who wishfully had Spurs in third instead of United. Honorable mention to Gordon Lee, who missed Chelsea for Tottenham and had United fourth.
Relegated Teams
Most picked Sheffield United to get relegated, which shows the amazing job that Chris Wilder has done there. Heck, I had him as the first manager to be sacked (sorry Chris!). Norwich was almost unanimously picked across the board, which ended up being true. Newcastle, another popular pick, outperformed the expectations of quite a few, and not one person foresaw the danger Bournemouth was in, though you could argue the few people who had Aston Villa should have seen them go down instead (Ed. – I’m still losing sleep over that Sheffield non-goal).
Top Scorer
Yep, LFC bias did us in on this one. Most of us had Salah who came close but did not capitalize on chances in the latter part of the season. Mane was another popular choice, and while he had a great season, his goal tally did not get him the top spot. No winners here… except all of us since LFC won the whole damn thing!
Most Clean Sheets
The LFC bias I referred to above almost saw us all correctly predict Alisson as the winner on this one. I for one am confident that he would have won the Golden Glove if it was not for the time he missed due to injury. Looking back at that injury, I recall how worried I was seeing him leave the field and what a devastating moment it was in the beginning of the season. While Adrian did make some errors down the road, he was definitely a pleasant surprise and a great signing to fill in while Alisson was out.
Player of the Year
Brando Ibarra and Alan Walnut nailed it on this one by predicting Kevin de Bruyne. While most of us picked LFC players, they looked behind enemy lines and knew the impact a healthy KDB would make. While Henderson got the FWA award, Mane won the PFA Fans’ Player of the Year.
First Coach Sacked
I could not be more wrong on Sheffield United and Chris Wilder. A few other people chose Steve Bruce, who surprised us all with a respectable finish from Newcastle. Most of the others were thinking Ole would have crashed the bus early in the season. While he steered United to third place –cough14penaltiescough – having him at the wheel might help us in the long run. In the end, J.L. Robert correctly predicted Javi Gracia would be the first to depart his post.
Crazy Predictions
On to some fun ones…
I thought VAR would cause penalties to go up by a lot, but they actually went down this year… womp womp.
Gordon thought an English team would win the UCL, yet not one made it past the quarterfinals. Whoops!
Hilary Castles thought the other team in Liverpool would reclaim their old spot in fifth. She was right… if you look seven more spots further down the table.
Jamie Mulholland thought Robbo would beat Trent in assists. With four in his last five games, Andy almost proved him right, but fell short by one, 12 to Trent’s 13.
Brando Ibarra expected Wolves to finish above United, and they gave them a good run, managing to stay level on points with the Scum until week 33.
Lingherr Senghor came in with the feel-good prediction of the season, predicting a(nother?) 100+ point season. So close.
Rich Kramer played it safe by picking the Wolves to finish in the top six. Really is a shame that such a talented squad will miss out on European football next year.
Yosef Johnson picked Leicester to secure fourth and earn a spot in the Champions League. He was correct until the last two games.
What a season!