It is fair to say that the Premier League 2022/23 season so far has not panned out, so far, as most of us would have predicted.
I am sure we are all more than a little surprised that after only 19 games of the season for Liverpool they have shipped almost exactly the same number of goals as the whole of last season (25 verse 26 in total last season). Also last season ending a very close runners up to Man City they only lost 2 matches all season. This season they have already lost 6...madness! Oh and they are already 21pts behind the leaders, Arsenal.
Let's talk Arsenal. What a fantastic turnaround. Two things to say here...one no way would we have got them top and two no way would we be thinking at the half way point they look like they might be able to maintain it. Unbelievable that at this stage of the season they have only lost a single game and only drawn 2.
In the bottom three we see Everton struggling yet again. This time having just sacked Lampard after less than a year in charge. TBH we are not sure Lampard was ever the right choice. He was a great player but has not shown any real managerial pedigree. Putting him in charge of a club that needed someone with both real football knowhow and proper management skills was never going to work. Lampard has not really shown himself to have either. Being a great player does not automatically make you a great manager.
So will Everton make the right choice this time and avoid the drop for another season? Time will tell!
The bottom half of the table is very tight indeed. At the halfway stage 14-18th only a point in it.
Half way through let's take a look at the table and then we will make our ending prediction....
| Current | Team | PTS | Predicted |
| 1st | Arsenal | 50 | 2nd |
| 2nd | Man City | 45 | 1st |
| 3rd | Newcastle | 39 | 5th |
| 4th | Man United | 39 | 3rd |
| 5th | Spurs | 36 | 4th |
| 6th | Brighton | 31 | 8th |
| 7th | Fulham | 31 | 10th |
| 8th | Brentford | 30 | 9th |
| 9th | Liverpool | 29 | 6th |
| 10th | Chelsea | 29 | 7th |
| 11th | Aston Villa | 28 | 11th |
| 12th | Crystal Palace | 24 | 13th |
| 13th | Nottingham Forest | 21 | 19th |
| 14th | Leicester City | 18 | 12th |
| 15th | Leeds United | 18 | 15th |
| 16th | West Ham United | 18 | 14th |
| 17th | Wolves | 17 | 16th |
| 18th | AFC Bournemouth | 17 | 20th |
| 19th | Everton | 15 | 18th |
| 20th | Southampton | 15 | 17th |
We don't find a place for Newcastle and neither Liverpool or Chelsea are able to fight back to the top 4.
We think Southampton will turn this around. We don't believe Everton will be able to make enough changes in time and we see Nottingham Forest slip back down.
Only time will tell!
How well do YOU know football?