Grosvenor Sport ambassador Jamie O’Hara is on hand to give his end of season predictions as the Premier League begins to draw to a close and European competitions enter the latter stages.
Premier League Winner
Liverpool (1/50) will obviously win the Premier League. I’m even more convinced now that they’re out of Europe. I can’t see anyone getting close to them. Arsenal have too many injuries and aren’t playing at the same level as Liverpool.
To be honest, the quality of the elite clubs in the Premier League has dropped off a cliff this season and Liverpool have been there to pick up the pieces and, ultimately, have been the best of a bad bunch.
Premier League Top 5
I think Arsenal (1/18) will finish second again this season. They’ve got some decent remaining games, but they’ll be focusing on the Champions League and working out how to get past Real Madrid.
Nottingham Forest (7/25) have been a revelation this season; Nuno Espirito Santo has proven the doubters wrong and is asserting himself as a top class manager. I think they’ll finish behind Arsenal in third.
Newcastle (4/5) will have so much confidence after that Carabao Cup final and beating the best team in England. I think they’ll kick on and finish in fourth place; they’ve got quality players and a quality manager. Finishing in the top four with a trophy will be their best season in decades.
Manchester City (1/4) will clinch Champions League football next season by finishing fifth, which is a really poor season by their standards. We know they’ve been hampered with Rodri’s injury, but they’ve looked like a shadow of their former selves. They’ll need a big rebuild this summer to get back to where they were.
FA Cup Winner
Manchester City (2/1) are the only ‘Big Six’ team left in the competition, but I don’t think they’ll win it. I think they’ll do well to beat Bournemouth in the next round, particularly away from home.
Nottingham Forest (11/1) are my pick to lift the trophy; they have the players and the manager to do it. I think they’ll beat Brighton and, like Newcastle, will have their greatest season for generations by finishing in the top four and win a major trophy.
Champions League Winner
I don’t think Real Madrid (7/2) will win it this year. I think they’ve scraped through too many games – they didn’t look great against Atletico in the last round. That said, the best teams find a way to win, so you can never overlook them.
I’m going with Barcelona (3/1) to be champions of Europe this season. They’ve just got so much talent in attack. Bayern (5/1) are worth looking out for too; they could do it with their squad and experience.
Europa League Winner
Well, it’s not going to be Tottenham (4/1), so you can forget about them straight away. Eintracht Frankfurt are a really good side and I can’t see Spurs getting the better of them over two legs.
Manchester United (15/4) are just terrible. Both those English sides are all over the place at the moment.
I think Athletic Bilbao (33/10) will get to the final and win, they look like a good team.
Ballon d’Or Winner
No Champions League or Carabao Cup for Mohamed Salah now; does he still get it? Depending on who wins the Champions League, I’ll say one of Raphinha or Vinicius Junior.
Don’t write Harry Kane off though. Bayern Munich are going to win the Bundesliga, I think they’ve got a chance in Europe too, but I’ll go with Raphinha considering I think Barcelona will win the Champions League.