Relentlessly approaching 2018, fourfourtwo columnist Sebas Stafford-Bloor decided to take a look at the upcoming events in the football world that could shake things up in 2018 and provided ten bold predictions for 2018.
1. "Manchester City" will not finish the Premier League season without setbacks
Thinking logically, an increasing number of tough matches should eventually lead "City" to a loss. The "Citizens" are already the team to beat in England, and as their streak continues, opposing clubs will be even more motivated to end their historic run.
However, it is unlikely they will experience failure against "Manchester United" or "Chelsea" clubs: it is more realistic that they will suffer a loss by giving rest to their best players ahead of important matches in the Champions League. Forward "Stoke City"!
2. "Man City" will win their first Champions League title
The strongest European clubs this year seem more vulnerable than ever, and "Manchester City" could take advantage of that. "Real" does not look convincing this season, "Barcelona" is not perfectly balanced, and although "Juventus" and "Bayern" seem ready once again to fight for the title, this year there is no clear favorite to win the Champions League.
Meanwhile, "City" looks amazing this season. In the Champions League knockout stages, they will have John Stones, and if Pep Guardiola manages to keep all his attacking players in top form, they will be able to beat any opponent.
It all depends on whether a team will emerge that can stop Gabriel Jesus, David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Leroy Sane, and Raheem Sterling, all of them being in top form together. At least for now, such teams simply do not exist.
Looking at the talent in the squads, "Paris Saint-Germain" could also challenge the "Man City" team, but their coach Unai Emery has not been able to mold his players into a real team, and their defense has repeatedly shown issues. "City" would not only be the favorites in head-to-head clashes, but PSG would first have to overcome the "Real" Madrid club, which will certainly not be an easy task.
3. Eden Hazard will leave "Chelsea"
It is easy to predict upcoming changes in Eden Hazard's career. Currently, talks of his move to "Real" have intensified, and he looks like a perfect fit for this club.
However, there have been talks before, so why should he move to this team next year? Firstly, he has already reached a mature age for a footballer (he will turn 27 in January) and he wants to win the Champions League. "Chelsea" is not among the favorites to triumph in this tournament this year, and it is also believed that in the summer, the team will part ways with Antonio Conte, so it seems that the team will need time to adapt to a new coach again.
E. Hazard likely understands all this, and with Cristiano Ronaldo nearing the end of his career, he would aspire to become the biggest star at the "Santiago Bernabeu" stadium. Yes, he would cost "Real" a huge amount of money, but such a turning point in the player's career seems very likely.
4. Philippe Coutinho will join the "Barcelona" club
This is not even a guess - it is likely to be considered as an inevitable thing. Although P. Coutinho has played excellently in the ranks of "Liverpool" in recent months, we did not see a smile on his face, which is related to his desire to show that he wants to move to the "Barcelona" club.
The Catalan club has already completed the panic signings phase demonstrated last summer and is currently demonstrating good play, but Andres Iniesta is definitely not getting any younger, and to expect Ivan Rakitic to successfully replace him for a long time would be difficult. Next summer, "Liverpool" should expect another attempt from "Barca" to negotiate for this player, and if the Brazilian himself insists and shows his desire to leave the club again, the "Reds" could be tempted by the huge sum offered by Barca for his safety.
5. Unai Emery will leave PSG
You can't help but feel for Unai Emery, who has been considered a candidate to leave his team for some time now. If he managed to maintain his post before, then after the record Neymar and Kylian Mbappe signings and Champions League spells, which led the French team to face "Real," his career in France could soon end.
One could try to predict such a scenario: "Real" will take advantage of the fact that not all players in the opposing ranks are willing to work hard, "Paris Saint-Germain" will withdraw early from the Champions League, and the team owners, outraged that hundreds of millions did not guarantee the most important title, will dismiss their coach.
Even now, with PSG still not falling out of the Champions League, U. Emery's seat is greatly shaking. Neither Neymar nor Edinson Cavani's melodrama helped matters, which damaged the team's image, and although this club almost certainly will win the "Ligue 1" championship, after a failure against "Strasbourg," the club received a visit from the angry Nasser Al-Khelaifi to the team's dressing room.
All in all, it is safe to assume that PSG will have a new coach next year.
6. "Stoke City" will be relegated from the Premier League
You could write this prediction as follows: "Stoke will be relegated from the Premier League if they do not part ways with Mark Hughes in the near future.
Watching this coach's career at the "Stoke" team, it was noticed that the club had a strong start, but finished the season disastrously. However, in the 2017-2018 season, we saw a poor performance from this team from the very first matches. Moreover, some of the most important team players seem to have lost form, and even when they managed to secure a victory for the club, they did not look convincingly good.
Stoke manager Peter Coates is patient, but this is not always the best decision. "West Ham United" and "Everton" reacted by dismissing coaches after unsuccessful starts to the season, which helped them improve their game, while Stoke, without making changes, continues to sink to the bottom of the Premier League.
They can only be saved by even worse looking opponents - "Swansea" looks hopeless, "Newcastle" lacks capable players, but it is easy to imagine a situation where one of the teams parting ways with the Premier League would be "Stoke City."
7. The English will at least reach the quarterfinals of the World Cup
Yes, yes - you might laugh. But don't forget that England has a very good team. It is not at the level of teams like Germany, France, or Spain, but it is still a decent team. Coach Gareth Southgate took to Russia an improving national team, and the draw was quite favorable for them.
Although it is still difficult to talk about the potential starting lineup of the English at the moment, most likely among them will be four of the most talented players on the planet: Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane, Dele Alli, and John Stones. Adding Marcus Rashford, Kyle Walker, Eric Dier, and Jordan Pickford, a team with great potential that can surprise could be assembled.
Although they will certainly not win the championship and in general it is not fashionable to believe in the English national team these days, they finally have a team that could perform better than expected.
8. Dele Alli will become the most expensive player of all time from Great Britain
It is very difficult to determine the true value of D. Alli. He can disappoint and demonstrate average form for a long period, but it is obvious to everyone that he is an incredible talent. One day he will move to one of the top European clubs, and he will do so for a huge amount of money.
The 21-year-old player is one of the talents of "Tottenham," but comparing him to a player like Harry Kane reveals a significant difference. If H. Kane radiates loyalty to this club, then D. Alli, who arrived at the club in 2015, is only a short-term player for this club. It is already predicted that without the "Tottenham Hotspur" fighting for titles, the full-back may decide to leave his current team.
Rumors have recently surfaced that he will soon sign a contract with one of the most powerful agents in the world, who promised him a move to one of his desired "Manchester United" or "Real" clubs, so he could become the most expensive British footballer as early as next summer.
9. VAR system will be abolished
Most representatives of the football world wanted to give referees the opportunity to review episodes, believing that it could improve football matches.
However, it seems that those people were wrong. Although this technology has repeatedly helped correct referees' mistakes, in the majority of matches its use only disrupted the game. Its use not only caused long and chaotic breaks but also disrupted the pace of the matches. While refereeing mistakes are certainly annoying, and nobody wants them, it is gradually being realized that this alternative is an even greater evil.
Conflicts over the use of this system arise with FIFA as well. Gianni Infantino would like to use VAR at the World Cup, but this is not supported by referee director Massimo Basacca, who claims that he is still not convinced of the practicality of VAR usage.
This season, VAR is used differently in different countries, which further complicates football watching for spectators, and in the near future, without finding a solution on how to speed up and effectively use VAR, this system should disappear from football stadiums around the world.
10. Arsene Wenger will end his career
A. Wenger has probably already thought about possible scenarios of retirement in recent years. If "Arsenal" had managed to win the Premier League in recent years, the Frenchman would probably have left the club at the top and gone elsewhere.
However, the last few years have shown that this will not happen: the "Arsenal" team led by him year after year proves that it is not capable of competing for this title.
A. Wenger's departure from this club is hinted at by the ongoing work within the team. The team wants to change its entire structure, and they are attracting some of the most famous figures in that position worldwide to the director's position.
Trying to modernize the club should be the first step in returning "Arsenal" to the elite of European football, and looking closely, it can be seen that conditions are being created for acquiring a top-level coach who will be given all the opportunities to flourish in London.
