Ten predictions for the Premier League run-in: Arsenal finally deliver, Spurs' nightmare deepens, and chaos awaits

The business end of the Premier League season is upon us, and that means it's time to stick your neck out. Statistically speaking, we'll look absolutely daft in three months' time, but that's all part of the fun. Maybe two or three of these actually come to pass—and we're pretty confident we know which ones.

Here are our ten predictions for how this season will unfold.

Arsenal finally get the job done

The baggage Arsenal carry is genuinely remarkable. Clubs develop reputations and they're devilishly hard to shift. When Fulham ended a three-game losing streak at the Stadium of Light, nobody suddenly started banging on about "Dr Sunderland," did they? Yet Arsenal's every stumble is treated as evidence of a terminal flaw in their character.

The narrative is locked in: Arsenal are the bottlers, Man City are the inevitable winners, and nothing will shake these beliefs. That 2-2 draw at Wolves? Proof positive that the Gunners are about to hand City the trophy. Never mind that City themselves blew a 2-0 lead at one of the worst teams in the division this very month.

The reality is different. Arsenal are the superior team right now—five points clear and playing the best football in the league. City are a work-in-progress outfit bearing little resemblance to their recent all-conquering selves. History matters, but it shouldn't override what your eyes are telling you. Arsenal will win the league.

But they'll bottle the quadruple

Here's where it gets interesting. Arsenal won't win everything, because that's just not how it works. They'll claim the Premier League—the one thing everyone's been demanding they deliver—but the rest? That'll slip away.

Lose the Carabao Cup final and it becomes evidence of their fundamental weakness rather than just a bad day in a one-off game. Crash out of the Champions League and it's painted as moral failure instead of simply being what happens to most teams in Europe. Stumble in the FA Cup and the word "anticlimax" will be everywhere, even as they're planning their league title parade. We'll all be saying it too.

Tottenham are going down

The media lost the plot over that 4-1 hammering by Arsenal, acting as though a terrible Spurs side had any chance of beating a very good Arsenal team. They didn't. They were passengers.

The real story is simpler: Spurs are genuinely awful, and they're heading for the drop. Strip away the noise and look at the relegation battle properly. Which would you fear for most? The team outside the zone but climbing? The inconsistent outfit that's improving under a new manager? Or the team with a four-point cushion that's won just twice since October, sat idle in January as injuries piled up, and only just sacked a manager who was clearly drowning?

That's Team C. That's Tottenham. They're finished.

Michael Carrick gets the permanent Manchester United job—and we all know what happens next

United had to do it, didn't they? Even though we've all seen this film before. Even though they know we've all seen it. Even though they know we know they know we've all seen it.

Carrick's only real credential was being a very good United player. Sound familiar? That's the Solskjaer blueprint, and we're about to watch it play out again. Maybe this time will be different. Maybe he'll actually be that good. But our alarm bells are ringing loud and clear.

Nottingham Forest sack Vitor Pereira

Simple maths, really. Forest have sacked a manager roughly every nine Premier League games this season, so there's time for one more before the curtain falls. Who replaces him? Your guess is as good as ours. The appointment strategy has become so scattergun—from Nuno to Ange to Dyche to Pereira—that there's no coherent thread to follow anymore.

Liverpool miss the Champions League

Four teams chasing three spots is always going to hurt someone, and Liverpool look vulnerable. Yes, they've got West Ham, Wolves and Spurs coming up, but then Brighton and Fulham are lurking. The real killer, though, is their fixture list in May: they're scheduled to face all three of their Champions League rivals back-to-back, potentially while juggling various cup commitments. It's a recipe for slipping up.

Chelsea win the FA Cup

No deep reasoning here, just a hunch. We fancy them over the other contenders. And imagine the post-match interview: a triumphant manager briefly mentioning his players before pivoting into a lengthy discourse on B2B sales strategy while Cole Palmer stands there staring blankly into the distance.

Bournemouth oscillate between brilliance and disaster—perfectly timed with Iraola's big-job links

Bournemouth never do middling. They're either Champions League form or relegation form, and they've perfected the art of switching between the two. This season they've taken 18 points from nine games, then five from eleven, and now 15 from seven. There's definitely room for an eight-match winless run to close things out—ideally kicking off just as Iraola's being linked with Manchester United, naturally.

Sunderland edge Newcastle in the local rivalry

Both teams are stuck on 36 points with identical recent form: one win, four defeats in five. Newcastle's problem is particularly acute—their only Premier League scalp since early January is Tottenham, which barely counts. Sunderland's been losing at home, which is worrying, but in this slow-burning battle for local supremacy, the Black Cats edge it.

VAR decides a major issue

Whether it's the title, the relegation fight, or the Champions League scramble, VAR will insert itself into a pivotal moment and divide the entire nation. The centrists will reasonably but pointlessly argue that you can't pin a season on one decision, while everyone else demands the system be scrapped entirely.

The response? "We hear you, but what if we just gave VAR more power instead?"

And so it continues.