Five soccer predictions for 2024
A kaleidoscope of memories gush in as we, the football fraternity, say goodbye to a memorable 2023.
It was the year of Manchester City and Erling Haaland. It was the year of Enzo Fernandez breaking the British transfer record. It was also the year of Saudi Arabia having an outsized effect on how the sport is run. Stuffed in between was Napoli’s sensational charge to a Serie A title, Manchester United’s takeover and Lionel Messi’s eighth Ballon d’Or, among other captivating, larger-than-life moments on and off the field.
As we look ahead to another year brimming with awe-inspiring football along with era-defining surprises, we try to predict five things that could take place in 2024.
#1 Harry Kane will win a trophy
If you thought Jose Mourinho unleashed the creator as well as the predator in Harry Kane, he went on to finish his Tottenham Hotspur career with an impressive 30 goals in the Premier League – only usurped by a certain Erling Haaland.
And if that was where the ceiling for Kane was drawn, the sharpshooter has highlighted how the great modern-day forwards achieve unassailable heights in their early 30s. Three names flash across the mind – Karim Benzema, Luis Suarez, and Robert Lewandowski.
The latter holds the record for the most goals in a Bundesliga campaign (41). Kane has smashed 21 in merely 15 matches, and 25 across all competitions at the halfway point of the season. With the way Bayern Munich are unfurling their prowess in front of goal, not many would put it past him to shatter the record.
Most of all, Spurs fans, England fans, and everyone connected to Kane long for silverware; a collective token of success that he couldn’t achieve in North London. As things stand, Bayern Munich are four points adrift of league leaders Bayer Leverkusen with a game in hand.
They have a team capable of winning anything. And at last, perhaps, Kane could walk home with a trophy in one hand and a golden boot in another.
#2 The Premier League title race will go down to the wire
Man City have collected a grand total of 547 points in the last six Premier League seasons. Five hundred and forty-seven. At best, the only team that has realistically come close to snatching the league title from their grasp is Liverpool.
In 2018/19 and 2021/22, the Reds came agonizingly close to the title, only missing out by a solitary point on both occasions.
This season, almost a dozen teams are running for a place in Europe. And moving upwards, just three points separates fifth-placed Tottenham with pacesetters Liverpool as of the final day of the calendar year.
Liverpool have evolved into a refurbished product under Jurgen Klopp’s high-pressing system thanks to youngsters being blooded into the setup over the summer. Man City’s resurgence after a momentary blip, coupled with the expected return of Kevin de Bruyne and Haaland in next to no time, lifts their chances heading into their favorite juncture of the season.
Arsenal, who have been exceptional once again, have fallen twice in as many matches, which certainly cracks the title race wide open. Their rivals Spurs can smell the proximity between the top five, having registered their fourth win in five league matches versus Bournemouth.
To dazzle with the lavish spenders and thoroughbred point accumulators is one thing, to rub shoulders with them is another. And Unai Emery is dancing with the devils at the top. Aston Villa closed the year with 42 points from 20 matches, in the process transforming Villa Park into a harrowed fortress.
With roughly half the season to go and teams set to strengthen their ranks in January, expect it to be anything but a two-horse race.
#3 Center forwards will see their worth skyrocket further
Despite having a few months left on his contract, Kane extracted a hefty price of £86.4m from Bayern Munich when they signed him in the summer. That piece of inflation signifies the trend of the market – an increase in demand for strikers amidst a diminishing supply.
Simply ask Chelsea, who have spent about £700m in 2023 and yet don’t have a striker in their ranks who can provide 20 league goals. Victor Osimhen is a name that has popped up many a time, and with Napoli dwindling ever since Luciano Spaletti departed, the Nigerian international could do the rounds of the transfer mill despite having signed a contract extension through 2026.
The fact that clubs are ready to pounce on Ivan Toney, who has undeniable quality but hasn’t played a competitive match since May, further explains the case.
At present, high level strikers have emerged as dream commodities. The upward trend of the market only indicates they will pry even more money from their suitors moving forward.
#4 Manchester United and Chelsea will continue to disappoint
Any hope of revival in 2024 from Manchester United and Chelsea’s perspective will be extinguished sooner than later.
One club is experiencing a change from top to bottom, while the other doesn’t have enough heads in defined roles at the management level to take them forward. While Man United have fallen behind their rivals in terms of the facilities and recruitment laid down, Chelsea’s gung-ho approach to buying players is rather perplexing.
Manchester United have too many heads who are capable of downing tools if things are not going in the desired direction. Manager Erik ten Hag has borne the brunt of his tactical decisions as well as relations with a few players.
Chelsea on the other hand, stockpile an already inflated dressing room whenever their main group of players begin to settle in a run of games.
Frankly, they would miss out on Europe for another season, and when they are forced to sell their assets to balance the sheets, players such as Conor Gallager – linked with a transfer away despite captaining the club and making 19 league starts – will be sold.
The two fallen giants are way off the pace. Football is a forum for miracles, and their respective fans will hope for one to transpire in 2024.
#5 Jude Bellingham will win the Ballon d’Or
Jude Bellingham is a once-in-a-generation footballer. He’s 20 yet walks around like he owns the street. He’s new to La Liga and Spain but seems to have won the hearts of the Real Madrid faithful from his very first match.
The former Borussia Dortmund star is different from his compatriots; he’s tested himself in two foreign leagues and is slowly becoming an evergreen name.
He’s just seven goals shy of his tally at Dortmund, having only made 21 appearances for Los Blancos.
Bellingham has added dimensions to his game that both playmakers and strikers would dream of. He can score goals from outside the box and ghost into the penalty area in a flash. He can make level-headed decisions from congested places or pull the strings from deeper.
Real Madrid are ahead of unlikely top dogs Girona on goal difference. They should fancy their chances of winning the league, and should they bag another trophy or two, Bellingham would become the second-youngest ever Ballon d’Or winner.
-Roy Akarshak
Twitter: @RoyAkarshak
Photo: Vyacheslav Evdokimov. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.