Promoted trio of 2016/17 Barclay's premier league season

After a eventful summer with the Copa America and the Euro cup we are just three weeks away from the start of the 2016/17 Premier League. The 2016/17 Premier League season will the 25th anniversary of the league since it’s formation in 1992. The inaugural game of the season will see the defending champions Leicester City taking on one of the newly promoted trio, Hull City.

This season is particularly noteworthy with almost all the top managers around the globe involved. With all this said lets take a look at the Premier League Newcomers for the 2016/17 season and what their expectations for the new season would be.

The Promoted Trio

Burnley

After just a season away from the Premier League, the team that won the hearts of every football fan in the 2014/15 season are back in the top flight. Burnley will once again target Premier League survival after falling short of their goal in the previous two attempts at the top. The Clarets will be confident though having gained promotion as the champions of the 2015/16 Championship.

The Clarets finished four points ahead of Middlesbrough in 2nd place and went on a 23 game undefeated run after Christmas. Goalkeeper Tom Heaton and Midfielder Scott Arfield were the only two players who had featured in all 46 of their league games last season. Burnley’s breakout star last season was Andre Gray who Dyche had brought in for the 2015/16 season and re-payed his faith with 25 goals in the league.

The expectations for the Clarets as mentioned will be survival. Each of the last two times they had been in the Premier League they finished 18th in the table. They will face Swansea, Liverpool, Chelsea, Hull City and Leicester in the first five games and it’s important they get off to a good start.

Our prediction for the Clarets is a 17th place finish after a late season surge from the relegation zone.

Manager: Sean Dyche

Captain: Tom Heaton

Key Player: Andre Gray

Middlesbrough

After a gap of 7 seasons, The Smoggies are back in the Premier League under the guidance of former Spanish international Aitor Karanka. After narrowly missing out on promotion in 2014/15 season after a 2-0 playoff final defeat against Norwich, Middlesbrough gained promotion as the runners-up of the 2015/16 Championship season.

Boro finished level on points with Brighton & Hove but had a superior goal difference. Like Burnley, Middlesbrough went on a 10 game undefeated run towards the end of the season but the last 4 game ended in draws thereby missing out on the Championship title.

The expectations for Boro would simply be survival but they do have a pretty talented squad and may just be the best performing team among the promoted sides. The key players in their ranks include Adam Clayton, Daniel Ayala, Stuart Downing, Victor Valdes & David Nugent.

Our pick for Boro is a mid table finish with memorable wins against Chelsea and Manchester United.

Manager: Aitor Karanka

Captain: Grant Leadbitter

Key Player: Adam Clayton

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Hull City

Like fellow Promoted side Burnley, Hull City have gained promotion back to the Premier League after just a single season away from it. This will be their 5th season in the Premier League and the Tigers will be hoping this will finally be the year they cement their place as a Premier League regular.

The first time they played in the Premier League was in the 2008/09 season and even though they survived the cut that season they were relegated in the following season. The 2013/14 season saw them once again in the Premier League under Steve Bruce and even though they achieved a finish of 16th place they were still struggling to find their feet in the league and ultimately faced the cut in 2014/15 season.

The Tigers are back again and the expectation this time around will be to not only achieve survival but also cement their place in the league. It will not be easy for the Tigers especially now when Steve Bruce has left the club but with the squad at their disposal they do have it in them to achieve their target.

The incoming manager must strengthen his side with some good signings but with a takeover bid looming large over the club it looks to be an another disappointing season for the Tigers. Abel Hernandez was their best player last season and the onus is on him to prove his worth in the Premier League.

Manager: __________

Captain: Micheal Dawson

Key Player: Abel Hernandez

Betting Tips for the Promoted Trio

  1. Burnley to Stay up – (1.91 – Bet 365)
  2. Middlesbrough to Stay up – (1.62 – William Hill)
  3. Best Performing Newcomer – (Middlesbrough – 2.30 – sportingbet)

As already mentioned Middlesbrough are our pick to excel among the newcomers. They do have talented squad and while it doesn’t look likely they’ll break into the top 10 they can surely finish high in the second half of the table. As for Burnley and Hull City it will be a struggle with the former maybe crawling out of the relegation zone in the last week of the season.

*Read more of Premier League betting tips

External Resources

[1] Burnley’s complete league history, 2016

[2] Middlesbrough’s complete league history, 2016

[3] Hull City’s complete league history, 2016