Highlights

• Ben Foster predicts Arsenal and Manchester City to secure the top two spots in the Premier League, with several other teams battling for the final two top four spots.
• Foster believes Luton Town will surprise everyone and avoid relegation this season.
• Foster expects Erling Haaland to win the Golden Boot race, with Salah finishing behind him.

The 2023/24 Premier League season is just around the corner, with preparations nearly complete and games set to return this weekend.

Predictions are being made left, right and centre about who will excel and who will have seasons to forget, and nobody can agree on who might finish where in the table.

Wrexham goalkeeper Ben Foster has become the latest person to guess who might end up where. He has focused on who he thinks will qualify for the Champions League and who might go down in his Football Fill-In preview, making some big shouts at both ends of the table.

He also takes a look at the Golden Boot race, potential dark horses for this season, and who might be the biggest flops to watch out for. But given how off the mark he was when predicting the league table last year, let’s dive into his shouts for the upcoming campaign.

Wildcard in the top four race

Starting with the race for the top four, Foster believes that although six teams are vying for four places, two of them already look set in stone.

“I think realistically there’s probably only two because I think Arsenal and Manchester City are guaranteed," he said. "I think they’re going to be one and two, and then there are four teams vying for third and fourth.”

The Gunners pushed Pep Guardiola’s side all the way for the title, and at one point looked like they could lift the trophy. Given that both teams have strengthened by bringing in quality players like Declan Rice and Josko Gvardiol, it certainly seems like they will be back up at the top of the league table once again.

But after that, Foster believes that Chelsea will finish third in the table and make a full recovery under Mauricio Pochettino after a disastrous campaign last year.

The former Watford goalkeeper expressed in the video how impressed he had been with Pochettino’s Blues after he played against them in pre-season. The National League champions ended up getting hammered 5-0 by the Premier League side.

Chelsea do have the added benefit of no European football this season, meaning they will mostly play one game a week all year round and be fresher than some of the other big teams. And with some quality signings like Moises Caicedo potentially arriving before the transfer window shuts, they could be in a strong position to finish in the top four.

Rounding out the Champions League qualification spots for Foster though are Manchester United. The Red Devils had a solid first campaign under Erik ten Hag, lifting the Carabao Cup and finishing third in the league.

Now, they are even stronger. Mason Mount, Rasmus Hojlund, and Andre Onana have all arrived this summer, making United an even bigger force to be reckoned with for 2023/24.

What about some of the teams that miss out though? There is little mention of Newcastle in the video, despite their impressive Champions League qualification under Eddie Howe last season. Might two games a week hurt their chances of repeating last season’s achievement?

Meanwhile, Tottenham, in the eyes of Foster, have done some good business during the transfer window by bringing in James Maddison. But potentially losing Harry Kane to Bayern Munich would be, “a massive problem.”

And the former England shot-stopper is unconvinced by Liverpool, especially in midfield. Although the Reds have brought in Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister, Foster believes they have lost two big dressing room influences.

“I think losing James Milner and Jordan Henderson is a problem,” he said. “Honestly, them two run the building, they run everything.”

Big surprise in the bottom three

Switching to the bottom end of the table, Foster believes that several teams could be in trouble. Nottingham Forest and Everton are two sides who struggled last season, and the goalkeeper name-checked both of them. He also believes West Ham might struggle too.

“There have been so many rumblings about not signing players and there not being money to sign players and not trusting David Moyes and where are they going to go from there. I just think it gets you off to such a bad start," he said.

But Foster believes that only one of the above will end up going down.

“I think Forest, Sheffield United, and Burnley,” he said, making the surprise prediction that Luton will beat the odds to stay up.

The Hatters have been picked by many to go straight back down to the Championship this season, despite their impressive finishes in English football’s second tier over the last few years. But Foster believes that the atmosphere at Kenilworth Road will make it hard for teams to get results.

“The fans there as well get right behind them,” he added. “It is a horrible place to go, and I honestly think if Luton can make their home form good, I think they’ll surprise a lot of teams.”

Luton’s omission from the bottom three is nearly as surprising as Foster’s decision to include Burnley. The Clarets dominated the Championship last season under Vincent Kompany, and have strengthened too by bringing in several new players like England U21 Euros hero, James Trafford.

Sheffield United and Forest’s inclusions could be spot on though. The Blades have lost an important player in Iliman Ndiaye this summer, and have not yet sufficiently strengthened their squad.

And Forest were fortunate to stay up last season, just about beating the drop in their final few matches. They are likely to be back in a relegation fight this campaign, despite bringing in Anthony Elanga for Man United and Ola Aina from Torino.

With so many teams fighting against relegation last year though, there could be numerous sides at the foot of the table once again this year.

The Golden Boot race

Guess who he went for here? The same player who everyone else has picked to finish as the Premier League’s top scorer.

Foster picked out several players who he believed would score regularly next season, including United’s new signing Hojlund, Marcus Rashford, Kane, and Mohamed Salah.

But after Haaland broke the record for most goals scored in a season last year, it was hard to pick anybody else.

“I think we’re all agreed then that Haaland is going to win it,” he said. “The only question is whether he’ll beat his 36 goal tally from last season.”

However, Foster believes that Salah will finish behind the Norwegian striker. Liverpool’s attacker was among the goals last season despite his side’s struggles, finding the back of the net 19 times in the Premier League. If Liverpool recover from their drop-off completely this year, he could be even more ruthless in front of goal.

Dark horse for this season

There are a few teams who could be surprises to watch this season. Brighton have made a habit of shocking everyone in recent years and could do so once again, while Chelsea might bounce back in spectacular fashion.

But Foster has gone for Aston Villa to build on their success last season. Unai Emery helped propel the team up the table after being appointed manager in October 2022 and they finished the season seventh in the table to qualify for the Europa Conference League.

Over the summer, they have signed some quality players to help them build on their success. Youri Tielemans has arrived from Leicester, providing greater depth in midfield. Pau Torres has been bought from Villarreal to add quality in defence, while Moussa Diaby has joined from Bayer Leverkusen too.

“Having watched them in pre-season, Villa were on fire,” Foster said. “They looked strong, they looked physical, they looked like they could get about the pitch, they looked like they knew what they were doing. The manager seems like he’s a perfect fit for them.

“£50 million they’ve just spent on Diaby. They look like they’re going to be a threat this year.”

Flop of the season

Finally, four teams were singled out as potential flops this season. Spurs were the first named, with Foster believing that they could finish as low as 10th if Kane leaves for Bayern Munich.

West Ham were also picked out, with a couple of heavy losses in pre-season not filling Foster with confidence. The 40-year-old believes that a 14th-placed finish could be on the cards for them this year, exactly where they ended up last season.

The final two teams discussed, to Foster's surprise, were Brentford and Brighton. The former are without Ivan Toney for the first half of the season following his ban from football for breaching the FA’s betting rules, while the Seagulls might not be able to perform as well as they had done in recent years.

You would imagine that neither Brighton nor Brentford would 'flop' this year given how well they have performed in recent seasons. But stranger things have happened in the Premier League before.