Premier League: 13 predictions for the final games after action returns on June 17

The Premier League is less than two weeks away from its long awaited return.

English football fans have been desperate for live football over the last two months and it's brilliant to see the country's top flight making a comeback now that it's been deemed safe to do so.

The action will return with Aston Villa vs Sheffield United and Manchester City vs Arsenal on June 17, before a full round of fixtures resumes on the weekend of June 20.

It almost feels like the beginning of a new season, which is misleading with just nine game-weeks to play, but two months away from the pitch could make for some unexpected twists and turns.

Will clubs that have lost their momentum tumble out of control? Will teams destined for relegation find the secret to turn things around? It certainly adds an extra level of tension, that's for sure.

The Premier League return

So, here at GIVEMESPORT, we've risked making complete fools of ourselves by making 13 predictions on what will happen when the Premier League returns in 11 day's time.

With everything from the PFA Player of the Year award winner to manager sackings up for consideration, it's fair to say we're going all in to try and predict the unpredictable.

But enough chitchat, scroll down to see the predictions in all their glory - or infamy - and decide on which of them you think is the most likely to happen:

1. Jordan Henderson will win the PFA POTY award

We'll be the first people to say that we think Kevin De Bruyne deserves the award, but we're predicting what we actually think will happen and all roads lead to Henderson.

Fan votes have been backing him all the way and we expect his professional peers to plump for him in light of how underrated he's been for so long as well as the fact it makes sense for a Liverpool player to win.

2. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will win the Golden Boot

Speaking of awards, we expect Aubameyang to make up the two-goal deficit he current trails Jamie Vardy by, especially considering the Arsenal star's superior form in 2020.

The Gunners will have benefited from having extra time to work under Mikel Arteta during lockdown and that will inspire their star striker to his second Golden Boot in as many years.

3. Liverpool will win the Premier League vs Everton

Yeh, we're not messing about. Sometimes the fairytale narrative is exactly the way things go and we can see Arteta causing an upset at the home of his former employers on June 17.

We expect City to tail off in the league with very little to play for and with a lack of fans taking away from their 'home' advantage, Arsenal are going to bag an unexpected three points at the Etihad.

That, in turn, will tee up Liverpool who - now with all the motivation in the world - will put Everton to the sword by three or four goals to secure the title in their first game back.

The only question is whether the game will actually be held at Goodison Park but regardless of what's decided, Liverpool will still lap up the opportunity to make history against their city rivals.

4. Marcus Rashford will score more goals than Sergio Aguero

Yeh, we said it. Before you call us lunatics, though, bear in mind that Rashford is only two goals behind Aguero in the Golden Boot race and they've played the same amount of league games.

Combine that with United entering lockdown as a form team, Rashford having plenty of time to recover from injury and being the club penalty taker, we expect him to finish the campaign on 20 goals for the first time.

Aguero, on the other hand, will smash home the goals in the FA Cup - City's new priority after Liverpool win the title - but fall just short of his city rival in the Premier League on 18 or 19 goals.

5. Kevin De Bruyne will break the Premier League assist record

We might be backing the Citizens to tail off from a lack of incentive in the league, but we still back De Bruyne to collect the five assists he needs to surpass Thierry Henry's record of 20 from 2002/03.

Home games against Newcastle United, Burnley and Bournemouth look like prime time for De Bruyne to tee up plenty of goals, but not too many for Aguero for the sake of our predictions...

6. Manchester United will finish in the top four

We called this in our prediction for the final Premier League table and we're sticking by it.

The Red Devils are fourth in the form table, just two points shy of fourth place, have top-scorer Rashford back from injury and are fresh from wins over Chelsea and in the Manchester derby.

Combine that with the fact games with relegation-fighting Norwich, Villa, Bournemouth and Brighton are on their fixture list and there's a strong case for them reaching the Champions League.

7. Steve Bruce will be sacked for no particular reason

Whether or not Newcastle's lucrative takeover goes through remains to be seen, but it's hard to see a world where Mike Ashley is still holding the cards and Bruce's future therefore looks in doubt.

The former Sunderland manager has done an admirable job with the resources he's been given, but he won't look fashionable to a new owner and that means a completely unjust sacking could be on the cards.

8. Eddie Howe and Bournemouth will amicably part ways

But they'll be a more amicable manager-club split even further down the league, because we're predicting Bournemouth to plummet down to the Championship after five years in the top flight.

We reckon the Cherries would back Howe to try and take them back up again, but the Englishman will think his time at the club has run its course and the two entities will politely part company.

9. Liverpool will win all their remaining games

Go on, go on, accuse me of being a Liverpool fan.

In our hypothetical world, Liverpool will have won the league with eight games to play, but the fact they've had plenty of time to rest and are out of every other competition means they won't be thinking about the beach early.

So, we predict the Reds to close out the campaign with a winning strike and, yes, that includes their trip to the Etihad. Expect Jurgen Klopp to be extra motivated to make their league win as emphatic as possible.

10. Alisson Becker will win the Golden Glove

Liverpool bias again is this?????????? Yeh, well, we can't exactly claim that Liverpool will win all their remaining games and not back Alisson to overtake Nick Pope for the Golden Glove.

It's only because of his early-season injury that the Brazil number one isn't leading the race already and we expect him to see off the current pack of English shot-stoppers for yet another accolade.

11. Sheffield United will lose out on Champions League by a technicality

We've openly predicted the Blades to finish fifth this season, which could mean a shock place in the Champions League if City's ban from the competition is upheld.

But let's face it, we can all see a world where the Citizens win their appeal and find themselves trotting back into Europe as if nothing really happened which, all things considered, would be brutal on Chris Wilder's men.

12. Bruno Fernandes will finish in the Team of the Season

Predicting doesn't mean wanting. We think Fernandes will finish the season as one of the Premier League's best players, but he'll have hardly played enough games to warrant a TOTY place.

But in a world where he was voted into the BBC's version after a handful of matches, it's easy to see people surrendering to the hype by the time the real award comes round in the summer.

13. Jose Mourinho will have one of his biggest ever meltdowns

We have Tottenham pencilled in for a ninth-place finish and even with the returning Harry Kane, we expect them to remain consistently inconsistent under Mourinho's command.

Which, frankly, means it's highly likely that he'll be spitting feathers in press conferences come May and that doesn't exactly bode well when you consider his topsy-turvy time in management over the last five years.

We expect 'The Special One' to be at the end of his wick and it could make for some fireworks.

Have we made complete fools of ourselves here? More than likely, let's face it, but imagine how boring it would have been if we played it safe.

That doesn't mean I won't be masquerading as the second coming of Nostradamus if Rashford really does outscore Aguero and Liverpool win the league in the derby, though. Mystic Meg, I'm coming for you.