Happy New Year, folks.

What is often a time of reflection has, this time around, encouraged more of a forward-thinking view with many rightfully wanting to smash the rear-view mirror with which we can view 2020.

The same can be said in the world of football as we keep our fingers tightly crossed that the global situation will have been assuaged to an extent where we can see fans filling the stands once again.

Happy New Year

However, in the meantime, we want to look forward to the next 12 months by making ourselves look like complete fools in the impossible quest to make a series of 2021 predictions.

You're in, erm, reasonably safe hands with this humble writer having predicted that Marcus Rashford would outscore Sergio Aguero last season and that Slaven Bilic would be the first manager to go.

Then again, the less said about my predictions that Leeds United will win at Old Trafford and that Dean Smith will be sacked before Christmas the better...

2021 predictions

So, prepare yourself for utter lunacy as I look into a crystal ball that's about as shiny and spherical as a perfectly-cubed piece of horse feces by checking out my 13 forecasts down below:

1. Mauricio Pochettino and Dele Alli go to PSG

The first part of this seems like a gimme, granted, with reports suggesting that Pochettino has agreed a deal to replace Thomas Tuchel at the Parc des Prince after his Christmas Eve sacking.

And we're inclined to think Pochettino will drag at least one of his former Spurs star along with him, so expect Alli to be the man in question after links to PSG long before Pochettino was touted.

It would be a loan deal with an option to buy and although we can't see him setting the world alight in France, the move might invigorate his form enough to persuade PSG to keep him around.

2. Tottenham Hotspur end their trophy drought

Jose Mourinho wins trophies - it's as simple as that. No, we're not thinking the Premier League here, rather that Spurs are going to seal the deal in the Carabo Cup by navigating their final two games.

Albeit a potential banana skin, we don't think the 'Special One' will have too much trouble with Brentford in the semi-finals, setting up a tasty clash with one of the Manchester clubs at Wembley.

Cue a cautious, defensive and opportunistic performance that wreaks of the 2017 Europa League final, but does enough to secure Spurs their first piece of silverware since the same title in 2008.

3. Frank Lampard sacked by Chelsea

A tad reactionary? Perhaps, but Roman Abramovich will be sharpening his axe the longer that Chelsea's season looks uncannily familiar to their last despite investing more than £200 million.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the Blues missing out on silverware for another season and finishing behind Tottenham, Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool in the race for the top four.

It's not something we want to happen, by any means, because Lampard is a club legend and generally top bloke, but Abramovich's track record for sacking managers speaks for itself.

4. Sam Allardyce loses his relegation record

On the back of 3-0 and 5-0 defeats to Aston Villa and Leeds, the early signs are worrying for 'Big Sam' at the Hawthorns and the Sam Johnstone heroics that won him a point at Anfield do little to change my mind.

As a result, you have to wonder whether, true to the adage that all good things come to an end, Allardyce's record of never being relegated from the Premier League will finally meet its match.

I'm inclined to think so with the Baggies standing by their man until the final day of the season when either Fulham or Brighton will pip them to survival as they unravel on a tough trip to Elland Road.

5. Sheffield United beat Derby's points record

This is bold, but with football proving so unpredictable, sometimes you have to be unpredictable to predict the unpredictable - you follow? Ok, tongue-twisters aside, it's not looking good for the Blades.

For context, the 2007/08 Derby County side that infamously won just nine points at least had six of them to show at the same stage that Chris Wilder's men have just two.

I anticipate that the Blades will stick with their current manager for a few months too many, before rolling the dice on an ill-judged European appointment, finishing on just eight points and one win.

6. Liverpool win the Premier League

You'd be forgiven for thinking that none of the 20 clubs want to win the Premier League this season, such has been the number of trip-ups and we actually think that United will throw their hat into the ring.

But let's be honest here, the team best equipped to stay the course hails from Merseyside and with Jurgen Klopp marshalling them to another 'invincible' streak at Anfield, the title is theirs for the taking.

7. Manchester City win the Champions League

As soon as the heat gets cranked up in Europe's premier competition, I expect Pep Guardiola to plough all his focus into ending City's drought a la Rafael Benitez's Liverpool in 2005 and 2007.

I don't think they can beat Bayern Munich in a head-to-head clash, so expect Liverpool or Real Madrid to do the dirty work in that respect, but they're capable of beating every other team out there.

I wouldn't be shocked if they locked horns with the Reds in another all-Premier League final, but expect the City squad to be fired up for whoever they face if they make it all the way to Istanbul.

8. Belgium win Euro 2020

If you want to know my full feelings on Euro 2020, which I'm jolly-well predicting won't take place across 12 countries, then you can check out my gung-ho forecast for every single match.

There, you will find my thoughts that England will come unstuck against France in the quarter-finals, but Les Bleus won't be able to add European glory to their World Cup title with defeat in the final.

Their conquerors? The long-touted Belgians, who will finally come good under Roberto Martinez thanks to some dazzling displays from Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard finally back to fitness and his best.

9. Cristiano Ronaldo breaks international scoring record

Ok, ok, cut me some slack here. I'd be laughed out of the building if all my predictions were wild - just wait until you see my final one - so I'm anticipating that Ronaldo will do, well, what Ronaldo does.

With an international tournament primed for him to sink his teeth into, the stage is set for Ronaldo to amass the eight goals he needs to usurp Ali Daei as the most prolific international scorer ever.

10. Paul Pogba signs for Juventus

Pretty straightforward, this. You'd like to imagine there's no turning back for Pogba at Old Trafford after Mino Raiola's comments and United will want as much cash as possible before his deal expires.

And with reports suggesting Real Madrid's interest ends with Zinedine Zidane, you have to imagine that Juventus are the only club that makes sense for Pogba after his first spell in Turin.

I can't see a world where Ronaldo moves in the opposite direction as some are imagining but, as a result, the two sharing the dressing room at the Allianz Stadium will spell a major pay cut for Pogba.

11. Lionel Messi STAYS at Barcelona

Can you imagine our shock when Messi stayed at Barcelona last summer? Yeh, there was none and it's easy to picture the superstar signing a new deal through gritted teeth now that Josep Maria Bartomeu is gone.

Try as they might, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain won't be able to scramble the funds together to make a Messi deal possible, slashing the Argentine's dream of escaping Camp Nou.

As a result, Messi will sign on for another two years in Catalonia with a view of moving to Inter Miami in the MLS when that deal expires and hopefully winning a few trophies in the meantime.

12. Jose Mourinho sacked by Tottenham

Honestly, this isn't even a prediction, this is a fact. Mourinho and third seasons go together like chalk and cheese, Alvaro Morata and being onside, Bruno Fernandes and missing penalties...

My mind is telling me that Mourinho, fresh from winning a trophy, will hold the fort and Daniel Levy will have more patience than the Chelsea and United chiefs that brought the axe down on him.

But my heart and the history books are telling me something different, so I'd be remiss not to predict a horrendous start to the 2020/21 season that saw Spurs in the bottom half and Mourinho's head rolling.

13. Mohamed Salah wins the Ballon d'Or

Have I lost the plot!? No, no, I haven't and the £108 million-rated forward tearing apart 2021 by maintaining his trajectory for the Premier League Golden Boot and winning a second consecutive league title is just part of it.

This revolves around the question: who else could possibly win? Besides, whether we like to admit it or not, the Ballon d'Or revolves a lot more around team trophies than it probably should.

That alone rules out Ronaldo and Messi given the predicaments that Barcelona and Juventus find themselves in, while I can't see Lewandowski producing another 55-goal season despite his strong start.

Erling Braut Haaland and Kylian Mbape will have outside chances, sure, but history suggests the lack of trophies at Dortmund and quality of Ligue 1 will see their impressive scoring stats poo-pooed.

De Bruyne will be Salah's main competition on the back of winning the Champions League and Euros, but I reckon the aesthetic goal-scoring stats of the Liverpool man will swing the vote.

We're probably... completely wrong

So, are these 13 things going to happen? Absolutely, positively, probably... not.

Yeh, look, we only mean this as a bit of fun and if we actually sat here pretending that we could predict the next 12 months of football, then 2020 really would have driven us cuckoo.

Besides, you only have to acknowledge this year to see that you can never really look too far into the future with much certainty, so ride the punches as best as you can and stay safe out there.