The 92nd season of the Spanish top-flight football is all set to begin on Friday (August 12) and it will end on June 4 next year with the final matchday fixtures. The reigning La Liga champions, Real Madrid, will start the season as hot favourites to retain the title. FC Barcelona will be the main challenger to Madrid for the league title. The La Liga 2022–2023 season predictions for the championship, the top-four, relegation, and the race for the leading scorer are discussed in this article.
Which teams will fight for the Spanish La Liga title?
Two of the most successful teams in the Spanish league, Real Madrid and Barcelona, will be the hot favourites to win the La Liga title in the 2022-2023 season. Together, they have won 61 league titles out of 91 seasons. This statistic shows the dominance of Real Madrid and FC Barcelona in Spanish club football.
The reigning champions, Real Madrid, had a relatively easy season last year. They won the league title with 86 points, 13 points clear of second-placed Barcelona. The most successful club in Europe, Real Madrid, will once again be the front-runner to clinch their 36th La Liga trophy.
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Barcelona, on the other hand, surprised everyone by finishing second in the 2021–2022 league points table. They were nowhere near to their best at the start of last season, but things started to change once Xavi Hernandez took over the managerial role at the end of October 2021. Barcelona have made some important signings in order to be competitive for the upcoming season. With the new additions to the squad, the Blaugrana have become a real title contender for the next season.
Atletico Madrid, who won the league in the 2020–2021 season, have an outside chance to win their 12th La Liga trophy. However, they lost Luis Suarez and Antoine Griezmann hasn’t been able to produce his best form since making his return to Barcelona last season. Atletico may well be run out of the title race in the final two months of the season and eventually settle for third place in the points standings.
The Spanish La Liga's top three teams might face competition from Athletic Bilbao, Sevilla, Valencia, and Villarreal. However, they lack the ability to win a league, especially considering the remarkable consistency that Madrid or Barcelona possess.
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La Liga 2022-2023 predictions for title:
Real Madrid (Champion), FC Barcelona (2nd)
Favourites to make it into the Champions League
Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid are strong favourites to finish in the top three spots of the points table. Therefore, the remaining spot will be up for grabs for at least six teams. These six teams are Valencia, Athletic Bilbao, Villarreal, Real Sociedad, Real Betis, and Sevilla.
Villarreal had a magnificent last season in the UEFA Champions League. They reached the semifinals in the 2021–2022 UCL tournament but eventually lost to Liverpool, 5-2 on aggregate. In the domestic league, Villarreal finished seventh in the points table with 59 points, 11 points less than 4th placed Sevilla. They will thrive for a top-four finish next season and are one of the early favourites to finish fourth in the league standings.
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Sevilla, Valencia, and Athletic Bilbao are among the most popular football teams, after the two Madrid clubs and Barcelona. They will play for a spot in the top-four along with Real Sociedad and Real Betis. Both Betis and Sociedad had fantastic outings, finishing fifth and sixth place respectively in the 2021–2022 La Liga points table.
La Liga 2022-2023 season predictions for top-four:
Real Madrid (1st), FC Barcelona (2nd), Atletico Madrid (3rd) and Villarreal (4th)
Which teams may find it difficult to avoid relegation?
Granada, Levante, and Alaves were the three teams relegated to the Segunda Division at the end of the 2021–2022 season. On the other hand, Almeria, Valladolid, and Girona were promoted to La Liga from the Segunda Division.
All three promoted clubs, along with the teams that fought hard to avoid relegation in the 2021–2022 campaign, are expected to compete to avoid the bottom three spots in the points standings in the upcoming season. Rayo Vallecano, Elche, Espanyol, Getafe, Mallorca, and Cadiz all put up a valiant fight until the end in order to escape being relegated. These six teams could struggle and battle for survival once more.
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On the other hand, newly promoted clubs generally struggle during their first year in the top division. As a result, Girona, Almeria, and Valladolid's 2022–2023 La Liga campaigns could not be without hiccups. Two of these three teams have a strong possibility of getting relegated next season.
La Liga 2022-2023 predictions for relegation:
Elche (18th) Almeria (19th), and Cadiz (20th)
Favourites to finish the season with the highest goals
Real Madrid’s French forward, Karim Benzema, was the top scorer for the 2021–2022 season. He won the Pichichi Trophy with 27 goals in 32 appearances. The second best striker in the last season was Celta Vigo’s Iago Aspas, with 18 goals. Besides, Espanyol’s Raul de Tomas and Real Madrid’s Brazilian wunderkind Vinicius Junior netted 17 goals each.
The top three goal scorers from last season, along with Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembele and blockbuster signing Robert Lewandowski, all will be in contention for the Pichichi Trophy for the leading scorer next season.
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Many football pundits believe that Barcelona’s signing of Robert Lewandowski from FC Bayern Munich this summer transfer window has reignited the el clasico rivalry. Both Lewandowski and Benzema are considered two of the top strikers in the world right now. Undoubtedly, the attention of millions of football fans will increase when these two compete in the same league.
Both Lewandowski and Benzema are known to be prolific goalscorers as well as clutch players. As a result, the chances of either of these two players being the top scorer in the 2022–2023 La Liga season are very high. Besides, Madrid’s Vinicius Jr. may well be even more effective upfront, and Barcelona’s Dembele has shown real promise in the pre-season matches. If they stay in shape, Dembele and Vinicius could be among the top goal scorers in the league.
La Liga 2022–2023 season best scorer predictions:
Karim Benzema, Robert Lewandowski, Vinicius Junior, Ousmane Dembele, Iago Aspas.
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Aftermath
As per multiple La Liga 2022-2023 season predictions, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are overwhelmingly favourites to win the title. The 2020–2021 season champions, Atletico Madrid, will also be in the race for the championship, but can they fight till the end? At least six teams will try to compete for the final slot in the top-four, escalating the competition. The Spanish La Liga will be closed from November 10 to the end of December due to the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The big event's break might have an impact on the 2022-2023 La Liga season's final points standings.