After 2016 proved to be a year full of surprise and upset, with Donald Trump storming to victory in the US Presidential election and the UK narrowly voting for Brexit, getting a full house when it came to predicting and ticking off all the major events that unfolded was almost impossible.

2017, though, is looking like it could be the year for dust settling on some of the more shocking events from 2016, so now’s the time to try to spot the key trends that could dominate over the next 12 months.

But what exactly can we expect from this year?

If 2017 were a bingo card, what would be on it?! 

Using bingo to make predictions is not exactly a new trend. If you watched the action from the Golden Globes at the weekend, for instance, it’s entirely possible you did so with a funny Golden Globes bingo card at your side.

In fact, bingo is continuing to boom in popularity, a recent survey for the Mirror showing that now over 1.9 million monthly players take advantage of bingo (this is a higher stat than tennis can boast, attracting 1.7 million players). Online and mobile operators such as mFortune, with their free bingo no deposit offers, which allow players to sign up for free and receive a £5 bonus rather than having to invest their own money before even getting started, have helped to make bingo an ever more accessible and affordable medium of entertainment. The game is, as a result, pushing into new parts of pop culture all the time, including the likes of ‘Bingomation’ in the art world, a really interesting collaborative digital project that aims to bring bingo numbers to life through the use of clever animated gifs.

So, if we were to use an imaginary bingo card to bring 2017 to life, what could we expect to be shown on there? What could we look at ticking off and what might make up a ‘2017 full house’?

Politics, the Royals, Kim K, and Andy Murray 

Donald Trump causing offence either to a head of state or just a huge sector of the US population with an off-the-cuff comment is a nailed on certainty to include in our 2017 bingo card, as is Brexit continuing to be an irritating buzz word for the political landscape during the months to come.

There are other events that seem slightly harder to predict, though. It is easy to forget that the start of 2017 has seen a real crisis in transport, with strikes taking place on the London Underground and Southern Trains, so could major disruption to UK air travel be a box we sadly have to tick off?

Away from politics, the other prospects for 2017 are somewhat more uplifting! Can we tick off the Prince Harry box on our 2017 bingo card when he pops the question to his girlfriend Meghan Markle? After all, he broke royal protocol to meet her during a royal trip. Or, perhaps the box that depicts a new royal baby will get an enthusiastic tick in it if the pitter-patter of tiny feet emerges again from the William and Kate camp.

Looking further into the world of celebrity and moving away from the harmonious news of weddings and babies, should we include a shock break-up this year on our 2017 bingo card? Perhaps Kim and Kanye after their difficult year in 2016? Or maybe even Beyonce and Jay Z, who’ve been having their own share of trouble in paradise?

In the world of sport, meanwhile, Andy Murray to win another grand slam should be a box that keeps hold of your attention throughout 2017, as the Scot bids to build on his world number one ranking from the end of 2016.

There may also be conflicting feelings regarding which Premier League football club should occupy the bingo box that has the Premier League trophy in it. Will it be Chelsea after their strong start to the campaign? Or, will we be left with a 2016-esque upset, with a team like Liverpool pulling off the truly unexpected? If it takes your fancy, you can, of course, bet on all of the above with online bookmakers these days, and if they don’t have odds on the event or occurrence you’re wanting to predict, you can request a bet directly from certain bookies on social media.

Whatever you choose to include in your virtual 2017 bingo card, there will no doubt be some clangers on there alongside some you can already tick off… and the year is only a couple of weeks old!