My wife agrees with your prediction, Monster. Alexandre Desplat will win due to the originality and depth of expression.
I'm a fan of the Star Wars franchise and I know that John Williams added his own spin on things, but in my opinion, it's still more of the same. I believe he will win because of the hype surrounding the franchise.
I agree with you. I think that it's just a rehash of scores from the other movies. I don't know if it's original enough at this point to be deserving of an Oscar. The franchise is popular, but I don't know if that's enough to get him the award. I think they could win the awards for sound editing and sound mixing though.