Following a summer that has seemed like an eternal wait for top flight domestic football, the new Premier League season finally commences this weekend.
Twelve months of pure footballing shock, epitomised by Leicester City’s and Portugal’s recent triumphs, is expected to come to an end this season with a more familiar victor likely to be in store.
The Premier League title could end up being a two horse race between the two Manchester clubs. Both sides have used the transfer window to rejuvenate their respective squads with world class additions, although the reported £89 million spent by United on Paul Pogba seems rather excessive.
The French international is just one example in a long list of elite talent moving to the division’s top clubs in a window that has set the benchmark for extortionately high transfer fees. Whilst Pogba was heading back to a club that let him go for a mere compensation fee just four years ago, rivals Manchester City were in the process of confirming a deal close to £50 million for Everton centre back John Stones.
Although the huge influx of money may appear to give England’s big clubs a sheer advantage, the money does trickle down the Premier League to the division’s smaller clubs. Everton have already planned where to spend the money they received from Stones’ transfer and this could eventually see our very own Yannick Bolasie depart Selhurst Park and move North to join Ronald Koeman’s side. In turn, Palace will look to spend the money on Liverpool’s Christian Benteke as they seek to finally improve their form in front of goal.
The smaller Premier League clubs being able to spend big will only increase the wealth of competition in the Premier League. The gap between the top and bottom will decrease and we could be in for one of the most exciting top-flight campaigns in history.
Title favourites Manchester City begin their new era under Pep Guardiola against Sunderland at the Etihad. Setting the pace at the top of the Premier League will be important because competition for the top four could be rife come May. The Citizens’ opponents, Sunderland, will be difficult to predict in the early weeks of the season. Having recently appointed David Moyes, they will continue to be difficult to break down, as they were under Sam Allardyce, but their lack of creativity could lead to Jermain Defoe carrying them once again for the majority of the campaign.
Two other clubs going into the season under new management are Everton and Southampton. The Toffees appointed former Saints boss Koeman soon after the culmination of last season, whilst Southampton went for a more obscure choice in the form of Claude Puel. Both sides begin the season at home to Tottenham Hotspur and Watford respectively and will hope for a good start to boost confidence under their new bosses.
The game to keep an eye on during the first match week sees Arsenal host Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners are currently nowhere near where they would have liked to have been at this stage in terms of personnel, although Valencia defender Skodran Mustafi looks likely to be snapped up by Arsene Wenger in an attempt to improve their defensive injury woes. Liverpool, meanwhile, have had a mini overhaul in the summer and Jurgen Klopp finally has a squad that has his own identity stamped on it. The Reds have been by far the busiest team in pre-season, playing many games both locally and abroad, including two first team games in two days – something that is unheard of here in England and most definitely advocated by Klopp, who did a similar thing with his Borussia Dortmund side.
As far as relegation candidates are concerned, Hull City are red-hot favourites to face the drop this season. Having lost Steve Bruce midway through the summer break, Mike Phelan looks the likely candidate to take over in certainly the most underwhelming appointment of the summer. The Tigers also have an injury list longer than the number of names on an ‘Allam Out’ petition, particularly defensively, and are still without a first team signing despite their squad being extremely average.
Hull take on a Leicester City side who, like Sunderland, will be difficult to predict. N’Golo Kante is the only star player to leave the Foxes this season and although Riyad Mahrez could also be close to departing, Claudio Ranieri has done a very good job of keeping last season’s core together. Whether they will be able to carry their form from the previous season into the forthcoming campaign remains to be up for debate.
Another club who will struggle to steer away from the drop zone are Swansea City. The Swans have lost long-serving club captain Ashley Williams to Everton in one of the more bizarre transfers of the summer and are still yet to make an eye-catching signing. Francesco Guidolin did ever so well to keep them afloat last season and midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson’s performances could go a long way in deciding their fate. However, it may just be one season too many for a club whose rise over the last two decades has been magical.
Changing managers has been quite a theme over the summer. Chelsea are another club to appoint a new man, Italian Antonio Conte, and his rigid style will improve the Blues’ fortunes. The West London club had a shocker of season in 2015/16, finishing tenth after a dreadful start under Mourinho. However, like Arsenal, Chelsea’s squad still seems like it could be heavily improved. Kante and Michy Batshuayi have come in for big fees, but a couple of defenders and possibly another midfielder wouldn’t go amiss.
Chelsea will certainly end up in the top four, which leaves just one more place in the Champions League qualification places. Arsenal will certainly be the favourites, although they may start slowly due to their injury crisis, which leaves room for Tottenham to set the pace. Mauricio Pochettino will hope to have Harry Kane back to his best after a misfiring European Championship campaign with England and new signings Victor Wanyama and Vincent Janssen add further depth to an already talented squad.
Saturday will finally put an end to the anxiety that comes with waiting for the new season to start and we can now look forward to another nine months of Premier League football.
