The brand new Premier League season kicks off on Friday, August 15, when champions Liverpool entertain Bournemouth.
Arne Slot’s Reds will likely be favourites to carry the trophy as soon as extra, however can Arsenal enhance on three consecutive second-placed finishes? Manchester Metropolis are anticipated to bounce again from an uncharacteristically quiet season below Pep Guardiola, whereas Chelsea are the FIFA Membership World Cup (CWC) champions.
Al Jazeera Sport takes a have a look at the possible candidates.
Liverpool
Slot’s facet stormed to a record-equalling twentieth Premier League title final season. The Reds completed 10 factors away from Arsenal – and that after taking their foot off the gasoline in a winless four-game run to complete.
Florian Wirtz is the big name summer arrival from Bayer Leverkusen and comes with a hefty price ticket of $156m. The German midfielder follows French ahead Hugo Ekitike and Dutch vast man Jeremie Frimpong by means of the Anfield gates.
The latter will likely be utilised each in protecting for Trent Alexander-Arnold, who has joined Real Madrid, and Mohamed Salah, who will depart midseason to signify Egypt on the Africa Cup of Nations.
Securing the continuing providers of each Salah and Virgil van Dijk, nevertheless, was undoubtedly the largest piece of enterprise the Reds wanted.
Egyptian ahead Salah was closely linked with the Saudi Professional League and, having topped the goalscoring charts towards final season with 29 targets, would have been an enormous loss.
Dutch defender and Liverpool captain van Dijk has been the rock upon which the Reds’ fortunes have been constructed since his arrival from Southampton in 2018.
The pursuit of Aleksander Isak from Newcastle United has been ongoing for a while. Slot has teased the Reds might return with a second bid, and if one place has been in query, it’s an out-and-out striker – Isak’s 23 targets final season proved he is among the hottest abilities in that function.
“Each workforce within the Premier League is spending cash,” Slot stated within the run-up to the brand new marketing campaign. “So if we’re solely favourites as a result of we’ve spent a bit, I might see that as bizarre as a result of we’ve misplaced quite a bit as effectively. However that we’re favourites as a result of we gained it final season and we performed so effectively, that’s clear.”
The tragic dying of Diogo Jota, in a car crash in Spain in July, supersedes all issues of success. Coming to phrases along with his loss will likely be painful in coaching and in matches, along with his absence felt in methods far past the hole the Portuguese ahead leaves within the beginning XI every week.
Arsenal
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal have been the shape workforce of the final three seasons within the Premier League, however three second-place finishes in a row are beginning to burn deeply in north London.
Substantial reinforcements have been sought to assist the Gunners finish their 22-season wait to carry the Premier League title as soon as once more.
Viktor Gyokeres is the headline information, given Arteta made little secret of his frustration with the membership’s lack of putting choices final season.
The signing of the Swedish striker from Sporting Lisbon for 63 million kilos ($85m) will likely be seen as the perfect likelihood to shut the hole on Liverpool.
Noni Madueke’s seize from Chelsea, meantime, divided Arsenal fans. The England worldwide does, nevertheless, deliver additional depth and extra high quality to a ahead line, whose prime scorer final season was Kai Havertz with a paltry 9 targets.
The arrival in midfield from Actual Sociedad of Martin Zubimendi, a Euro 2024 winner with Spain, can solely solidify the already meticulously manufactured system Arteta has organized.
Chelsea
Chelsea will certainly hit the bottom working following their gorgeous FIFA Membership World Cup success towards European champions Paris Saint-Germain final month.
Enzo Maresca’s facet stormed to a 3-0 win towards the Parisians, who swept by means of the UEFA Champions League – culminating in their very own 5-0 demolition of Inter Milan – to finish the treble.
Joao Pedro’s three targets throughout the semifinal and ultimate on the CWC have already gone a good distance in direction of validating his 60-million-pound ($80.7m) signing from Brighton earlier than the match. That transfer got here on prime of the seize of fellow strikers, Liam Delap from Ipswich and Estevao from Palmeiras.
Estevao scored towards the west London membership in his final sport along with his Brazilian outfit throughout the quarterfinals of the CWC.
Disjointed has lengthy been a phrase related to Chelsea on and off the pitch, definitely since their final Premier League title win in 2017.
Whether or not Maresca can proceed to tie the workforce collectively following the CWC triumph, and whether or not that match will take a look at the legs of the Blues gamers later within the season, might effectively be deciding components in Chelsea’s title problem.
Manchester Metropolis
Will Pep Guardiola’s workforce bounce again to the shape that noticed them declare a report fourth consecutive Premier League title solely a season in the past? Or will the sunshine blues of Manchester proceed to really feel the heavy burden of a facet that conquered all earlier than them, solely to seemingly lose management of their very own success final season?
The damage to Ballon d’Or holder Rodri undoubtedly hit Metropolis arduous final time period, and the information that he’ll miss the start of the new campaign will even come as an enormous concern to Guardiola.
For a workforce that gained an unprecedented five trophies in 2023, and the record-setting Premier League title the next yr, to fall to date final season got here as an enormous shock to all, not least their supervisor.
Certainly, many believed final season might effectively have been Guardiola’s ultimate time period. Even with a two-year contract extension signed halfway by means of the final marketing campaign, a sluggish begin to this season will as soon as once more forged doubt the place as soon as it appeared unthinkable.
The departure of Kevin De Bruyne marks a passing of the guard, and that absence will now be doubly felt within the early levels with the unavailability of Rodri.
Their 9 league losses final season have been greater than their two earlier seasons mixed and resulted in a primary end exterior the highest two since 2016-2017. The Blues additionally crashed out of the Champions League and League Cup early, and their FA Cup final defeat by Crystal Palace meant no silverware for the primary time in eight years.
Midfielder Tijjani Reijnders, defender Rayan Ait-Nouri, winger Rayan Cherki and goalkeeper James Trafford have all been recruited within the shut season.
The summer time spree pushed Metropolis’s spending for 2025 previous the 300-million-pounds ($403.5m) mark, following the arrivals of Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov, Nico Gonzalez and Vitor Reis within the January window.
“I’m fairly positive it’ll be good, but it surely gained’t be a crimson carpet season,” Guardiola stated.
“The expectation firstly of the season is at all times, let’s go and attempt to do our greatest, win the primary video games, get confidence and transfer ahead. We wish to try to do higher than final season, particularly with consistency.”
A cloud that continues to hold over the membership, nevertheless, is that they nonetheless face 115 fees of breaking Premier League monetary rules.
Metropolis, who’ve at all times denied any wrongdoing, have been charged with the alleged breaches in February 2023. A verdict through the October worldwide break.
Manchester United and the remainder
United have defied their financial woes to reinvent their entrance three with Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo signed earlier within the window, and the big-money transfer for Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig.
The Pink Devils’ captain Bruno Fernandes hit out at a “lazy” preseason performance following the 2-2 preseason draw with Everton, and likewise referred to as for extra reinforcements.
One of many longest serving gamers on the membership, England worldwide Luke Shaw, additionally criticised a “poisonous” dressing room tradition that supervisor Ruben Amorim was attempting to alter.
Identical to Guardiola, his reverse quantity throughout the Manchester divide, how lengthy the reversal in fortunes takes is more likely to take will outline how for much longer Amorim has on the helm.
A sluggish begin might imply his tenure barely lasts a yr having replaced Eric ten Hag as manager final November.
Newcastle United narrowly missed out on a top-four spot, and with it Champions League qualification, final season, having been seen as early-season title contenders.
The doubts surrounding their star identify, Isak, forged large doubts heading into the brand new season for Eddie Howe’s facet. Ought to the Swede depart, and with their very own prime goal, Sesko, transferring to Previous Trafford, the Geordies look probably the most below menace of falling in need of final season’s progress.
Aston Villa have been one other facet which have threatened to interrupt into the Premier League’s elite, having secured Champions League soccer two years in the past, which resulted in a run to the quarterfinals final yr.
Ivory Coast ahead Evann Guessand has been signed from French membership Good for a reported price of a minimum of 30 million euros ($35m). The 24-year-old winger scored 13 targets final season.
If the switch merry-go-round continues, nevertheless, then Villa striker Ollie Watkins may very well be the following on the transfer, with all of final season’s prime 4 having been linked with a transfer for the England worldwide at some stage.
Certainly, Isak’s future at Newcastle might effectively be the set off for whether or not Watkins stays at Villa Park when the switch window shuts on September 1.
