SINCE the Premier League ended its previous season in May, we have been graced with other global events to satisfy our sporting appetites, such as the Euros and the Olympics.
Now, it’s back.
The new season of the Premier League begins tomorrow with 20 teams setting their sights on the ultimate prize at the end of the season, along with other accolades to be garnered along the way.
Sure, the end goal might seem a little closer for some football teams but don’t assume for one moment that the clubs in the bottom half of the table won’t be bringing their best to the fight for the league’s top spot.
The Vibes has looked at all the facts, dove deep into the chaotic, and sometimes, heart-breaking (Messi leaving Barca) world of transfers, and this is what the season is presumed to look like:
Manchester City: Defending Champions
Reigning champions, record-breaking transfer makers − whatever you want to call them − Pep and the boys will be looking to defend their title and snag back the Champions League trophy that they let slip to Chelsea.
City have been champions of England three times in the past four years, but with other teams looking to close the gap between them, Guardiola will have to keep them all at arm’s length.
With Jack Grealish arriving from Aston Villa at a neck-bending 100 million pounds (RM586.7 million), and Ruben Dias coming in to address defensive deficiencies, City have added some serious talent to their armoury. But will it be enough to hold on the title AND win the Champions League?
Manchester United: Runner-Up Last Season
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has a lot to prove, and for good reason too. Armed with a new long-term contract and backed with big signings − Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund and Raphael Varane − from Real Madrid, Solskjaer has a huge season ahead of him.
Coming in second last season was less than ideal, but with 12 points between them and their neighbours, it’s on them too. They showed a glimmer of hope throughout the season but never got the gold that they wanted. Add the blow of losing the Europa Finals to Villarreal, United struggled to win matches that truly mattered.
Assisted by their new signings, the Red Devils hope to claim their 21st title back from their noisy neighbours. With Edinson Cavani at the front, Bruno Fernandes orchestrating in the midfield and Luke Shaw/Harry Maguire keeping defence tight, they are capable of swinging their way to the top spot.
Liverpool: Second Runner-Up Last Season
Kopites will say that this is their season to win, or at least be a serious contender, and they have all the right reasons to feel that way. They have a certified title-winning side that won two seasons ago and now it looks to be back to full strength.
Returning from an injury that left a gap in the squad’s defence, Virgil van Dijk is back, much to the relief of fans after being left out since October. With the addition of centre-back, Ibrahima Konate, from RB Leipzig, the defence is now, or at least should be, striker-proof.
Jurgen Kloop means serious business with his squad, having Mohamed Salah like an arrow tip at the front with Roberto Firminho and Sadio Mane delivering a deadly sting, the Reds will look to do better than 3rd place, and this time they just might.
Chelsea: Fourth Place Last Season
Already Champions of Europe after beating Manchester City, and they just added a Super Cup to the cabinet, Thomas Tuchel’s side is coming into the season strong since taking over from sacked Frank Lampard in January.
With the arrival of Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan for 97.5 million pounds (RM571 million), Tuchel is building a serious powerhouse up-front. Already possessing Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner and Champions League match-winner, Kai Havertz, the Blues look scary from all angles.
Hoping to solve some defensive issues, Tuchel is looking at Jules Kounde from Sevilla. Chelsea will be riding high from their recent accomplishments, so expect them to put up a fight against the other big teams for the title.
Leicester City: Fifth Place Last Season
It was heart-breaking to see the Foxes miss out on Champions League football on the last day of the season, but being crowned FA Cup winners might have softened the blow just a little bit.
Brendan Rodgers has some new faces around the camp. Summer addition of striker, Patson Daka, from Red Bull Salzburg, Southampton’s Ryan Bertrand, and title-winning midfielder, Boubakary Soumare, will play in nicely for Rodgers.
Leicester will be thankful to have the influence of Harvey Barnes back in the squad, with Jamie Vardy having his eyes on the ball, and fellow frontman, Kelechi Iheanacho, improving after the Community Shield win over title defenders Manchester City. Like Vardy, don’t take your eyes off these boys.
West Ham: Sixth Place Last Season
No one was expecting the Hammers to come into 6th place, not discrediting the spectacular job by David Moyes, but West Ham caught the attention of the big clubs when they slowly started to knock on the door for a Champions League spot last season.
Finishing only one point away from Leicester, two from Chelsea and four from Liverpool, it’s not wrong to include them as a challenger for a shot at the Champions League. Although it might prove to be an uphill task with top teams spending big bucks.
Moyes can still count on competent acts, such as Tomas Soucek, Declan Rice and Michail Antonio, if he can remain free of injuries for long spells. The transfer window is still open, and the gaffer will be looking to add a couple more names, hoping to inch them closer to the top.
Tottenham: Seventh Place Last Season
Yes, the chosen one has left, and new manager, Nuno Espirito Santo, will attempt to steer the club towards glory after taking over from Jose Mourinho. But the question is will star player and England captain Harry Kane still be around after the transfer window closes?
Spurs fans will tell you he’s staying, but you can see the agony behind their hopes. It’ll be a massive blow to the team if he does join Manchester City, which seems to be getting closer to reality.
If a deal does happen, Korean star, Son Heung-min, might be left without someone to deliver beautiful crosses to. While Spurs fans bite their nails on news about Kane, the arrival of Christian Romero from Atalanta and winger, Bryan Gil, from Sevilla looks to be exciting and may just lick a small portion of the wound that is sure to happen if Kane leaves.
Arsenal: Eighth Place Last Season
Arteta’s Arsenal unfortunately disappointed their fans last season but ask any Arsenal fan and they’d tell you it didn’t come as a surprise. But every season is a new start with a clean slate, and the Gunners will want to come out strong from the get-go.
Experienced players, from the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Granit Xhaka and Alexandre Lacazette (if he sticks around next term) will have to step their game up. The highly-anticipated signing of Brighton’s Ben White might be a valuable addition to the defensive line alongside Nuno Tavares.
Arteta has a couple of headline-inducing youngsters at his disposal with Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe, and with the recent addition of Belgium Under-21 midfielder, Albert Sambi Lokonga, the Gunners will hope to improve on their previous results last season.
Leeds United: Ninth Place Last Season
After getting promoted to top-flight, Leeds have proven to be an exciting addition into last season’s league. Of the three teams promoted from The Championship, including West Brom and Fulham, Leeds has been the only one remaining, and looks like they’re here to stay.
The Peacocks have Kalvin Phillips, who has proven himself at Euro 2020, and striker, Patrick Bamford, will be hoping to emulate his stelar performance of 21 in the league last season.
New additions to the side include Barcelona left-back, Junior Firpo, and left-winger, Jack Harrison from Manchester City. Manager Marcelo Bielsa has made fans proud, and this season, will be looking to do better than their already-impressive accomplishment of coming in 9th in the previous season.
Everton: Tenth Place Last Season
Rafael Benitez is headed to Everton, yes, you read that right. The People’s Club have appointed the former manager of their always-rival, Liverpool. When the next Merseyside derby takes place, you won’t want to miss it.
Everton will have two new names on the wings, Bayern Leverkusen’s Demarai Gray on the left and Crystal Palace’s Andros Townsend on the right. Benitez will have to rely on his hands-on approach to training, if the club is to shine brighter than last year.
They might have garnered wins against Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs under Carlo Ancelotti, but taking home defeats against Newcastle United and recently-relegated teams, Fulham and Sheffield United, is something no Everton fan wants to see happening again.
Aston Villa: 11th Place Last Season
Their pockets may be 100 million pounds (RM586.7 million) fatter, but surely Villa fans are feeling the sting of having one of their favourite players leave them. Oh well, that’s the world of football for you.
As one leaves, several more arrive in the form of centre-forward, Danny Ings from Southampton, who will join frontman, Ollie Watkins, in attack, and Leon Baily arriving from Bayern Leverkusen, hopefully will be able to fill Grealish’s spot in left-wing.
Dean Smith will hope to make the Lions an interesting prospect this year. Making sure gaps in his side were filled before letting Grealish go, he will be aiming at a single-digit finishing spot this time around.
Newcastle United: 12th Place Last Season
They may have jumped up a spot to finish in 12th place, compared to the previous season’s finish at 13th, but the Magpies will have to do a lot more if they want to see significant improvement, although being a strong team in the mid-table seems more like their strong suit, or only suit, for now.
Despite little faith from the fans, Steve Bruce managed to salvage a fairly-decent result for his side. Although they have been quiet during the transfer window, for now, they’re armed with striker, Callum Wilson, and the Frenchman, Allan Saint-Maximin.
Joe Willock will be back on loan from Arsenal, which will lift the spirits of The Toons. Steve Bruce will have to work extra hard if his side is to claw their way higher up the table, and stay there.
Wolves: 13th Place Last Season
The big news for the club is the return of striker, Raul Jimenez. He was missed last season after being out due to a serious head injury after colliding with Arsenal’s David Luiz. We’re all glad to see him back.
New manager, Bruno Lage, was brought in to replace fellow Portuguese Nuno Espirito Santo, who is on his way to Spurs. At the goal end, the departure of keeper, Rui Patricio, to Roma has brought in Jose Sa from Olympiacos.
Winger, Francisco Trincao’s arrival from Barcelona will see the team increase its playing width, and SCO Angers’ Rayan Ait-Nouri will cater for the defensive line.
Crystal Palace: 14th Place Last Season
There’s a new manager coming in the form of the unproven Patrick Viera, who replaces veteran Roy Hodgson. Palace are hoping for a breath of fresh air, and for their sake, unpolluted air.
Vieira will have some new players to experiment with. Centre-back, Marc Guehi, coming from Chelsea’s U23 and Michael Olise from Reading will bring some much-needed youthful energy to the club. Experienced centre-back, Joachim Andersen, who was on loan last season to Fulham, will be playing a key role at the back line.
However, the Eagles will be saying goodbye to several players. Andros Townsend heads to Everton, Patrick van Aanholt is Galatasaray-bound, and centre-back, Mamadou Sakho, will be leaving to join French Ligue 1 club, Montpellier.
Southampton: 15th Place Last Season
The Saints have been struggling for the past several years, barely staying afloat the relegation zone. But last season’s result was four places lower than the season before, where they finished in 11th place.
Manager, Ralph Hasenhuttl, will have aspirations to improve this season, and with Blackburn centre-forward, Adam Armstrong, coming, along with Romain Perraud from State Brest 29, and Theo Walcott arriving from Everton, the Saints will be expecting some goals.
The departure of Danny Ings has hit fans hard and in addition to the loss of Ryan Bertrand − with his knowledge of the defensive half of the pitch − Southampton will have to dig deeper, and I mean, much, much deeper.
Brighton: 16th Place Last Season
It can’t be denied that manager Graham Potter has changed the way the club plays football, but coming in 16th isn’t anything to boast about, it’s too close to the relegation zone for comfort.
Potter welcomes the new arrival of Enock Mwepu from Red Bull Salzburg to strengthen the midfield, but if he does not address the issue of goalscoring by signing a striker, the Seagulls might just sink lower.
Dealing with the departures of Ben White to Arsenal and Davy Proper to PSV Eindhoven are major blows, and the gaffer needs to pull up his socks before the players pull up theirs.
Burnley: 17th Place Last Season
Too close to being bumped down, finishing three points ahead of 18th seed, Fulham, last season might have just made most fans tremble, just a little.
The Clarets manager, Sean Dyche, has a tough task ahead of him. Maybe with signing of centre-back, Nathan Collins, from Stoke City will aid Ben Mee and James Tarkowski.
What they need to look for is goal-scoring talent at the front, and if Dyche doesn’t fill the spot soon, the club risks falling lower, which would mean the ever-dreaded relegation.
Norwich, Watford, and Brentford: Promoted from The Championship
Let’s start with Brentford, who make their first appearance in the top flight for the first time. They add Celtic centre-back, Kristoffer Ajer, to their squad, alongside Frank Oyenka in central midfield from FC Midtjylland.
Norwich return after a year’s absence from the Premier League, and this time they look like they mean serious business. Riding off the Championship win, manager, Daniel Farke, will have to incorporate loan-signing Billy Gilmour from Chelsea, but deal with the loss of Emi Buendia.
Watford, well there isn’t much to report from them, not much on the transfer front besides Danny Rose and Josh King. One noteworthy arrival is Ismaila Sarr; the Senegalese will be fighting to prove that he can be play a key role in the squad.
So that’s what each team is looking like for this weekend. But how do we think the season’s top spots will look like? Well, it would be looking something like this:
Champions: Manchester City
Runner-Up: Liverpool
Second Runner-Up: Manchester United
Fourth Place: Chelsea
We know, it’s way too early to speculate on how the season will turn out, but that’s what predictions are for.
The preliminary matches kick off tomorrow, so let the games begin! – The Vibes, August 13, 2021
