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For football fanatics, it's that time of the year where the biggest football league in the world begins once again. There will be new clubs, some new players, fresh stadiums and pitches, new football kits, and many more.
Yes there will be plenty of new things to feast our eyes on, but there are also a few recurring themes we have always loved about the Premier League. The excitement, the goals, the game play, the teams, the physical nature of the games, derby matches, rivalries, players, etc, these have always kept us on the edge of our seats.
The Premier League is a ten month long journey for one of the most prestigious trophies in sport, and is arguably better than most leagues in the world.
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While the 2018-19 Premier League season begins at an odd timing on Friday as Manchester United face Leicester City, the season will legitimately begin when all the teams start their season on Saturday.
So, who are the early season contenders for the title? Who will be relegated at the end of a grueling season? Who will win the Golden Boot and the Golden Glove? Can Chelsea and Arsenal win the title with their new managers? Here is a preview for the new Premier League season.
The new players
The Premier League is a haven for world class football players. Players from other leagues flock to England either because of the money or because of the pull of the league. The demanding nature of the games, and the excitement makes the Premier League a big opportunity for players from other leagues.
And just like any other transfer window, this season has seen another group of brilliant players swap foreign leagues for the Premier League. With two world record transfers for goalkeepers already broken by PL clubs, we will surely witness some fresh world class players entertain the fans.
While Chelsea signed Kepa Arrizabalaga from Athletic Bilbao for a world record fee for a goalkeeper, Liverpool also paid huge money to buy goalkeeper Alisson Becker from AS Roma.
Liverpool also boosted their midfield with new Premier League arrivals Naby Keita and Fabinho. Arsenal with their new manager also bagged a couple of exciting players for the new season. They signed Lucas Torreira, Bernd Leno, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, etc. The likes of Fred (Manchester United), Jorginho (Chelsea) and Joao Moutinho (Wolves) are also some brilliant new additions to the Premier League.
We can also keep an eye out for Felipe Anderson (West Ham), Max Meyer (Crystal palace) and Leander Dendoncker (Wolves), who might light up the Premier League with their incredible talent. The Premier League never stops to amaze us with its nature and with new exciting players every season, we are in for an exciting 2018-19 season.
New managers
Chelsea sacked their Italian manager Antonio Conte for another Italian - Maurizio Sarri, this summer. And he is ready to revolutionise a squad that was seemingly run into the ground by his predecessor.
Whether Sarri eventually brings stability depends on Chelsea giving the revolution time to play out. The same can be said of Arsenal as they appointed Unai Emery manager after Arsene Wenger’s 22 year reign.
Although no one is expecting them to challenge for the league in their first post-Wenger season, they are surely one of the teams to watch out for, and this makes top four a reasonable target for The Gunners to aim for.
The likes of Nuno Espirito Santo and Slavisa Jokanovic are both new to the Premier League with their respective promoted teams, so it will be interesting to watch how both teams play in a league as big as this.
Mid-table team Everton also landed their main managerial target - Marco Silva, in place of Sam Allardyce, to lead the team to the top half of the table. London club West Ham United appointed former Premier League winning manager Manuel Pellegrini, bringing in a real talent boost to the club.
Can Manchester City repeat last season’s title win?
Manchester City enters the season as one of the favourites to win the league after cruising to the title 19 points clear of second placed Manchester United. The Cityzens were unrivaled last season.
They were brilliant and ruthlessly efficient. Ahead of the new season, not much has changed. Players who started most of their title winning matches are back to battle for the Premier League title. If they win again, City will be the first club to do so since United did in the last decade.
The fact that they are quite capable of repeating last season’s title heroics is due to their squad strength. With new addition Riyad Mahrez coming for a huge fee, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City has a squad depth most managers will envy.
Two players in every single position will only help Guardiola to not only challenge for the Premier League, but also for the Champions League. The likelihood is that City will break the spell of retaining the title and back up last season’s win with another.
Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus will score freely, De Bruyne and Leroy Sane will electrify, John Stones and Laporte will continue to blossom. So the fun is unlikely to stop anytime soon.
Who might struggle this season?
While Manchester United missed a couple of much needed reinforcements, Arsenal and Chelsea could struggle a bit with their new managers. Sarri is a fantastic coach, but his style will take some time to adjust to.
Unai Emery’s appointment as Arsenal boss was surprising as well, he has a reputation of seemingly losing the most important matches. So it is hard to trust him to win games when it matters the most.
The likes of Wolves and Fulham could stay up as they are good teams with good managers. It will be a surprise if they are relegated at the end of the season.
Everton have a strange squad, but slightly less strange than last season. They will probably end up at the top half of the table as Marco Silva has signed some exciting players, but the expectations of the board might be too high to achieve for now.
The likes of Leicester City and West ham United have fewer flaws than most teams in the league as their summer business has been shrewd, so they should steer comfortably clear of the drop zone.
The teams in danger are possibly Cardiff City and Huddersfield. These two teams have good managers with huge experience, but that will not be enough. They have signed some good players, but history suggests they are in for a tough ten months of Premier League football.
Prediction
Top four
#1 Manchester City
#2 Liverpool
#3 Manchester United
#4 Arsenal
Relegated
Huddersfield Town
Cardiff City
Brighton & Hove Albion
Manchester City are simply too far ahead for anyone to launch a serious challenge this season. Pep Guardiola will want his players to show more grit to retain the title, they certainly have an excellent squad which can win it once again.
Liverpool will not be far behind City, as they showed their strength when they reached the Champions League final last season. They are a club with an upward trajectory at the moment. And with Jurgen Klopp adding depth and quality to each position during the summer, there is no reason why they won’t challenge for the title this season.
The likes of Manchester United and Arsenal have enough quality to see off most opposition, but any progress they made during the pre-season can only get them to third and fourth place respectively.
Although it will be a transitional season for Arsenal under Unai Emery, we can expect Emery to improve on last season’s sixth place finish and challenge for the Champions League spot.
As for United, it will be a third season for Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford, and he will be desperate to win the elusive Premier League title. But it could get tougher for him after all that has happened during the pre-season.
Golden Boot: Harry Kane
There is no doubt that the current Spurs player is one of the best strikers in the World. He has struck 108 goals in 150 Premier League matches for Spurs so far.
This proves how prolific he is, and moreover he gets better with each season. He already has two Golden Boot trophies from 2015-16 and 2016-17. And with his phenomenal consistency, Kane will be desperate to get his Golden Boot back from Mohamed Salah.
Golden Glove: David de Gea
David de Gea has been Manchester United's player of the season in four of the past five seasons. He is arguably the best goalkeeper in the Premier League. He has been nominated in the PFA Team of the Year for the past four seasons, further enhancing his reputation as one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
He won the Premier League Golden Glove 2017-18 trophy for keeping the highest amount of clean sheets during that season. it won’t be a surprise if he wins another Golden Glove Trophy this season as well.
Player to watch: Paul Pogba
There is no question that Paul Pogba is one of the best midfielders in the world. The France and Manchester United player had a brilliant World Cup in Russia, and now he has to find consistency to be a success for his club.
Pogba will return to Manchester United as a world champion, and a more mature player. He will come to this United team more confident than he was last season.
All stats via transfermarkt
