Weekly diaries have been revised, pay TV subscriptions renewed, remote controls confiscated and romantic dates cancelled in readiness for our favourite television obsession, the English Premier League. The world’s best reality TV programme swings into action Friday night with four unanswered questions, the first of which will have answers by midnight Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). That question is: Arsenal are back from the doldrums?
Not since The Invincibles won the EPL title unbeaten in 2003/4 have such optimistic vibes emanated from the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal’s triumphant preseason that has seen the Gunners win the Florida Cup and annual Emirates Cup after whitewashing Chelsea 4-0 and Sevilla 6-0, has even the most pessimistic Gunners faithful waxing lyrical about the team’s chances of securing Champions League qualification for the first time in over half a decade.
Managed by former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira, Crystal Palace have a habit of forcing the high and mighty to eat humble pie. The Eagles famously obliterated Arsenal 3-0 at the back end of last season, more or less putting paid to their chances of securing a Top Four slot that guarantees qualification into the world’s most lucrative club football competition. The hope is that this time Gabriel Jesus’s goals coupled with a more mature squad, will propel the North Londoners to the promised land.
Question number two and the most important of them all is: Can Liverpool stop Manchester City from turning the division into a monopoly by denying Pep Guardiola’s side their fifth title in the last six seasons. Jurgen Klopp’s double Cup winners from last season, played well enough in triumphing 3-1 in the Community Shield to suggest retaining the title will not be a walk in the park for the Etihad Stadium outfit. Though Sadio Mane is going to be greatly missed, the Kop’s main summer signing, Darwin Nunez, showed the transition from Benfica to Liverpool won’t be a bridge too far.
It’s difficult to wager against Pep Guardiola’s side because he’s a manager who never rests on his laurels and is enjoying his rivalry with Klopp who he considers his coaching equal. Top recruit Erling Braut Haaland is considered an improvement on Gabriel Jesus and Kalvin Phillips will eventually prove a worthy heir to Fernandinho but it remains to be seen if Julian Alvarez can match Raheem Sterling for endeavour and output. Used to winning without a main striker, Guardiola’s chief task must be adopting a system to co-opt Haaland’s undoubted finishing ability.
Question number three is whether Chelsea will be dislodged by a resurgent Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal or even Manchester United. Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has refused to write off the current campaign as a transition season and wants his team to compete silverware. The Champions League winning gaffer has done his best to reshape his side following the departures of Romelu Lukaku, Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen and imminent exit of Marco Alonso. Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly and Marc Cucurella are class acts but the Stamford Bridge side remain short of numbers defensively and lack a clinical finisher.
Antonio Conte’s Spurs collected more points in the second half of last season than any club outside the top two. A summer of clever transfer business has witnessed the arrival of Yves Bissouma and Richarlison to bolster a squad boasting the Premier League’s most clinical striking partnership of all time – Son Heuing Min and Harry Kane. Tuchel is right to be looking over his shoulder with trepidation. The consensus view is that Manchester United boss Erik Ten Haag needs more than one season to restore the Red Devils to the Top Four.
Finally is the question of which teams will be relegated. Of the three newly promoted clubs, Marco Silva’s free scoring Championship winners Fulham are the team best equipped to stay up. If top scorer Alexander Mitrovic finds his scoring range, they’ll stay up. Nottingham Forest are ambitious and could sign up to 15 players by the end of the transfer window but lack the knowhow whereas Bournemouth appear bereft of the resources needed to stay afloat. Southampton and Everton are the two sides most likely to join them in a relegation dogfight.
