Nothing is better than waking up at absurd times to watch your favorite British football team get crushed. Nothing comes close to watching high-level soccer being played across the pound at eight in the morning with one beer down and zero food in your stomach. Few things rival the Premier League in the world of sport, and this weekend the eight-month journey begins.
Managers to Watch
The Premier League is flush with incredible managers. Pep Guardiola, Unai Emery, and Mikel Arteta to name a few. But, these managers are being singled out because of the amount of eyes that will be on them for various reasons.
Arne Slot-Liverpool
Arne Slot is a 45-year-old bald Dutch guy replacing a legend (Jurgen Klopp) at Liverpool. Klopp achieved three of the ten highest points total in the Premier League era. He made two Champions League Final appearances, winning one in 2019, and was an overall great guy. Slot has a similar high-intensity style.
It’s never easy replacing a legend and Slot will be given a lot of time at Liverpool, but does inherit a squad that finished third last season and was top of the table for the most amount of days last season.
Kieran McKenna-Ipswich Town
Two years ago, Ipswich Town was getting ready to start its season in League One, the third division of English football. Now two years later after an unprecedented back-to-back promotion, they find themselves in the Premier League. Much/all of it is down to Kieran McKenna.
McKenna was wanted in the summer by Chelsea and Manchester United. Instead, he chose to stay with Ipswich. This is a bold and brave decision considering the lack of resources newly promoted teams have compared to other teams. However, McKenna’s stock will likely not take a hit. He’s a young up-and-coming manager who has achieved miracles and relegation wouldn’t diminish any of those miracles.
An interesting scenario could also develop if a top team fires their manager and comes calling McKenna. It’s hard to turn down top English jobs once. Could McKenna do it twice?
Erik ten Hag-Manchester United
Manchester United are the biggest brand in English football. They are the equivalent of the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Cowboys. After the season in May, their new owners spent about two weeks looking for a new manager. They didn’t find anyone they liked and decided to stick with Erik ten Hag. Awkward.
The Premier League is tough, like if you combined the eight best Big Ten teams with the eight best SEC teams in college football. Ten Hag didn’t have a solid league campaign last season and there’s no evidence it will be better. United’s biggest signing this summer, Leny Yoro, will miss the first couple months of the season and is EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD!
Ten Hag could face a reckoning before Christmas if they are far off the top four spots.
Players to Watch
The Premier League may not have the best four or five players in the world. That is La Liga in Spain. However, if you ranked the best 100 players, they would have the most.
Erling Haaland-Manchester City
After the sale of forward Julián Álvarez to Atlético Madrid for $104 million, it is time for Erling Haaland to step up. Haaland has scored 63 goals in 66 Premier League games during his first two seasons in the Premier League. Far more than anyone else in that time. However, Haaland’s league goal tally dropped 11 goals, the largest drop in his career from one season to another.
Haaland is faster than a cheetah and a machine in front of the goal. He may have to carry City at times during this season. Haaland had a great preseason and Norway didn’t make the Euros, so he should be ready to go from the jump.
Cole Palmer-Chelsea
In the history of athletes “betting on themselves,” has anyone done it better than Cole Palmer? Palmer was at Manchester City but wanted regular game time. One year, 22 goals, and 11 assists later it’s safe to say Palmer’s bet panned out.
Chelsea has bought many new players in this transfer window, has a new manager, and had a rocky preseason. Cole Palmer could carry this dysfunctional mess to a top-four finish despite all this. Palmer was the “MVP” of last year’s season, but the Brits do awards differently. If his production goes up then he might win the, (checks notes) Player of the Season award, which is voted on before the season ends. Weird.
Eberechi Eze-Crystal Palace
After the departure of Michael Olise to Bayern Munich, the best batman-robin duo in the Premier League was broken up. Despite this, in 13 games under new manager Oliver Glasner, Crystal Palace won seven games, drew three, and lost three. Eze will be the team’s focal point now that Olise is gone and should thrive with Palace. In the 11 games under Glasner, Eze had six goals and three assists.
Eze was selected to the England Euros squad and did fine during the Euros. He should come back to Palace with plenty of confidence. There are rumors that he could leave Palace, but I believe he will stay. However, Eze may see this season as an opportunity to raise his value and earn him a move to a Champions League club.
Everton Corner
For some tragic reason in 2014, I got bit by the soccer bug, and I chose to support Everton Football Club One of the most painful decisions I’ve ever made in my life. However, despite the Everton owner being a scumbag, ruining the club through financial mismanagement and bringing the club to the brink of bankruptcy, they’re still in the Premier League. Everton was deducted a total of eight points last season and finished 15th.
There is a small amount of optimism at the club. They have a potential new owner. Everton kept their best player, Jarrad Branthwaite, and they’ve brought in four new first-team players.
The biggest concern, other than impending bankruptcy, is where the goals will come from. Both strikers Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Beto are linked with a move away from the club. The only proven goalscorer who Everton brought in was Iliman Ndiaye. The window is still open so this might be a partial product of the team.
The biggest reason for hope comes from the ginger Jesus: Sean Dyche. Dyche, the manager, has proved time and time again to get the most out of his squad. Dyche loves tall centrebacks who can score goals from set-pieces. Everton brought in 6’6 defender Jake O’Brien from Lyon this summer.
Points Deductions and Transfers Still to Come
Two main factors could affect my Premier League predictions as shown below. First is points deductions. At the moment there are a couple of teams that could face points deductions. The biggest being Manchester City. They face 115 potential breaches of Premier League rules. This court case will take place in the fall and a decision will be rendered in early 2025.
No one knows what or if the punishment will be to Manchester City. It could be nothing, it could also be relegation. It’s unclear how the noise around the team will affect them. Therefore, Manchester City has an asterisk next to its name.
The transfer window is not closed yet and teams improve their squad. However, no team is linked to a generational player except for Chelsea. They are linked with Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen. If he signs, I believe they could move up two to three places in the table. There is an asterisk next to their name as well.
- Man City *
- Arsenal
- Liverpool
- Aston Villa
- Tottenham
- Newcastle
- Chelsea*
- Man United
- Brighton and Hove Albion
- Crystal Palace
- West Ham
- Everton
- Bournemouth
- Fulham
- Ipswich Town
- Wolves
- Brentford
- Southampton
- Nottingham Forest
- Leicester City
If you enjoyed “Premier League Preview” please check out Belly Up Sports. Also, follow me on Twitter @NikGable37
If you are new to the Premier League, check out my article about everything you need to know about the league!
Featured Image: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
