United
finished second to Manchester City and The Citizens are
hoping to become the first team since The Red Devils, who won a
hat-trick of titles from 2007 until 2009, to retain the Premier
League title.
Manchester City are
favourites to win the league and that should not come as an surprise.
Last season they broke
several records on route to lifting their third Premier League title
including the most points (100), goals (106), wins (32) and highest
goal difference (79).
Unsurprisingly the
champions had a quite summer in the transfer market, if it's not
broken why fix it could sum up their activity during pre-season.
They missed out on
former Napoli midfielder Jorginho, who Pep Guardiola described as an
“exceptional holding midfielder”, to Chelsea and made one
major signing, Riyad Mahrez from Leicester City.
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| Riyad Mahrez is Manchester City's record signing. |
Mahrez, who became City's most expensive player (60million), will compete with Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva, Leroy Sané and Kevin De Bruyne (who's 16 assists were a league high in 2017/18) for wide places at the Etihad.
The
return to full fitness of World Cup winner Benjamin Mendy is a boost
to their back line while John Stones performances in Russia will give
him more confidence for the season ahead.
It
is much harder to defend the title than it is to win it, however City
will take some stopping.
Their
comfortable 2-0 win against Chelsea, in the Community Shield, at
Wembley Stadium last Sunday is evidence of that.
The
Champions League is the trophy City's owner Sheikh Mansour really
desire and the club prioritizing that over domestic matters and
complacency are the only things that can stop them winning the league
again.
While City's summer was
plain sailing, the same cannot be said for the red half of
Manchester.
During United's aforementioned tour, Mourinho revealed he gave Ed Woodward a "list of five names" that he wanted to sign but thought he would get one of those.
Jorginho followed Sarri from Napoli while Robert Green was a surprise addition.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Tammy Abraham and Mitcy Batshuayi are attacking options after returning from loan spells while Ross Barkley needs to kick on if he wants to fulfil the potential he has threatened to show.
Last season's top scorer and returning hero Wayne Rooney left to join DC United so a goal scorer should arrive if Everton want to improve on their 8th placed finish.
The 25-year-old was so influential that Palace lost every game when he did not play.
Jermain Defoe, Callum Wilson and Joshua King will score enough goals to keep them up.
Owners David Sullivan and David Gold have backed Pellegrini in the transfer market and the Chilean is expected to improve on the club's 13th place from last season.
Pellegrini won the title with Manchester City, in 2014, and could be the man to finally show what the 'West Ham Way' really is.
If he can repeat that form, they should retain their Premier League status.
United finished 19
points behind City last campaign and that gap could widen rather than
close.
The word “turmoil”
has been used to describe the scene at Old Trafford with the future's
of Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba filling many gossip columns.
Philippe Lamboley, a
representative of Martial, claimed the 22-year-old wanted to leave
the club insisting "the time has come" for the player to move on
after Martial missed out on a place in the France World Cup squad due
to the lack of minutes for his club.
The relationship
between Martial and José Mourinho worsened
after reports emerged the winger was fined £180,000 for leaving the
club's tour of America to be at the birth of his son.
With the transfer
window closing on Thursday it looks like Martial will stay at the club
unless they can find a replacement, Chelsea's Willian and Inter's
Ivan Perišić have been linked.
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| Manchester United sign Fred from Shakhtar Donetsk for 52million. |
Pogba, who's goal in the World Cup final helped France lift the trophy, was subject to player plus cash bid from Barcelona.
The club did not
comment on the offer but it was rejected, United
know the value of Pogba on and off the pitch.
Results during
pre-season were poor, United only won one game in normal time and did
not muster a shot on target in their last fixture against Bayern
Munich.
While performances left
a lot to be desired, the emergence of Andreas Pereira was a major
plus.
The Brazilian
midfielder, who spent last season at Valencia, scored a brilliant
free-kick against Liverpool and showed why he is rated so highly by
everybody at the club.
Alexis Sanchez was
another player who impressed during pre-season, his first at the club
while new number 10, Marcus Rashford is improving all the time.
During United's aforementioned tour, Mourinho revealed he gave Ed Woodward a "list of five names" that he wanted to sign but thought he would get one of those.
New
signing Fred will give United balance in the centre of the park and
another new arrival Diogo Dalot is one for the future however they
are not the major signings that United fans clamour for.
With
Mourinho's record of 'third season syndrome' it could be a difficult
season at Old Trafford.
Tottenham
Hotspur have not signed any players so far but keeping
hold of Harry Kane, who won the Golden Boot at the World Cup, was an
important piece of busnisess after the 25-year-old was linked to Real
Madrid.
The futures of Danny Rose and Toby Alderweireld are uncertain but the form of Ben Davies and club record signing Dávinson Sánchez means the club won't miss either man if they leave.
The futures of Danny Rose and Toby Alderweireld are uncertain but the form of Ben Davies and club record signing Dávinson Sánchez means the club won't miss either man if they leave.
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| Tottenham's new stadium cost 800million. |
Without
adding to their squad it is hard to see Spurs improving on their
third place finish from last season.
Staying
in the top four or winning a domestic cup, for the first time since
2008, would represent a good season however it is just a matter of
time before Kane, Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen start to question the club's ambition.
With
the new stadium, Daniel Levy will be more reluctant than usual to
splash the cash, it could be a season of frustration for Spurs
supporters.
In
contrast to Spurs, Liverpool spent 175million on Fabinho, Xherdan
Shaqiri, Naby Keita (deal was agreed last year) and Alisson Becker.
The latter was a key signing as they could have become Champion's of Europe for a sixth time if it wasn't for Loris Karius.
The latter was a key signing as they could have become Champion's of Europe for a sixth time if it wasn't for Loris Karius.
Keita
will bring energy to midfield and Fabinho will protect the back four
while Shaqiri is tried and tested in the Premier League.
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| Allison cost £65million from Roma. |
Virgil
van Dijk has grown into his role as defensive leader and a fit again
Nathaniel Clyne will provide health competition for Trent
Alexander-Arnold, who had a great 2017/18 that resulted in him being
called up to the England World Cup squad.
Pundits
ran out of superlatives to describe Mohamed Salah last season as he
scored 32 goals in 36 games on route to being named PFA Player Of The
Year.
If
the Egyptian continues that form, along side Sadio Mané and Roberto
Firmino, there is every chance that The Reds can be Manchester City's
closes challengers.
A
year after winning the title, Chelsea parted company with Antonio
Conte and Maurizio Sarri became their ninth manager in 15 years.
Sarri,
who is yet to win a trophy during a career spanning 18 years, will
need to use his power's of persuasion to keep hold off star players
Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois.
At
the end of last season Hazard, who has two years left on his
contract, said he was "taking his time" when asked about signing
a new deal and wants the club to attract "good players" for
the upcoming season.
Courtois
is being linked with Real Madrid as he wants to return to Spain to be
with his family.
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| Jorginho rejected Manchester City to sign for Chelsea. |
It
is hard to see Chelsea selling both of those players, if one was to
leave Courtois would be the easier to replace.
Jorginho followed Sarri from Napoli while Robert Green was a surprise addition.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Tammy Abraham and Mitcy Batshuayi are attacking options after returning from loan spells while Ross Barkley needs to kick on if he wants to fulfil the potential he has threatened to show.
The
top four or a Europa League win is a must for Sarri or he could be
another victim of Roman Abramovich's itchy trigger finger.
For
the first time in 22 years Arsenal will start the season with a new
manager as Unai Emery replaced Arsène Wenger.
Emery,
who won three successive Europa League's with Sevilla (2014-2016) and
Ligue 1 with Paris Saint-Germain (2017-18), wasted no time in fixing
problem area's from last season.
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| Lucas Torreira cost a reported £27 million from Sampdoria. |
He
signed goalkeeper Bernd Leno along with defenders Sokratis
Papastathopoulos and Stephan Lichsteiner.
Lucas
Torreira will add steel to a midfield that looked weak at times last
season, especially away from home.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan will feel like a new signing
and after a terrible World Cup, Mesut Özil will be relishing linking
up with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette again.
Aaron
Ramsey only has a year left on his contract, and with him being a key
player for Arsenal the sooner that situation is resolved that better.
Emery
is a proven winner and can take Arsenal back into the top four, that
has to be his minimal aim this season.
Burnley
are already two weeks in to the season thanks to Europa League
qualifiers.
Their 7th placed finish last season was the club's highest in Premier League history but playing extra games, with a small squad that has only added Matej Vydra, Joe Hart and Ben Gibson, could be a issue for Sean Dyche men.
Their 7th placed finish last season was the club's highest in Premier League history but playing extra games, with a small squad that has only added Matej Vydra, Joe Hart and Ben Gibson, could be a issue for Sean Dyche men.
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| Joe Hart in action for Burnley in their Europa League qualifer against Instanbul Basaksehir. |
Finishing higher that high again would be remarkable achievement for The Clarets, a
top ten finish maybe a more realistic proposition unless they add
more players to their squad.
After
spending £140m last summer, on the likes of Michael Keane, Gylfi
Sigurðsson and Theo Walcott, Everton have had a quiet transfer window so far this
time around.
Marco
Silva replaced Sam Allardyce and so far has only spent £40m on
Richarlison, from his former club Watford.
Left-back
Lucas Digne arrived on loan from Barcelona and it is possible Yerry
Mina will join him.
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| Richarlison followed Marco Silva to Everton from Watford. |
After
selling Ramiro Funes Mori to Villarreal and allowing Ashley Williams to join Stoke
City, central defence is an area Silva needs to address.
Last season's top scorer and returning hero Wayne Rooney left to join DC United so a goal scorer should arrive if Everton want to improve on their 8th placed finish.
Omar
Niasse works hard but does not have the quality needed to take the
Toffee's up the league table and his follow striker Cenk Tosun ended
the season with five goals.
2015-16
champions Leicester City lost Riyad Mahrez but keeping hold of Harry
Maguire would soften that blow.
Maguire's
form in the World Cup has alerted Manchester United who are keen to
sign the centre back.
If
he does stay, Maguire could form a solid partnership in defence with
Jonny Evans, who joined from West Bromwich Albion.
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| Johnny Evans only cost Leicester £4million, a bargain. |
Another
new signing Danny Ward will give Kasper Schmeichel competition
between the sticks that the Dane hasn't had for years.
James
Maddison scored 14 goals from midfielder for Norwich City last
season, something that Leicester lacked.
Rachid
Ghezzal, who was bought as a direct replacement for Mahrez, should
add goals to this team that were heavily reliant on Jamie Vardy
last season.
Leicester
can climb the table this season, a place in the Europa League is not
out of reach.
Newcastle
United surprised many by finishing 10th
last season as they were expected to struggle due to the lack of
investment from owner Mike Ashley.
Rafael Benítez has done his best but Ki-Sung
Yueng, Fabian Schär and Yoshinori Mutō are hardly the type of
players that the Toon Army want to see at St. James Park.
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| Salomón Rondón swapped clubs with Dwight Gayle. |
While
the exciting Kenedy has returned for another loan spell and Salomón
Rondón is a better option that Dwight Gayle, it looks like another
season of doom and gloom on Tyneside.
Keeping hold of star player Wilfried Zaha is all the Crystal Palace fans want this summer.
Keeping hold of star player Wilfried Zaha is all the Crystal Palace fans want this summer.
Zaha
was sensational last season and Palace faced the possibility of going
down if he did not return to fitness in March.
The 25-year-old was so influential that Palace lost every game when he did not play.
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| Max Mayer joined The Eagles on a free. |
Other
than Zaha, goals were hard to come by so Conor Wickham returning from
injury is a timely boost.
New
signing Max Mayer will add creativity to the final third after the
departure of Yohan Cabaye.
Staying
up is Palace's objective this season, they should achieve it.
The
fact Bournemouth are entering their 4th season in the Premier
League shows how well Eddie Howe has done at the club.
The
£25million spent on Jefferson Lerma is their record transfer fee,
Diego Rico and David Brooks also joined the club.
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| Jefferson Lerma had an impressive World Cup for Colombia. |
Jordon
Ibe has not repaid the faith Howe has shown in him and needs a big
season.
Jermain Defoe, Callum Wilson and Joshua King will score enough goals to keep them up.
What
a great summer it has been so far for West Ham United.
The
club broke their transfer record twice in a month, first on
centre-back Issa Diop (£22m) then splashing out £14m more on Felipe Anderson.
Diop,
Ryan Fredericks and Lukasz Fabianski could be a key defensive signing
for West Ham.
The Hammers shipped a league high 68 goals last season.
The Hammers shipped a league high 68 goals last season.
Those
four combined with Andriy Yarmolenko and Jack Wilshere mean West Ham
fans are optimistic about the campaign ahead which makes a difference
from some of the toxic scenes we saw at the London Stadium last
season.
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| Jack Wilshere and Felipe Anderson joined from Arsenal and Lazio respectively. |
Not
only have new players arrived, Manuel Pellegrini is the new man on
the touchline.
Owners David Sullivan and David Gold have backed Pellegrini in the transfer market and the Chilean is expected to improve on the club's 13th place from last season.
Pellegrini won the title with Manchester City, in 2014, and could be the man to finally show what the 'West Ham Way' really is.
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| Ben Foster left relegated West Brom to re-join The Hornets. |
This
will be Javi Gracia's first full season in charge at Watford and it could be a
hard one.
Ben
Foster has returned to Vicarage Road, after 11 years, while Gerard
Deulofeu made his transfer from Barcelona permanent.
Keeping
Abdoulaye Doucouré is a must and if club captain Troy Deeney can
stay on the pitch, he missed seven games last season due to
suspension, they may have enough to survive for another season.
Chris
Hughton spent £17m, a club record fee, on Iran winger Alireza
Jahanbakhsh to ensure Brighton stay in the Premier League for a
second season.
Jahanbakhsh scored 21 goals for AZ Alkmaar last season but the Eredivisie is a totally different proposition from the Premier League.
Jahanbakhsh scored 21 goals for AZ Alkmaar last season but the Eredivisie is a totally different proposition from the Premier League.
Hughton
also parted with £15m to sign midfielder Yves Bissouma to add
steel to the middle of the park.
While both players are unknown quantities, Brighton fan's will be encouraged to see the club spending money.
While both players are unknown quantities, Brighton fan's will be encouraged to see the club spending money.
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| Alireza Jahanbakhsh played in all three group games for Iran in the World Cup. |
Despite
his ageing legs, Glenn Murray goals were vital in keeping The
Seagulls up last season.
If he can repeat that form, they should retain their Premier League status.
Like
Brighton, Huddersfield Town signed players that are not familiar with the
Premier League.
Erik Durm is a good addition and Ramadan Sobhi played for Stoke City last season.
Juninho Bacuna and Adama Diakhaby could be considered gambles.
Erik Durm is a good addition and Ramadan Sobhi played for Stoke City last season.
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| Ramadan Sobhi will hope he doesn't suffer back-to-back relegations. |
The
Terriers only scored 28 goals last season, joint worse with Swansea
City, and have not strengthened their attack enough.
They may need add some more fire power before the transfer window closes as Raúl Jiménez is unproven at this level.
Predicted Premier League table:
1. Manchester City
2. Liverpool
3. Manchester United
4. Tottenham
5. Arsenal
6. Chelsea
7. West Ham United
8. Everton
9. Leicester City
10. Watford
11. Bournemouth
12. Newcastle United
13. Southampton
14. Crystal Palace
15. Wolves
16. Brighton
17. Burnley
18. Fulham
19. Cardiff City
20. Huddersfield
The
Championship beckons for them.
Sofiane
Boufal and Dusan Tadic leaving Southampton came as a surprise but
Mohamed Elyounoussi and Stuart Armstrong are good replacements.
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| Stuart Armstrong left Celtic to join Southampton. |
Mark
Hughes knows the league well and with a full pre-season with his
players, their relegations troubles from last season are behind them.
Fulham
return to the Premier League after a four year absence with the sole
purpose of retaining their status in the division.
Jean Michaël Seri is a major coup, so is World
Cup winner André Schürrle, Alfie Mawson was one of the few players
who could hold their head high after Swansea's relegation and Calum
Chambers has a point to prove after being loaned out by Arsenal
again.
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| Jean Michaël Seri chose Fulham over several European teams. |
Those
new players along with Aleksandar Mitrović, Ryan Sessegnon and the
man who's goal won the Play-off Final Tom Cairney, should ensure
Fulham stay up.
Wolves
won the Championship at a canter last season, they spent big to come
up and have done the same to remain in the 'best league in the
world'.
João Moutinho and Rui Patricio are a shrewd
signings, their experience could be vital in helping them stay up.
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| João Mourinho was a surprise signing from Monaco. |
If
playmaker Rúben Neves can duplicate his form from last season then
Wolves have a good chance of staying up.
They may need add some more fire power before the transfer window closes as Raúl Jiménez is unproven at this level.
Cardiff
haven't added enough depth to their squad while Josh Murphy and Bobby Reid are good Championship players but are not good enough for the Premier League.
It will be a swift return to the Championship for Neil Warnock's men unless they make some serious acquisitions before deadline day.
It will be a swift return to the Championship for Neil Warnock's men unless they make some serious acquisitions before deadline day.
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| Bobby Reid left Bristol City to join Cardiff in the Premier League. |
1. Manchester City
2. Liverpool
3. Manchester United
4. Tottenham
5. Arsenal
6. Chelsea
7. West Ham United
8. Everton
9. Leicester City
10. Watford
11. Bournemouth
12. Newcastle United
13. Southampton
14. Crystal Palace
15. Wolves
16. Brighton
17. Burnley
18. Fulham
19. Cardiff City
20. Huddersfield
