It seems like only yesterday that Manchester City won the Premier League trophy on a dramatic last day of the season in May. But a new season is just around the corner. The first round of games will get underway on August 5, slightly earlier than usual due to the World Cup taking place in November. So what should we expect? As always, all eyes will be on the ongoing battle between Manchester City and Liverpool. But that won’t be the only story. Manchester United and Tottenham have reason to be confident that they’ll improve next campaign. And Harry Kane will be confident, too; Haaland and Salah will get the headlines, but there’ll be plenty of people considering backing Kane with a free bet offer on sites such as Oddschecker to end up ahead of City and Liverpool’s main men in the Golden boot race.
In this article, we’ll run through that and other conversation topic pieces ahead of the new season.
Haaland’s Arrival
Even some fans of Manchester City’s rivals were somewhat pleased to see Haaland sign for the Premier League champions. After all, he’s a highly curious player. He may only be 21, but he’s going through all the gears quickly on his way to becoming the top striker in the world. At Dortmund, he scored a goal, on average, once every 86 minutes. That’s an outstanding rate for any striker, but it’s outright remarkable for a player so young and with such little professional experience under his belt.
There are some question marks about how we’ll perform in Manchester, largely because Guardiola doesn’t tend to use a striker as traditional as Haaland. But you have to imagine they have a plan and, if that comes off, then City might just stroll to the league.
Salah To Regain Top Form
Liverpool had a brilliant campaign last season, but it could have been better. They’ll be hoping to haul in some more trophies next year and, despite Manchester City looking strong, Liverpool will know that they have what it takes to win the title. But if they’re going to do that, they’ll need Salah to regain top form. His goal-scoring abilities dropped off a little after the African Cup Of Nations in January. And with Sadio Mane gone, it’s all the more important that he does.
But the signs are good on that front. Unlike other players, he won’t be playing in the World Cup (Egypt didn’t qualify), which will give him something that he hasn’t had in a long time: a good break from playing football. And that could mean that he’s raring to go once January rolls around.
…But Harry Kane Might Just Be Top Scorer
Haaland will get all the attention, and Salah might end up with a few medals at the end of the season. But Harry Kane might be privately confident that he’ll be the Golden Boot winner this campaign. He was beaten by several players last season, including his Spurs teammate Son Heung-min, who finished joint top scorer.
But there are signs that Kane will hit new peaks next season. Conte is building a team that could realistically challenge for the title, and much of it is set up to get the best from Kane. He was relatively quiet last year, but this year he might just remind everyone why he’s such an in-demand striker.
Lampard To Continue Struggling
Everton narrowly avoided going down last year, but it’s unclear whether they did so because of Lampard’s management or despite it. The fans could rightly claim credit for keeping the side in the Premier League. Lampard is currently favourite to be the first manager to get the sack next season. On current showing, that seems pretty understandable. Unless he can sign a few big players who hit the ground running, Everton might just be looking for another manager soon.
Manchester United’s Improvement
Last year was a season to forget for Manchester United fans. Their rivals won the title, and their side were putting in performances that counted among the worst that the Red Devils have ever played. The good news is that it’ll probably be difficult for them to do any worse next year. And there are signs that they could improve.
Ronaldo may leave, for starters. While he’s a great player, he probably does stop the team from really improving. And then there’s the arrival of new manager Erik ten Hag, a Dutch manager who comes with a big reputation. Even if they don’t compete for glory this year, there could be some shoots of growth that will give United fans some encouragement that things are on the up.
Spurs Climbing The Table
One team that will be quietly confident that they can break the Manchester City/Liverpool glory train is Spurs. Manager Conte got off to a rocky start at White Hart Lane, but things have since been progressing nicely. Now that they’re playing exactly how the Italian would like them to play, there’s every chance the North London outfit hit a run of form that puts them into contention.
While overcoming City to win the league might be beyond them, it’s possible that they can overtake Liverpool if the Merseyside team struggles with Sadio Mane. Although having said that, there’s every chance that Spurs will collapse and replace Conte with a new manager by November.
Will Southampton Improve?
Will Southampton improve? We don’t think so, and that spells danger for the club. They were awful towards the end of last year, and they haven’t yet signed anyone who looks capable of changing that. Given the number of goals they concede — and the lack of goals they score — these are nervous times for Southampton.
Final Thoughts
But who knows? There’s still everything to play for. What makes the Premier League so appealing is that you never know what’s going to happen. Southampton could well end up in a Champions League place, while Haaland fails to score a goal despite playing in all thirty-eight games. We can only wait and see.
