A new Premier League season is upon us as the action gets underway on Friday 13 August at the Brentford Community Stadium, as newly promoted Brentford welcome Arsenal.
There are then seven games on Saturday, with some of the standout fixtures including Leeds United’s visit to Old Trafford to face Manchester United, and Liverpool’s trip to Championship winners, Norwich City.
Sunday sees the reigning Premier League champions, Manchester City, in action for the first time as they face a tough trip to north London to face Tottenham Hotspur, who are now under the guidance of former Wolves boss, Nuno Espirito Santo.
City reclaimed the Premier League title from Liverpool last term and will be expected to challenge again this campaign. The Blues finished 12-points clear of their city rivals, Manchester United, whilst a strong finish from Liverpool saw them end up in third spot, with Chelsea edging out Leicester for the final Champions League qualifying place.
The usual suspects expected to challenge for the title
Defending champions, Manchester City, have been installed as the strong favourites to retain their crown and make it four Premier League titles in the space of just five years.
They will face stiff opposition from Chelsea, who won the Champions League last term, and have been tipped to challenge City all the way this campaign. The Blues are second favourites in the betting, alongside Liverpool, who endured an inconsistent season last time out.
Despite finishing as runners-up last season and the signings of some eye-catching players, such as Jadon Sancho, Manchester United are not being tipped to win their first Premier League title since the 2012-2013 season.
Who will run out top goal scorer?
Harry Kane finished as the Premier League’s top goal scorer again last season with 23 goals. A lot has been made about his future over the summer, with a move to Manchester City reportedly all but agreed. However, Kane remains at Tottenham for now but is still favourite to finish with the most goals again this term.
Liverpool’s Mo Salah finished just one goal behind Kane last season, and he is second favourite to top the scoring charts this campaign, whilst City’s Gabriel Jesus, who only scored 9 PL goals last season, is the third favourite to finish top scorer following the departure of Sergio Aguero to Barcelona.
Bruno Fernandes got 18 goals for Manchester United last year, and should be amongst the goals again, whilst Raheem Sterling, who enjoyed an excellent Euro 2020 campaign, will be a marked man too. Could Timo Werner also find his scoring boots now he has a full season of Premier League football behind him?
Who might be in a relegation battle?
The three newly promoted sides to the Premier League have been made the three favourites for an instant drop back to the second tier of English football. Norwich City, who won the Championship, are favourites to go down, ahead of Watford, and Championship play-off winners, Brentford.
Also tipped to struggle include Crystal Palace, who will be managed by Patrick Viera this season after he replaced Roy Hodgson in the Selhurst Park hot seat. Burnley, Newcastle United, Southampton, and Wolves are also expected to spend much of the season struggling at the wrong end of the table.
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