Premier League: Who can rock the City bandwagon?
Manchester City players celebrate with the Premier League trophy last May. Can they retain the crown for the fourth season in-a-row. Picture: AP Photo/Dave Thompson
The usual yearning for the return of the Premier League has been mitigated thankfully by the brilliant Spanish performance in the Euros and the fantastic efforts of a successful Team Ireland at the Olympics. So less than a week after events in Paris we return to the dangerous game of making predictions for the Premier League season ahead.
Here’s my call for the 2024/2025 season.
Andoni Iraola arrived at the south coast club with an exciting reputation as a manager, they finished the season with their best points total, despite a concerning drop in form in the middle of the season. We will expect more from his settled side this term.
Enes Unal.
14th.
Can The Gunners take the next step into the title promised land this time out? Mikel Arteta side are painfully close to being good enough to claim the crown and end City’s five-in-a-row dream. The question of which side is hungrier to claim the title may decide this. Surely Arsenal have to have the appetite after two second place finishes in a row.
Bukayo Saka.
First.
Manager Unai Emery guided Villa to an unlikely Champions League finish with their fourth-place finish. The big question will be can they replicate it with the added work of Europe’s top-flight competition on their plate? Over a £100m spent in the new talent of Amadou Onana and Ian Maatsen will help.
Ollie Watkins.
Eight.
After a couple of accomplished seasons in the Premier League, last season saw the wheels somewhat come off the Thomas Frank express with a finish that saw them lucky to avoid relegation. Buying Brazilian striker Igor Thiago will stop the rot but midtable is as good as it will get for the Bees.
Bryan Mbeumo.
13th.
With the Premier League’s youngest permanent manager in Fabian Hürzeler, the Seagulls are looking for a fresh possession-based approach to the new season. Set to stay mid-table but could do better depending on success of new gs
Kaoru Mitoma.
11th.
: The story of frantic confusion continues at Stamford Bridge as the Pensioner keep throwing money at a problem they haven’t identified yet. The early returns under Enzo Maresca, the London club's fifth boss since 2022, haven't been good: The Blues conceded 12 goals in their first five preseason games. While looking clueless at the moment, if they can tie it together, they have the talent to go all the way.
Cole Palmer.
Fifth.
Under new boss Oliver Glasner, Palace have become a supremely entertaining and difficult to beat side. The Austrian came in after Roy Hodgson and won his first home game then ended Liverpool’s 29-match unbeaten record at Anfield. Only Man City Arsenal and Chelsea managed a better run of results to end the season.
Eberechi Eze.
10th.
The Toffees will pay an emotional farewell this season to Goodison Park and after the last few uncomfortable years at the venerable ground, many fans may well be looking forward to a fresh start. Boss Sean Dyche has battled hard to keep them in the top flight despite constant harsh point deductions by the league. This year may be the start of a bright new horizon… that or relegation.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin. If he stays.
12th.
Marco Silva continues to get the best out of a club with limited resources, as they enter their third season back in the Premier League. The Cottagers have a settled look and should maintain a respectable midtable finish.
Emile Smith Rowe.
16th.
The Tractor Boys return to the Premier League after a 22-year gap and face mighty Liverpool at home today in the afternoon game. This will evoke memories of the good old days for the club in the 70s and 80s among fans of a certain age. The side are among the favourites to go back down but a lot is expected of their Northern Ireland boss Kieran McKenna, whose reputation has been enhanced with the promotion run last season.
Leif Davis.
20th.
The 2016 Premier League Champions are back in the big time and manager Steve Cooper should be a good fit for a club that lost its promotion manager Enzo Maresca and star player Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to Chelsea. The club has been light on business this summer and will struggle to not go straight back down to the championship.
Harry Winks.
18th.
Arne Slot has the unenviable job of following up on a club legend in Jurgen Klopp. Liverpool has been surprisingly quiet on the transfer market this summer, considering most new managers get to splash some cash. Still the bedrock of the great team under Klopp remains and if he can click with them then they are still good enough to make an impact.
Diogo Jota.
Third.
Pep Guardiola’s City are still the favourites to complete an unprecedented five-in-a-row Premier League title wins, but opposing fans will take hope in the fact that the last time City won the Community Shield, in 2019, they went on to lose the season come the spring of 2020. Grasping at more realistic straws is the hope that City just can’t keep winning all the time. Can they?
Phil Foden.
Second.
: Erik ten Hag must surely be buying drinks in the last chance saloon regarding his position in charge at Old Trafford. And anyone in that situation either succumbs to the pressure or battles with all his might to get out of it. Whether the players at The Field of Dreams are now ready to buy into saving their manager will define this season.
Alejandro Garnacho.
Fourth.
The Toon under manager Eddie Howe struggled last season to build on the progress of the previous year’s run on a Champions League place. To be fair, that was more down to their amazing bad luck with injuries, rather than anything they did wrong on the field. But are they in a position to get in the hunt for a Champions League place or more?
Alexander Isak.
Seventh.
That Forest stayed up last season, despite the points deductions that they and Everton suffered, is of great credit to the morale within the team and manager Nuno Espírito Santo’s nous. The work to stay up again starts today against returning new boys Southampton.
Morgan Gibbs-White.
17th.
The Saints come marching in with 15 new gs by manager Russell Martin. But the odds are still stacked against them staying up though.
Adam Armstrong.
19th.
Ange Postecoglou has made Spurs a far more exciting side to watch and will be eager to push on into the Champions League spot they just missed out on last season. But despite a couple of good gs, such as Archie Gray and Timo Warner, there is just too much pressure from the sides around them to do it I feel.
Timo Warner.
Sixth.
The Hammers under Julen Lopetegui have been on a bit of a shopping spree over the summer, g Niclas Füllkrug from Dortmund, Max Kilman, Luis Guilherme, Crysencio Summerville and Aaron Wan-Bissaka (from Man United this week) on a total of over £120m. Getting them all to click may require more than one season though.
Niclas Füllkrug.
Ninth.
: Wolves have lost their defensive lynchpin Max Kilman to West Ham, as we have seen, so manager Gary O’Neill has used some of the windfall from that to buy Rodrigo Gomes and Pedro Lima. But they will have a tough task to maintain their midtable position of recent seasons.
Fabio Silva.
15th.
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