Premier League - Preseason Preview

Most people are expecting Manchester City and Liverpool to finish on top of the Premier League once again in 2019/20, and it’s hard to make much of a case against that eventuality. They finished a whole 25 points clear of the chasing pack last season, and Manchester City have now collected 198 points in their last 76 Premier League matches, while Liverpool put 97 in their bag last season without winning the title.

City have added the exciting Rodri to their ranks, and he should help them where they were most vulnerable last season in the set-pieces, while it’s hard to see any of those who have exited the Etihad being unduly missed. It looks like Sane is now staying for another season and City have benefited from a very settled pre-season.

Liverpool will be inconvenienced over Christmas given their participation in the World Club Championship. They have the depth to cope with it of course – especially with the newly introduced winter break, but it’s hard to see them improving enough to overhaul City again this season, especially in the absence of any significant activity in the transfer market. Trent Alexander Arnold can continue his improvement, but it’s hard to see the likes of Mane or van Dijk doing anything more than their fabulous efforts last season.

If Man City and Liverpool are top of the pile, then who will form the best-of-the-rest?

For me, there is only one outcome – Tottenham have finished inside the top four in each of the last four seasons, and they have made arguably their best ever signing with the acquisition of Tanguy Ndombele. Having seen him several times, I’m convinced he is going to rapidly become a real Premier League legend, and he looks a terrific piece of business this summer. We’ll be saying that £58m was a bargain for the ex-Lyon man come the end of the season. Kieran Trippier has departed, but Kyle Walker-Peters is ready to step-up, while it will be interesting to see if Christian Erikson sticks around for at least another season – my gut feel is he will. Keeping Harry Kane fit is important of course, but in Min Son, Spurs have more proven depth than was previously the case.

Behind Spurs you can cast all sorts of doubts over Man United, Chelsea and Arsenal.

United finished the season badly, and despite Ole Gunnar Solksjaer admitting at the time that vast changes are needed, so far we’ve seen almost no activity of note, and you have to feel that for all the promise Aaron Wan-Bassaka and Dan James bring, they are certainly not proven superstars. United are probably at least five key men short right now.

Chelsea have it all to do after the loss of Eden Hazard. Frank Lampard is a massively popular figure to return at the helm, but for all the stick Maurizio Sarri took last season, he achieved plenty enough with the side he had. Chelsea are also into a period of transfer embargo now, which will prevent them filling the notable void left by Hazard, and it’s hard to image the likes of Loftus-Cheek or Hudson-Odoi doing enough to allow Chelsea fans to forget their previous superstar. Tammy Abraham will benefit on an individual level, but will he be good enough?

Then we have Arsenal, who have tremendous strength up top, but don’t seem to have concentrated where they need it most at the back. They threw away a great chance of Champions League football at the end of last season and it could be another season of rebuilding at the Emirates.

Of the chasing pack, Wolves haven’t really improved their lot over the summer, and it looks like their owners are happy to concentrate efforts elsewhere, while they could also struggle to maintain their form of last season with the added burden of Europa League football. It’s been a proven handicap for sides entering their first season in the competition and we shouldn’t expect too much of them.

Instead perhaps Leiecester will give us the biggest chance of a side usurping the big-six. 52 points last season saw them 14 points behind that target, but they have added Ayoze Perez to the mix. Youri Tielemans will be there for the whole season, while James Maddison can continue his improvement and force his way into regular England thinking ahead of the Euro 2020 tournament. Harry Maguire could be moving, but staying put might give him his best chance of qualifying for Europe this season.

Below this point, I’m not too interested in getting involved at this point – Newcastle should struggle but the price has already contracted, while Villa have spent big to attempt to defy the drop. Neither Norwich or Sheffield United would appear to have the strength in depth, but these sorts of clubs seem to continually surprise people and I would actually expect at least one of them to beat the drop this season. Perhaps this is the season that Brighton will finally get sucked back down?

Recommended Bets

2pts Straight Forecast - Man City 1st, Liverpool 2nd at 5/4 (Bet365)

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