The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and Opinions
After what seems like an eternity ( though only being 2/3 months), domestic football in England is back. English fans will want something to be able to forget and there is no better way to do it than watch their team play in one of the best leagues in the world. The Premier League rarely fails to impress and excite any fan, even if your team isn’t in the league, and the expectations will be even higher for every team with the money being at an all time high.
Last season was one of the most exciting and unexpected seasons where Leicester City defied all odds and won the Premier League. They showed the world that money isn’t everything as they spent little in the way of the norm with the top flight, with Jamie Vardy, the clubs top scorer, arriving at the King Power Stadium for just £1million. Tottenham and Arsenal both managed to qualify for the Champions League group stages whilst Manchester City made the last Champions League spot. Manchester United, Southampton and West Ham managed to make the three Europa League spots.
Burnley and Hull managed to bounce back to the Premier League after only one season in the Championship, whilst Middlesbrough will play their first Premier League game for seven years after relegation in 2008/09. These three have replaced Aston Villa, Newcastle and Norwich who will play in the Championship this season after their relegation last time out.
Hull City v Leicester City
Play-off winners Hull City have one of the hardest test’s in the first game as they face last years Premier League winners Leicester City at the KC Stadium. Hull will be wanting to upset the current league champions in order to stay in the Premier League but they only have a limited squad of players and no current manager following Steve Bruce’s resignation. Leicester haven’t lost a lot of players from the squad that won the league last season as only N’golo Kante has departed, so their squad will be as strong as last season with the season ahead looking promising and they should beat a weak Hull side.
Burnley v Swansea
Burnley will want to buck the trend of only surviving one season in the Premier League as both times they have never survived their first season, whilst Swansea will want to extend their stay in the Premier League. Andre Gray will be a force that the Swansea defence will have to cope with if they want to get points from the game, however Swans defenders Williams and Taylor are good enough to cope with him. Gylfi Sigurðsson will be the main man in midfield for the Welsh side as he has a tendency to dominate the midfield and provide key chances for the Swansea attack.
Crystal Palace v West Brom
Crystal Palace managed to avoid relegation last season though they had a dip in form towards the end of the campaign, and they will want to make sure they are safe as soon as possible. West Brom were another team that came close to relegation last year but new signing Matt Phillips will be a key player if they wish to avoid relegation. For Palace Scott Dann will be a key player in this match with great ability not only to be a strong defender but he can also score goals. Both teams are capable of winning this match and both teams will want to start off as good as they can in order to best avoid a relegation threat.
Everton v Tottenham
Everton will start life under Ronald Koeman with a highly competitive match against Tottenham who will be wanting to make up for coming so close to winning the league last year. Everton had a disappointing season last year but with the likes of Lukaku and Deulofeu, Everton have a good chance of winning this game as they are quick in attack. However last years golden boot winner, Harry Kane, will cause a lot of trouble for the Everton defence whilst Dele Alli’s great long shots will cause uncertainty for the Everton defence.
Middlesbrough v Stoke
Middlesbrough will play their first ever Premier League match for seven years at home against a Stoke side who wont roll over easily. It has been an enjoyable transfer for Boro fans big names like Victor Valdes, Alvaro Negredo and Marten De Roon all signing. Stoke haven’t made many signing’s but Joe Allen from Liverpool will be a great addition to the strong Stoke side. Boro’s key player will be Gaston Ramirez who has enjoyed an impressive pre season for Middlesbrough and will provide key chances. For Stoke, Joselu will be the key attacker for them and he will provide the majority of Stoke’s chances.
Southampton v Watford
Both Southampton and Watford have made changes to their managerial staff during pre season as Claude Peul replace Koeman for Southampton and Walter Mazzarri replaced Sanchez-Flores for Watford. Southampton enjoyed a successful season last year and manged to qualify for the Europa League, but they have lost big players in the shape of Graziano Pelle and Saido Mane, but Nathan Redmond will be a key player if they wish to do well this season. Watford have managed to keep a hold of star strikers Troy Deeney and Ighalo and both are great strikers who are capable of causing trouble for any defence in the league. Southampton will be favourites to win this game but Watford will provide good opposition and could come out on top.
Manchester City v Sunderland
Manchester City will want to make amends for a disappointing season last season whilst Sunderland will want to avoid another relegation scrap at the end of the season. Life under new manager Pep Guardiola will start at home, with new signings Sane, Gundogan and Nolito all looking to impress to keep a place in the squad and all three can give City a very strong attack force. Sunderland also have an new manager in the form of David Moyes after Sam Alladyce took the vacant England job after Roy Hodgson’s resignation. Not many transfers have been made on wearside and they have many injuries including star striker Jermaine Defoe who helped them to safety last year. Manchester City are a strong team and with Sunderland’s injuries, the hosts should win.
Bournemouth v Manchester United
Bournemouth achieved their first season goal of staying in the top flight, whilst Manchester United, who also won the FA Cup, only just missed out on a Champions League spot on goal difference. Bournemouth will want to repeat last season and possibly aim for a higher position, but 16th place was good enough for them in their debut Premier League season. Lewis Cook and Jordan Ibe will be the key players for Bournemouth this season, whilst Manchester United will want to get life under new manager Jose Mourinho off to a good start with a win, and new signings Ibrahimovic and Mkhitaryan will cause troubles for Bournemouth.
Arsenal v Liverpool
This is one of the eye catching match ups of the week with Arsenal wanting to challenge for the title after coming close last year whilst Liverpool will want to regain European status. New Arsenal signing Granit Xhaka will want to impress after a successful stint at Broussia Mochengladbach whilst Alexis Sanchez has been one of Arsenals key players over the past few seasons. Liverpool will rely on Firmino and Coutinho for the majority of their chances and these two are the outstanding players for Liverpool, whilst new signing Mane will want to impress and make his way into the Liverpool squad and establish himself as a first team player. It will be a highly competitive and enjoyable match to watch that could go either way.
Chelsea v West Ham
Chelsea had a very disappointing start to last season and eventually finished low in the table, whilst West Ham managed to finish in the Europa League spots and will want to get another finish there this season. New Blues boss Antonio Conte will want to get off to the best start possible as Chelsea manager, and summer signings N’Golo Kante and Michy Bathhuayi will be key to any success this season. West Ham will look to their new right winger Feghouli will be the one to provide key chances, whilst Dmitri Payet could be one of the best players in the league this year after an outstanding European Championships with France this year. This could also be a very close game and a very entertaining one too but West Ham has the potential to win this game.
