(Football news) The Premier League is back for another season of drama, intrigue, beauty and suspense. The last season was pretty much a one horse race with Manchester City looking unstoppable. This season Chelsea and Manchester United have done considerable business while Liverpool have many long term absentees returning. The fans can only hope for a competitive title race that will go down right to the wire.
The season kicks off in London where newly promoted Brentford host Arsenal. This will be the bee's first Premier league game in 84 years and manager Thomad Frank will be hoping to keep them out of the relegation zone. Arsenal will be keen to challenge for a top four spot after failing to do so for the past 2 seasons. Mikel Arteta in his 2nd full season will be concentrating on the league after failing to qualify for Europe last season.
Up next will be the Pennines derby at Old Trafford. This will be the first time since Leeds got relegated in 2004 that the derby will be played in front of the fans. Manchester United's new signing Jadon Sancho will be very keen to make an impact while Raphael Varane will not be available for the clash.
Wolves will travel to Leicester City for the first time with new manager Bruno Lage. The Wanderers have been handed a big boost with the return of Raul Jimenez. If the change in goalkeeper has any effect remains to be seen. Leicester City for the last two seasons have missed the UCL spot on the very last matchday. Despite winning the F.A Cup last season, a top four finish is still something Brendon Rodgers is yet to achieve at the King Power stadium.
Also read: Romelu Lukaku returns to Chelsea from Inter Milan for a club record fee of 97 million pounds
UCL winners Chelsea take on Crystal Palace to start their season. Romelu Lukaku who returned to Chelsea from Inter Milan will not be available for the match. After winning the Champions League Thomas Tuchel will be keen to follow it with some domestic success and Chelsea certainly have a team capable of doing it. Crystal Palace replaced the retiring Roy Hodgson with Pattrick Vieira before the start of the season. Wilfried Zaha and Eberechi Eze remain key players in Palace's hunt of staying in the top half.
Norwich City have returned to the English top tier after a one-year absence. They face a difficult challenge of hosting Liverpool in the opening fixture. Liverpool will welcome back long term absentees Virgil Van Dijk and Joe Gomez while Curtis Jones and Andy Robertson are set to be sidelined. Norwich City have sold their star man Emiliano Buendia to Aston Villa, whether his absence is felt and if yes how will be interesting to see.
The big game of the week will happen in North London where Tottenham Hotspur will lock horns with defending champions Manchester City. Pep Guardiola’s men won the league last season and also played the UCL final. They have only gone on to strengthen their squad by signing Jack Grealish. They haven’t signed a direct replacement for Sergio Aguero yet as Gabriel Jesus remains the only out and out striker. Spurs will be under new manager Nuno Esprito Santo who will face a massive task against the citizens. Harry Kane, despite transfer rumours, is expected to be involved in the match.
