The 2023/24 English Premier league season is already underway and champions Manchester City have begun in ominous fashion.
Star striker Erling Haaland struck twice as City comfortably defeated Burnley 3-0 at Turf Moor, setting the standard for the season ahead. City are as short as 1.73 to win their fifth title in the space of six seasons and it’d be foolish to bet against Pep Guardiola’s side.
However, there may be one or two glimmers of hope for the opposition. Riyad Mahrez has departed for Saudi Arabia and Aymeric Laporte may soon follow, while Ilkay Gundogan has gone to Barcelona.
And Kevin De Bruyne is likely to be out of action for the remainder of 2023 due to a hamstring injury. This makes Guardiola’s squad look a little tight and it’ll be interesting to see how they cope as matches mount up.
Arsenal , second last year, remain best positioned to hunt them down and are priced at 6.0. They have strengthened in key positions but Champions League football may test out their squad’s ability to play three times a week.
Liverpool at 11.0 have only Europa League football and Jurgen Klopp is likely to heavily rotate in that competition to ensure his best starting XI is kept for the EPL. He has plenty of attackers at his disposal and the Reds are likely to be involved in plenty of exciting matches.
And who can rule out Newcastle? They begun the season with a 5-1 thumping of a good Aston Villa side, and have strengthened most notably with the silky Italian Sandro Tonali. They play Champions League for the first time in two decades, but they have the squad to deal with it. It’s exciting times at St James’ Park.
Top Four Predictions:
- Manchester City
- Arsenal
- Liverpool
- Newcastle
At the other end of the table, there’s not much to choose between a host of poor sides who will compete to be the least worst.
Most expect Luton, with their small budget and resources, to swiftly return to the Championship, and Sheffield United, who have money issues of their own, to join them. Which leaves one space up for grabs.
Everton were poor last season and have gotten no better over the summer. They will be in the mix again. Bournemouth have taken a big gamble with Andoni Iraola in charge and time will tell if it pays off.
And elsewhere, Burnley may play passing football but it’s still far from clear if they have good enough players to do it at Premier League level. Finally, Nottingham Forest’s away form will have to improve if they are to pick up the points needed on the road in order to survive again.
Predictions:
18. Everton
19. Sheffield United
20. Luton