Welcome back to EveryManSport’s Premier League Preview, where we’ll give our take on how each Premier League team is shaping up with a week remaining until the start of the season. This is the second of five installments, which will feature Leicester City, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United.
LEICESTER CITY
In the vein of how we discussed Everton, Leicester too can go into this season thinking that if they’re going to break back into the top 6, this could be their year. With this season being more open than recently, their starting XI having some real quality and the terrific way they finished last season, who’s to say they can’t finish above Manchester United, Chelsea or even Arsenal.
The midfield is the main point of excellence. I’d even go as far as to say it may be the best young midfield in the league. James Maddison had one of the most impressive first seasons up from the Championship I’ve seen in years, whilst Youri Tielmans looked to be finally fulfilling the potential he’s we know he has. Add into the mix young Hamza Choudhury, perhaps the most improved player under Rodgers and Wilfred Ndidi, who at just 22 is now an established player in the Premier League and the sky is the limit for this young core of midfielders.
The defence is also in really good shape. Ben Chilwell is
perhaps the best left back in the league outside of Merseyside and Ricardo Pereira
was a player who really impressed me last season, perhaps going slightly under
the radar in the mainstream media. Despite his age, Johnny Evans showed last
season that he can still be a very solid centre back at this level. But then
perhaps the one big issue in this side. Who replaces the big head shoes
of Harry Maguire? Caglar Söyüncü and Filip Benkovic are young players at the
club who are supposed to have lots of potential, but as yet are unproven. Thus,
if they’re to really make a serious push for the top 6, they would move for a
more known quantity. James Tarkowski and Lewis Dunk are the two men most strenuously
linked. I think both are a long way off Maguire to be honest and with £80
million to play with (albeit I’d imagine at least some of that went the way of
Tielmans and Perez), I think there must be better options out there. As well as
him being a cracking defender, I also worry about how integral Maguire was in Rodgers’
system, bringing the ball out from the back. I look back to Rodgers’ time at
Liverpool, he was an excellent coach, but struggled in the transfer market. For
me a big money move for Dunk or Tarkowski would be more of the same. That being
said, even with the loss of Maguire, I still think this will be a strong
defensive unit, with the ever-present Kasper Schmeichel behind them.
The forward line is perhaps the weakest area of the side, which I think speaks volumes as to where this Leicester team is at in its development. In the wide areas Marc Albrighton is criminally underrated; always so consistent with his work rate and delivery, I think it’s perhaps harsh he hasn’t had an England call up over the years. Demarai Gray and Harvey Barnes are different prospects. Both full of pace and trickery, I’m especially a big fan of Barnes, who was so effective whilst at West Brom and to a lesser extent at Leicester last season. Both are still very raw, but if they can fine tune their wide play, both will be stars and could end up at Euro 2020 for England. Centrally they are more of a known quantity up front. I have no reason to believe Jamie Vardy will let up. Given the service that this team has potential to provide, he could even be a good bet for the golden boot. He may be helped in his play by the fact he finally has some support to lighten the load. Ayoze Perez was a good player for Newcastle, if sometimes flattering to deceive. He’s still young and if he can up his consistency, he’ll be a top player.
This is no doubt the most exciting Leicester season since they were in the Champions League. Bar the top three I think you can genuinely make an argument they have the most well-rounded starting XI in the entire division. With no burden of European football, who’s to say the Foxes can’t do something special again?
LIVERPOOL
What’s there to say about this Liverpool side? Much like Manchester City I feel so much has been said already that there’s not really a huge amount I can add. A fantastic manager, a phenomenal squad, they’ll be one of the best teams in the world once again. But will that mean they’ll win the league? Let’s discuss.
One area where they will improve is midfield. It’s an overused cliché but Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could be like a new signing. Having missed 99% of last year’s campaign, people may have forgotten how good this man was in the 17-18 campaign. If you were uber critical of Liverpool last season you could nit-pick that the midfield was sometimes missing a bit of dynamism, someone to take on a man and burst into the area or nick a goal. The Ox can add that. That’s not to say Jordan Henderson, Gini Wijnaldum et al will not continue to be major parts of this Liverpool side. They will, and with the energy Klopp’s high press requires, I think they’ll be as glad as anyone to see Oxlade-Chamberlain return.
The Liverpool defensive unit is silly. They have the best centre back in the world, arguably the best attacking full backs in the world and perhaps even the best keeper in the world. The fact Joe Gomez or Joel Matip, whoever Van Djik’s partner is this season, is the weak link of the defence is startling. You all know everything there is to know about Allison, VVD, Robertson and TAA, so instead I’ll quickly touch on the other man in the defence. Because of the strides he’s made in the last two seasons I feel it gets slightly overlooked that Joe Gomez is just 22 years old. He has all the tools to be a star. Pace, power, aggression, can play with it at his feet. Will this be the year he nails down the starting job and steps on to be one of the best defenders in the league? It’s hard to say definitively that he will, because of the excellent work of Joel Matip at the end of last season. He was an absolute rock and at this point it would seem harsh to drop him, despite Gomez’s enormous potential. Either way, this defence will be overwhelmingly good.
Up front there are almost no more words for this side that haven’t been said already. I’ll give just a quick note. Having Sadio Mane as your number two attacker is ludicrous. The pace, dribbling, fluidity and most importantly goals of Salah, Mane and Firmino is just breath-taking to watch when they get going. Even Xherdan Shaqiri and Divock Origi contributed well last season. Rumours have circulated all summer linking the Redmen to another attacker. Dembele, Coutinho, Fekir and even Mbappe have been rumoured with moves to Anfield. Whilst I struggle to see the logic in this, failing to see why Firmino would need to be replaced, I suppose if you can add Kylian Mbappe you add Kylian Mbappe? That added X factor would move this frontline from one of the best the Premier League has seen, to one of the best the world has seen.
So, in conclusion where does this season lie for the European Champions? Well, I can’t see them regressing, so you’d guess it will be another special season on Anfield Road. But if as it seems you need 100 points to win the title against Pep’s City, I struggle to see them doing that. They could go down in history in two ways: the team to finally bring the league back to Liverpool, or the best Premier League side never to win the title.
MANCHESTER CITY
Much like Liverpool there’s not an awful lot I can add here. I’d say they’re the best side I’ve ever seen in the Premier League. And they’ve gotten better. Where do they go from here? The Champions League? An unbeaten league season? With this side why not both?
The midfield is somehow, somehow better. The embarrassment of riches gets more embarrassing. Kevin De Bruyne, one of the best players in the Premier League if you’d forgotten, is back fit and will hopefully be available all season. The prospect of watching him alongside Bernardo Silva in midfield is mouth-watering. A word for Bernardo by the way. He started to get plaudits towards the end of the season, but for me still not enough. The most improved player in the league last season. On top of that they’ve also added Rodri, as clearly Fernandinho is a pretty average player and needed replacing desperately. It’s scary to think he may be on the bench this season, but I guess Pep judges that in some games he needs a true passer from that sitting midfield role. How long until the conversation ends about this being the best midfield in Premier League history?
Up front the imperious Sergio Aguero will continue to be dominant in the opposition’s penalty box. 26, 24, 20, 21, 21. And in none of those season’s he played more than 33 games. Simply one of the best to ever do it. Add Raheem Sterling alongside him, a player who has developed into one of the best goal scorers in the division, and they have a strike force that rivals Liverpool’s. The pair will score a combined 40 by themselves again this season. Minimum.
At the back are the only slight questions. Who will be the man to fill Vincent Kompany’s stead? Will it simply be a case of Stones and Otamendi getting more game time or will a replacement come in? The only name I’ve seen linked at all is Leonardo Bonucci, who’s ball playing style would see him be a perfect fit for Pep no doubt, but the links have stalled in recent weeks and at this point I’d imagine he keeps with the three he has, who will all do just fine. There’s also a question mark over the left back position. With Benjamin Mendy finding it seemingly impossible to stay fit longer than a few weeks, the signing of Angelino made a lot of sense. For the price, he seems a good option, certainly a more natural left back than Oleksandr Zinchenko. Though it appears it’s Zinchenko’s shirt to lose to start the season. He offers a lot going forward, but I think he could be found out defensively, still looking quite lightweight for me. Certainly the weak point of an admittedly phenomenal side. On the other side Kyle Walker has looked a little bit shaky defensively at times, but I still think he’s more than good enough.
I find it impossible to see anything other than City crusing to the title once again to be honest. They just have far too much. The best manager in the world, the best midfield in the world, one of the best strike forces in the world and a defence that has consistently made itself work in the last two seasons.
MANCHESTER UNITED
What a weird off season for Manchester United fans. It was meant to be their summer of revolution. They expected to see an entirely new team with fresh exciting faces at Old Trafford. Instead with a few days left in the window they’ve bought a right back, a centre back and a young winger who’s never played in the Premier League. All good signing for me, and it’s good to see somewhat of a plan in place, targeting young English players, but I can’t see the excitement having been brought back to the most prestigious club in England.
The defence at this point is probably the best unit of this side and could genuinely be very strong. As discussed during the Leicester section, I’m a big fan of Maguire and think he will be the best centre back at Old Trafford since Nemanja Vidic. If Lindelof can continue to progress they could make a good partnership Not Vidic and Ferdinand by any means, but a good partnership. I’d also like to see Axel Tuanzebe get some game time. Last season on loan at Villa he excelled and showed he could be a future England centre half; with Eric Bailly’s most recent injury I’d hope he’s the third choice for United. The full back areas are also promising. Even at his young age Aaron Wan=Bissaka is one of the best one-on-one defenders in the league and Luke Shaw had his best season in a United shirt last season. If David De Gea can rediscover his form this could finally be a solid defence for United.
The midfield has lots of questions. The Paul Pogba dilemma is particularly notable. It’s been discussed probably too much, but can he harness his talent and apply it to perform consistently over an entire season? They’ll also need to find a replacement for Ander Herrera. One man who’s been linked heavily is Bruno Fernandes, but he’s a different style of player and whilst bringing some creativity, he wouldn’t replace the combativity of Herrera. There are also players who Solskjær will hope can improve. Fred and Andreas Pereira are players they’ll hope can progress this year, whilst Jesse Lingard, now heavily mocked, was a really good player in 17-18, so if he can regain that form, he can be a good player for United once again.
The forwards are another problem area for United. Romelu Lukaku at this point is training with the Anderlecht squad, showing the extent to which he’s been phased out of the squad. He is a goner. With the Paulo Dybala deal seemingly falling through it looks as though the options will be limited to Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Daniel James and Alexis Sanchez. Presuming Alexis Sanchez continues his steady decline that’s just three young forwards. Those three would bring an awful lot of pace and exuberance. An awful lot. But not one of them is a polished, finished player who I can confidently tell you will score even 15 goals. It could be exciting if it they click, but for now that it a big if.
A real interesting season ahead for Man United. Solskjær is still completely unproven, for now there’s not many managers in the Premier League I’d rate below him. That being said they are starting to reinvigorate the squad. The defence is certainly taking shape and if they can bring in a midfielder and a striker in the last few days of the season United may have something. If not, this could be another very tricky season for United, maybe even missing out on the top 6.
If you’ve enjoyed please share on your socials and make sure to stay tuned for parts 4 and 5 over the next couple of days!
Every Man Sport 