5️⃣ huge questions ahead of the new Premier League season

It has been just over 12 weeks since the end of the 2023/24 campaign but with EURO 2024 and the Paris Olympics to fill the time, this new Premier League season has come around quicker than usual.

But what are the main questions hanging over this new campaign ahead of kick off? Let’s find out.

Is this the year Arsenal finally do it?

They took it to the final day last season but we’re backing Arsenal to go one better this time out.

Mikel Arteta’s side just fell short in 2023/24, eventually cursing their dropped points over Christmas where they drew with Liverpool and then lost to Aston Villa and Fulham.

This season though, expect the north London side to have learned from last term and to push Manchester City even harder.

The addition of Riccardo Calafiori should add to their already impressive backline and don’t be surprised if another midfielder comes in before the end of the window.

If that does happen, then Arsenal are the best-placed side to end City’s domination of the top flight.

And if City are as strong as they have been in the last four seasons, we will have another almighty title tussle on our hands.

What does the season hold for Manchester United?

Despite signing a new contract over the summer, there remains a great deal of uncertainty about Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag’s Old Trafford future.

Winning the FA Cup last season appeared to give the Dutch coach a stay of execution, after new owners INEOS looked at their replacement options and evidently came up short.

The likes of Thomas Tuchel, Mauricio Pochettino and Kieran McKenna were all linked with the post but eventually, majority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe flew to meet Ten Hag on holiday in Ibiza and inform the former Ajax boss he would be remain in charge of United.

For how long remains to be seen though, and it’s fair to say that pre-season hasn’t gone entirely according to plan either.

Big money arrival Lenny Yoro played all of one friendly game before getting injured, while Joshua Zirkzee arrived from Bologna but is yet to make his debut after he was an unused sub in the Community Shield.

Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui both joined from Bayern Munich this week and will bolster a backline that conceded the most shots in the Premier League last season.

The club’s hierarchy has also been revamped over the summer, and there will be pressure on Ten Hag and his team to perform after a disappointing 8th-place finish in 2023/24.

Unless United fly out of the blocks in the opening weeks, things could be tough for Ten Hag.

Where does the Chelsea project go from here?

It has been a genuinely remarkable summer at Stamford Bridge.

Pedro Neto’s signing from Wolves a week before the start of the season was Chelsea’s 35th under Todd Boehly – 35 signings ago for Manchester City was Kyle Walker, for Liverpool it was Christian Benteke.

The term “squad building” perhaps has a different meaning at Cobham than elsewhere, with the Blues now having a grand total of 42 senior players to pick from, including eight goalkeepers.

What the grand plan is at Chelsea is really anyone’s guess with great players like Roméo Lavia, Noni Madueke and Levi Colwill all unsure of their role in the team heading into this term.

Boehly and his American cohorts see themselves as football ‘disruptors’ ready to shake up the Premier League with new ideas and out-of-the-box thinking.

It’s difficult not to think they might be disrupting their chances of Champions League football again this term.

Has West Ham’s transfer business made them an unlikely top four challenger?

Eight new arrivals at a sum of almost £130m – this summer West Ham have meant business…and lots of it.

Former Wolves, Real Madrid and Spain boss Julen Lopetegui has come in to replace David Moyes and has immediately gone about rejuvenated what was already a decent squad.

The Hammers finished ninth last term but must surely have a genuine shot at the top six, and perhaps even the top four after this summer’s recruitment.

Crysencio Summerville, the best player in the Championship last term, has joined from Leeds and will turbocharge the Irons’ attack.

The same could also be said for Borussia Dortmund striker Niclas Füllkrug, who is a definite upgrade on Michail Antonio.

Last season’s defence meanwhile, which was the fourth-worst in the Premier League, has had a total revamp with Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Jean-Clair Todibo and Max Kilman all coming in and likely to start.

It really could be the start of something exciting in east London.

Are the promoted teams going straight back down?

For the first time since 1997/98, all three promoted teams went straight back down last term.

In truth, Luton, Burnley and Sheffield United never really looked like staying in the division, but what about this season’s trio?

Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton will be back in the Premier League and all three have varying chances of staying afloat.

Leicester are arguably the best-equipped to avoid relegation with Steve Cooper at the helm and the likes of Ricardo Pereira, Wilfred Ndidi and Facundo Bounanotte all still in the squad.

But after a tough pre-season, the Foxes face a tough opening few weeks, having to face Tottenham, Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Arsenal, with the cloud of Profit and Sustainability Rules also hanging over them.

Ipswich meanwhile are arguably the most exciting team to come up with McKenna at the helm, a coach likely to be in charge of one of the top six sides by the end of next year.

The Tractor Boys haven’t made a whole host of eye-catching signings so far, but Chelsea youth star Omari Hutchinson has joined on a permanent deal and will be the one to watch in East Anglia.

And finally, it’s Russell Martin’s Southampton who are favourites to go straight back down, with Saints arguably a year ahead of where they should be under their young coach.

The south coast side needed the goals of Adam Armstrong to get back into the top flight and thankfully the former Blackburn man has remained at St Mary’s.

Saints have a slightly easier time of it in the opening weeks, facing Nottingham Forest, Ipswich and Bournemouth before the end of September.