The Observer - 04.08.2019

Section:OBS 2S PaGe:10 Edition Date:190804 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 3/8/2019 17:43 cYanmaGentaYellowbla

• The Observer
  10 04.08.19 Football

Premier League Starts Friday

Arsenal

Bernard Azulay

GoonersDiary.co.uk

@GoonerN5

If you can’t be optimistic in pre-season

it’s time to hang up your hundred quid

replica kit. Th at said, recent spending

has lifted the mood, but there’s been

scant evidence of any fi x to our

defensive inadequacies. In the absence

of Unai imposing a defi nitive brand of

football, I’m still fearful that the upshot

will be the same as it ever was.

Key men/weak links Despite the

Kroenkes relaxing their grip on the purse

strings to sign Pépé, we’re still lacking

proven talent elsewhere , leaving us

praying that the bevy of talented

youngsters – Willock, Nelson, Smith

Rowe, Medley, Nketiah, Saka, John-Jules,

Burton – will begin to fulfi l their promise.

We need to sign Kieran Tierney would

be a result, but it’s the heart of our

defence which requires most urgent

attention. Mustafi getting the bird from

our home crowd before this campaign

has even started says it all.

Headline maker Sadly it looks like the

Mesut Özil saga is set to run and run.

VAR: good or bad? To stop it becoming

a constant distraction its use has to be

strictly limited to resolving just “clear

and obvious” errors. Nothing more.

Aston Villa

Jonathan Pritchard

Observer reader

We chose “Love don’t live here anymore”

as the song to accompany Villa’s demise

three years ago. Suddenly “Love is all

around”. Season ticket sales are through

the roof, the homegrown manager and

captain have been deifi ed and we’ve

splashed the cash. It’s impossible not to

be excited. Grealish is a top-six player,

nobody will outrun McGinn and Mings is

ballast. Th at said, the Spurs game will be

a Premier League bow for eight of our

likely XI, so talk of the top 10 is surely

too bullish. 14th will do. Safe by Easter.

Key men/weak links Grealish won’t get

kicked so much in the Premier League.

Every Villa fan would love Jota to star

given where he came from, but McGinn

has hints of Souness (nails), Dalglish

(vision, big arse) and Macari (good

terrace song) and may really impress.

We need to sign Wesley could go either

way, so probably some striking cover.

Headline maker Th e tabloids would

love it if Terry slipped up but he’s been

nothing but a positive since he joined.

VAR: good or bad? It’s a joke. Human

error is a (sometimes delicious) part of

the game. I also like to get back to the

pub within three hours of the kick-off.

Bournemouth

Peter Bell

afcbchimes.blogspot.co.uk

@cherrychimes

Th ere’s more apprehension than usual.

With the club funding a new training

complex, the money for players has

been a bit more restricted this summer.

Mid-table would be a good season.

Key men/weak links Wilson, Fraser and

Brooks will be the players most talked

about – the latter when he’s back from

injury. It’ll be Fraser’s last season due

to his contract running down. A few

youngsters to watch: Lloyd Kelly at

left-back and Sam Surridge up front,

plus keepers Mark Travers and Aaron

Ramsdale, if they aren’t loaned out. As

for weaknesses: I’m still not convinced

about Solanke, Begovic or Ibe.

We need to sign A top keeper, perhaps

Jack Butland, and another midfi eld

option – Liverpool’s Harry Wilson

would be ideal. But I’m pleased to have

signed Philip Billing from Huddersfi eld –

we’ve always lacked height.

Headline maker You can pick any of our

current back four, or keeper, to make a

few talked-about blunders.

VAR: good or bad? Bad. Who wants

every goal double and triple checked

before it’s given? Fans want to

celebrate, not wait and hope.

Brighton

Steph Fincham

Observer reader

It’s a case of fi ngers crossed. Much

lies on the shoulders of Graham

Potter after the heart-wrenchingly

sad sacking of Chris Hughton. A lot

of players need to step up (yes, you,

Locadia, Jahanbakhsh, Andone) but

maybe Potter is the man to lift them.

Tony Bloom obviously thinks so, and

that’s good enough for me.

Key men/weak links A lot will be

expected of our new £15m winger

Leandro Trossard, especially after the

(welcome) exit of hotheaded Anthony

Knockaert. Elsewhere, young Aaron

Connolly could break through , and if

Dunk goes, new signing Adam Webster

will need to settle in fast.

We need to sign A striker. Or are we

going to be relying on Glenn Murray

again? He’s 36 in September.

Headline maker Hopefully Potter as

the division’s most inspired managerial

appointment.

VAR: good or bad? It made Man City’s

Champions League defeat by Spurs

enormously entertaining for neutrals.

But as the system is still based on an

opinion, I don’t think it’s conclusive

enough for all the fuss it causes.

Burnley

Tony Scholes

UpTh eClarets.com

@UTCdotcom

I don’t think we’re going to trouble the

top six but there are any number of

reasons to be optimistic – more so given

the second half of last season when not

many teams bettered our points return.

Key men/weak links Hopefully we’ll

be defensively organised and so, as

always, the attention turns towards the

front. We will be needing Barnes, Wood,

Rodriguez and Vydra to get those goals.

Also watch out for Dwight McNeil, who

broke through last season. Central

midfi elder Josh Benson has looked

good in pre-season, too – there are

high hopes for him.

We need to sign Th e centre of midfi eld

needs strengthening, particularly

given Steven Defour’s continuing

injury problems. When he’s available he

makes so much diff erence, but we can’t

rely on his fi tness. We need to add a

quality, mobile midfi elder to the squad.

Headline maker Barnes is supposed to be

the dressing room clown, but, as always,

Sean Dyche will dominate our news.

VAR: good or bad? Ask me in a year. I

have real concerns: I’m not convinced

it’ll be benefi cial. It’s hard to see how it

won’t generate its own controversy.

Predictions

We will fi nish: Th ird; Top four: 1. Liverpool;

2. Man City; 3. Arsenal; 4. Chelsea
   Bottom three: 18. Brighton;


3. Aston Villa; 20. Sheffi eld United
   First manager sacked: Ole Gunnar Solskjær

Predictions

We will fi nish: 14th; Top four: 1. Man City;

2. Liverpool; 3. Tottenham; 4. Chelsea
   Bottom three: 18. Brighton;


3. Newcastle; 20. Norwich
   First manager sacked: Ole Gunnar Solskjær

Predictions

We will fi nish: 12th; Top four: 1. Liverpool;

2. Man City; 3. Tottenham; 4. Arsenal
   Bottom three: 18. Sheffi eld United;


3. Aston Villa; 20. Brighton
   First manager sacked: Steve Bruce

Predictions

We will fi nish: 10th; Top four: 1. Liverpool;

2. Man City; 3. Arsenal; 4. Tottenham
   Bottom three: 18. Crystal Palace;


3. Norwich; 20. Aston Villa
   First manager sacked: Ole Gunnar Solskjær

Predictions

We will fi nish: 12th; Top four: 1. Man City;

2. Liverpool; 3. Tottenham; 4. Arsenal
   Bottom three: 18. Brighton;


3. Norwich; 20. Sheffi eld United
   First manager sacked: Daniel Farke

Chelsea, Arsenal,

Tottenham and

Manchester United

are unlikely to

challenge the top two

• but Wolves, Everton

and Leicester are

coming on strong,

says Jonathan Wilson

Chasing pack can

pile the pressure

on fragile Big Six

W

hen the

Daily Mirror

previewed the

1971-72 season

with a weary

reference

to “superclubs”, seemingly the

earliest use of the term in English

football, the newspaper was talking

about Liverpool and Leeds United.

Its writer was not saying one of

them was guaranteed to claim the

league title, which was ultimately

won by a Brian Clough-inspired

Derby County, but highlighting the

advantages of resource and, more

specifi cally, personnel that meant

Leeds and Liverpool would at least

be challenging for honours.

Times change and expectations

with them. It would be a major

surprise if anybody other than

Liverpool threatened Manchester

City this season. We may talk of a

Big Six these days, defi ned largely

by infrastructure, but few give four

of them much hope of winning the

Premier League.

Each of those four clubs can

point to specifi c reasons why they

are unlikely, from a playing point

of view, to challenge this season.

Tottenham are continuing their

evolution from upper mid-table side

with ambition to regular member

of the elite. Chelsea have a new

and inexperienced manager and

a transfer ban. Manchester United

Continued on page 12

20

Wesley was

directly involved

in 20 goals in 38

league games in

the Belgian top

fl ight last season

(13 goals, seven

assists), averaging

a goal or assist

every 155 minutes

for Club Brugge.

Wesley

Aston Villa

14

Trossard scored

14 league goals

for KRC Genk last

season, his

best scoring

season in the

Belgian top fl ight.

Leandro

Tr o s s a r d

Brighton

Club-by-club previewPremier League fans assess what’s in store for 2019-20

Belgian top fl ight.

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