The Observer - 04.08.2019

Section:OBS 2S PaGe:13 Edition Date:190804 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 3/8/2019 17:09 cYanmaGentaYellowbla

• The Observer
  04.08.19 13

indication of Leicester ’s ambition

but, although they have attacking

pace and midfi eld creativity in

abundance, Harry Maguire is a

major loss in defence as he departs

to bolster Manchester United’s

backline for £80m.

Then there is West Ham, who

have the manager and the stadium

(at least in terms of capacity) and

fi nally seem to be allying that to

astuteness in the transfer market.

It is a long time since they had a

consistent striker but Sébastien

Haller, with 15 goals for Eintracht

Frankfurt last season, appears as

likely as any of the recent candidates

to fi ll that void.

As a group, that tier of clubs looks

as strong as it has in a long while

but to break into the top six would

still require one of them to have an

exceptional season and/or for one of

the Big Six to falter.

That is possible but, even were it

to happen, it would not mean there

was suddenly a Big Seven (or a Big

Five). The structural advantages of

the top clubs remain.

Perhaps more important than

breaking into the top six, at least

if it is a one-off, is for those clubs

to develop a sense of identity, a

recognisable and enjoyable style. It

is something Brighton have spoken

of as well, the need to be something

rather than merely to survive in the

Premier League.

This sounds positive and, in

context, it probably is, so long as

one does not think too hard about

the economic changes that have

left football so stratifi ed that a title

challenge is so far out of reach for

so many.

2018-19 P W D L F A GD Pts

1 Manchester City 38 32 2 4 95 23 +72 98

2 Liverpool 38 30 7 1 89 22 +67 97

3 Chelsea 38 21 9 8 63 39 +24 72

4 Tottenham 38 23 2 13 67 39 +28 71

5 Arsenal 38 21 7 10 73 51 +22 70

6 Manchester Utd 38 19 9 10 65 54 +11 66

7 Wolves 38 16 9 13 47 46 +1 57

8 Everton 38 15 9 14 54 46 +8 54

9 Leicester City 38 15 7 16 51 48 +3 52

10 West Ham 38 15 7 16 52 55 −3 52

11 Watford 38 14 8 16 52 59 −7 50

12 Crystal Palace 38 14 7 17 51 53 −2 49

13 Newcastle Utd 38 12 9 17 42 48 −6 45

14 Bournemouth 38 13 6 19 56 70 −14 45

15 Burnley 38 11 7 20 45 68 −23 40

16 Southampton 38 9 12 17 45 65 −20 39

17 Brighton 38 9 9 20 35 60 −25 36

18 Cardiff 38 10 4 24 34 69 −35 34

19 Fulham 38 7 5 26 34 81 −47 26

20 Huddersfi eld 38 3 7 28 22 76 −54 16

Championship promoted clubs

1 Norwich 46 27 13 6 93 57 +36 94

2 Sheffi eld Utd 46 26 11 9 78 41 +37 89

5 Aston Villa 46 20 16 10 82 61 +21 76

2019-20 opening fi xtures

Friday Liverpool v Norwich 8pm SSF

Saturday West Ham v Manchester City 12.30pm BT

Bournemouth v Sheffi eld Utd 3pm

Burnley v Southampton 3pm

Crystal Palace v Everton 3pm

Watford v Brighton 3pm

Tottenham v Aston Villa 5.30pm SSF

Sunday Leicester v Wolves 2pm

Newcastle v Arsenal 2pm SSF

Manchester United v Chelsea 4.30pm SSF

How they fi nished

Southampton

Steve Grant

Total Saints Podcast

@SteveGrant1983

I’m relatively confi dent we won’t be

in as much danger as last season. We

have a manager everyone (except

perhaps Charlie Austin) believes in and

we’re looking pretty sharp. Th ere are

still a few concerns defensively but it’s

going to take a while to undo the last

three years’ poor recruitment decisions.

Key men/weak links Che Adams looks

a good fi t up front; our full-backs will

provide width; and Nathan Redmond

will look to maintain last season’s form.

It could be a big year for Jake Vokins, too.

We need to sign An imposing holding

midfi elder to give our creaking defence

more protection. Oriol Romeu has done

a decent job there but he’s still not a

patch on Victor Wanyama or Morgan

Schneiderlin. When we were good we

won games in midfi eld and we haven’t

been doing that for a while now.

Headline maker Austin and Mario

Lemina. Th ere’s a training ground

bust-up waiting to happen there.

VAR: good or bad? I’m an unashamed

VAR fan and think it will go some way

to redressing the unconscious bias

in referees’ decisions when they’re

dealing with smaller clubs.

Watford

Matt Rowson

BHappy.wordpress.com

@mattrowson

We’ll do just fi ne. We have a splendid,

likeable team with plenty of options,

a smart, down to earth coach and an

extraordinarily well-run club.

Key men/weak links Testimony to the

club’s success is the ability to identify

and - hopefully - attract Ismaïla Sarr

after a two-year pursuit, and Tom Dele-

Bashiru’s decision to turn down a new

deal at Man City to join us on a six-year

contract (henceforth a “reverse

Sancho”). Troy Deeney remains key

as a leader and fi gurehead but we

increasingly have strong cover across

the pitch and a small army of promising

kids pushing for inclusion, albeit from

some geographical distance.

We need to sign I’d be happy as we are.

Headline maker Troy, always.

VAR: good or bad? A grotesque

short-sightedness borne of an easily

manipulated tendency for everyone to

think that the world is somehow

biased against them and it’s all

someone else’s fault. A convenient

panacea, a magic bullet presented with

the consequence that multiple babies

get thrown out with bath water. And

VAR will be dreadful, too.

Tottenham

Richard Barnes

@barnesrichard

With the stadium fi nally done, a proper

pre-season and the novelty of a signing

or two, this feels like a new chapter.

Couple that with the continuity

provided by a manager entering his

sixth year and a talented squad largely

intact and injury-free, Spurs are in a

good place – especially if Eriksen stays.

Key men/weak links Home-grown

Harrys. Kane ’s all-round play, goals and

leadership are central to our identity.

And the underrated Duracell bunny-like

Winks is the heartbeat of the side at its

best. Also watch out for Oliver Skipp,

Troy Parrott and Japhet Tanganga. Weak

links? Both full-back positions , a nd we

may have seen the best of Wanyama.

We need to sign Fulham’s Ryan

Sessegnon would bolster the left-hand

side of defence and Giovanni Lo Celso

of Real Betis is another likely incomer.

Headline maker After Lloris’s out-of-

character drink-drive incident last

season, expect the unexpected.

VAR: good or bad? Spurs were involved

in what was possibly VAR’s nadir, an FA

Cup tie at a snowy Wembley against

Rochdale in February 2018. Th ankfully

things have improved since then ...

West Ham

Pete May

Author of Goodbye to Boleyn

hammersintheheart.blogspot.co.uk

Unusually, most Irons fans are feeling

cautiously optimistic. Pellegrini has

made a couple of statement signings in

£24m Fornals – the sort of playmaker

fans should love – and £45m striker

Haller. Add those two to Anderson,

Lanzini, Rice, Antonio and a fi t-again

Yarmolenko and we should be a real

attacking force. Several stale squad

players have been shifted and even

Jack Wilshere is currently fi t. So we can

hope to improve on last season’s 10th.

Key men/weak links Much will depend

on how Haller settles. It’ll also be

exciting to see Anderson combine with

Fornals. Rice will be the key defensive

midfi elder and Diop will be vital in defence.

We need to sign A couple of squad

full-backs and a centre-back would be

useful. And an understudy for Rice.

Headline maker David Sullivan will

inevitably say something indiscreet,

and Michail Antonio is bound to do a silly

celebration.

VAR: good or bad? Generally good,

but, as there’s a worldwide conspiracy

against West Ham, VAR will inevitably

rob us in a vital cup semi-fi nal/Europa

League clincher/relegation decider.

Wolves

Louie Silvani

throughthethirds.blogspot.com

@louiesilvani4

It’s going to be diffi cult to repeat last

season’s seventh-place fi nish, given

the (hopefully) busy schedule Europe

may bring – but with Nuno in charge,

anything’s possible. If we can keep our

relatively small squad fresh we will be in

and around that position again.

Key men/weak links He struggled in

the fi rst half of the season but with

a slight change in position Diogo Jota

showed what every Wolves fan knew

he was capable of. He’s a match-

winner and defenders must hate facing

him. João Moutinho’s experience will

be key again, while youngsters Morgan

Gibbs-White and Rúben Vinagre should

benefi t from our increased fi xture list.

We need to sign A creative spark who

can help us break down teams who set

up to defend deep. We’ve been linked

with Dani Olmo - the type of name that

fi ts in with our recruitment approach.

Headline maker Expect more questions

about our links with agent Jorge Mendes.

VAR: good or bad? Th e offi cial line is

that VAR should impose minimum

disruption. It’ll take some getting used

to but, if that’s how it works, I think it’ll

be benefi cial to the game overall.

Predictions

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

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


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

Predictions

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

2. Liverpool; 3. Tottenham; 4. One of seven.
   Bottom three: 18. Newcastle;


3. Sheffi eld United; 20. Brighton
   First manager sacked: Marco Silva

Predictions

We will fi nish: 1st ; Top four: 1. Tottenham;

2. Man City; 3. Liverpool; 4. Man United
   Bottom three: 18. Newcastle;


3. Brighton; 20. Sheffi eld Utd
   First manager sacked: Roy Hodgson

Predictions

We will fi nish: 8th; Top four: 1. Liverpool;

2. Man City; 3. Chelsea; 4. Arsenal
   Bottom three: 18. Brighton; 19. Norwich;


3. Sheffi eld United
   First manager sacked: Graham Potter

Predictions

We will fi nish: Top 10; Top four: 1. Man City;

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


3. Newcastle; 20. Sheffi eld United
   First manager sacked: Dean Smith

63

Ndombele

completed 63 of

the 92 dribbles he

started in Ligue

1 last season,

resulting in a 68%

success rate, not

bettered by anyone

else in Europe’s

top fi ve leagues.

Ta n g u y

Ndombele

To t t e n h a m

15

Fornals provided

more league

assists – 15 – for

Villarreal in the

last two seasons

combined than

any other player

at the club.

Pablo Fornals

West Ham

nals provided

e league

sts – 15 – for

rreal in the

two seasons

bined than

other player

he club.

blo Fornals

est Ham

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