Is this the season Mikel Arteta’s obsessive methods take Arsenal to the top? Will Arne Slot sink or swim as Jurgen Klopp’s successor at Liverpool? Can an off-field revolution at Manchester United transform their fortunes on the pitch? Or will Manchester City simply make it five titles in a row?
Also, what are Chelsea doing?
Yes, that’s right, the Premier League returns this weekend and The Athletic will be with you for every kick, goal, VAR review and ‘Inside the sacking of Manager X’ long-read between here and when the music stops on Sunday, May 25.
To get you in the mood for the next nine months, six of our writers here predict who will shine, who will sink, the signings to look out for, what a possible resolution to City’s 115 charges relating to their finances means and much more. Plus, we reveal our predicted final 2024-25 Premier League table.
Let us know your predictions in the comments section.
Will City win their fifth title in a row? And if not, why not?
Jack Pitt-Brooke: Nothing lasts forever. At some point, Manchester City will not win the league. You could make a case that this will be the year the run ends. City were less convincing last year and the team is starting to look old. Kevin De Bruyne, Ederson, Kyle Walker, Bernardo Silva, John Stones… these are not young players any more. Arsenal have far more players coming into their peak-age period than City do. There was only a two-point gap at the top of the table when last season ended. All it will take is for City to dip a bit and Arsenal will be there.
And yet the power of City’s muscle memory is something else. No one else can put together winning runs in the spring like they do. Look at Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Celtic domestically in recent times. When winning becomes that habitual, it retains a momentum of its own. You will not make much money betting against it.
Carl Anka: Betting against Pep Guardiola’s City is a fool’s errand. The team looks finely built for the here and now, and they have a manager who is constantly innovating, forcing the rest of the league to play catch-up.
That said — *dons clown make-up* — this might be the season Arsenal win the league again. They took 2023-24 to the final day, and the squad is approaching a critical mass of talent that makes them formidable in several ways. They should win at least one of the next three titles, so why not this one?
Jacob Whitehead: City have the best squad, but winning five titles in a row is unprecedented in English football. Arsenal are ravenous — they came close last season and have improved more than City in time since. City are facing 115 charges of breaking financial fair play rules and a decision could come towards the end of the season. Will that provide a distraction? And could a punishment even take the title away from them?
The first of how many trophies for Erling Haaland and Pep Guardiola this season? (Michael Regan – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
Nick Miller: Saying City won’t win the league is like that scene (that has become a meme) from sitcom Arrested Development, where Tobias Funke says, when asked if an open marriage would work, “No, it never does. I mean, these people somehow delude themselves into thinking it might… but it might work for us.” With that in mind, I am saying they will win it again, because I don’t quite think anyone else is ready to be better than them. Arsenal will be the closest but not quite good enough.
Caoimhe O’Neill: City will win five Premier League titles in a row. Their quiet summer isn’t fooling me. Even with 115 charges looming overhead, Guardiola will parade his way to a fifth league title in England and then walk away. It won’t be another procession — at least not until April, when any remaining challenger(s), probably Arsenal, will fall away. I hope I’m wrong. One team winning it over and over again is boring. Unless you support that team, of course.
Mark Carey: This will be the season that Arsenal top the table. It would be foolish to say that City will not win five titles in a row simply because it is unprecedented. For too long, Guardiola has shown that historical records are there to be swatted away with the nonchalance of a man in the conversation for the greatest manager of all time.
City have put in some relentless winning runs to come from behind in recent seasons. It might be one odd bounce of a ball or a referee’s decision, but those fine margins might swing the other way this time. Just three or four points dropped by City could mean Arsenal do not need to improve upon their tally from last season (89) to overcome Guardiola’s side. Matching it may suffice.
The top five, in order, will be…
Pitt-Brooke: Manchester City first, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United.
Anka: Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Manchester United (note: I have given a different answer to this question every day for the past two weeks).
Whitehead: Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester United.
Miller: Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Newcastle United.
O’Neill: Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester United.
Carey: Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester United.
The bottom three will be…
Pitt-Brooke: Leicester City, Nottingham Forest, Southampton. I have a probably irrational sense that Ipswich Town will scramble together enough points to stay up. Maybe just because I don’t want to wait another 22 years for them to be back in the top flight.
Anka: Southampton, Forest, Ipswich. And this campaign’s relegation battle will go right down to the wire.
Whitehead: Leicester, Southampton, Ipswich. All three promoted teams to go back down, again.
Miller: Leicester, Southampton and Ipswich — the first two will be cut adrift from pretty early on, but Ipswich will be in among a gaggle of other clubs who have panicked and sacked managers, got points deductions or are just not quite good enough… but they will drop too on the last day… just.
O’Neill: Forest, Southampton, Ipswich.
Carey: Forest, Southampton, Leicester. Ipswich to carry on their soaring momentum in recent years to secure Premier League status for 2025-26.
Our predicted Premier League table
The Athletic writers tip Manchester City for another title win
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
57% |
43% |
|||||||||||||||||||
|
43% |
57% |
|||||||||||||||||||
|
74% |
17% |
9% |
||||||||||||||||||
|
13% |
48% |
13% |
13% |
9% |
4% |
|||||||||||||||
|
13% |
39% |
13% |
22% |
9% |
4% |
|||||||||||||||
|
9% |
4% |
17% |
43% |
22% |
4% |
|||||||||||||||
|
9% |
13% |
9% |
30% |
30% |
4% |
4% |
||||||||||||||
|
4% |
9% |
9% |
22% |
9% |
43% |
4% |
||||||||||||||
|
9% |
39% |
9% |
13% |
17% |
13% |
|||||||||||||||
|
35% |
26% |
13% |
13% |
4% |
9% |
|||||||||||||||
|
4% |
13% |
30% |
17% |
17% |
4% |
13% |
||||||||||||||
|
9% |
22% |
9% |
17% |
9% |
17% |
17% |
||||||||||||||
|
9% |
17% |
22% |
13% |
17% |
13% |
4% |
4% |
|||||||||||||
|
9% |
17% |
22% |
13% |
17% |
13% |
4% |
4% |
|||||||||||||
|
4% |
4% |
9% |
13% |
4% |
22% |
17% |
9% |
9% |
4% |
4% |
||||||||||
|
4% |
9% |
9% |
22% |
13% |
22% |
22% |
||||||||||||||
|
13% |
26% |
17% |
22% |
22% |
||||||||||||||||
|
4% |
17% |
26% |
9% |
30% |
9% |
4% |
||||||||||||||
|
4% |
22% |
30% |
22% |
22% |
||||||||||||||||
|
4% |
13% |
30% |
52% |
The new manager who will make the biggest impact is….
Pitt-Brooke: I am fascinated to see how Julen Lopetegui gets on at West Ham United. He is replacing the best manager of their modern era, David Moyes but he has a talented, stable squad and a fanbase ready to be enthused by a new brand of football. He is clearly a good manager who has done well in his previous jobs.
Perhaps he will be their next Manuel Pellegrini, coming in with a plan to change the style but failing to get any real grip on the club. Or maybe if everything clicks and the players and fans buy into his ideas, he could be the next Slaven Bilic — a West Ham manager able to conduct and channel the club’s emotional energy the right way.
Anka: Arne Slot shouldn’t have to make too many adjustments to keep Liverpool at the front of the non-City/Arsenal pack, so let’s talk about Lopetegui. His Wolverhampton Wanderers side in 2022-23 weren’t the flashiest (and there were some worrying performances away from home) but there’s a solidity to his methods that should guard against any post-Moyes implosion.
West Ham have used the transfer market to address the major weakness in their squad and should be more entertaining this season. Providing Niclas Fullkrug can avoid the yips that seem to befall every West Ham striker who isn’t Michail Antonio, Lopetegui should steer the side towards Conference League qualification.
Whitehead: At Brighton & Hove Albion last season, Roberto De Zerbi’s tactical nous was still evident but the vibes had been lost. That means I’m very excited to see Fabian Hurzeler — St Pauli were one of the best stories of last year as they won Bundesliga promotion, and the German’s innovation was a huge part of that. Brighton knew what they were doing when they hired a 31-year-old.
Hurzeler of Brighton is the Premier League’s youngest manager at age 31 (Masashi Hara/Getty Images)
Miller: Kieran McKenna’s agent has been the performer of the summer, leveraging apparent interest from the big boys into a bumper new contract for the Ipswich manager, but there is a reason those big boys were keen. His reputation is sky-high after successive promotions in his first crack at senior football and pound-for-pound he’s probably been the best manager in the country over the past two seasons, but the Premier League beast can swallow young and bushy-tailed managers whole. I’d love him to succeed.
O’Neill: I’m going with McKenna, too. Everyone loves rooting for an underdog and after a season of covering Luton Town in the 2023-24 Premier League, I am battle-hardened and so ready for Ipswich to succeed where Luton failed (even if I did just say they’ll be relegated). McKenna reminds me of Luton counterpart Rob Edwards in a lot of ways and his side will be a refreshing addition to the top flight, just like Luton.
His team will play brave and fun football — that may be their undoing or we could see their most famous fan, Ed Sheeran, in the dressing room singing tunes after an opening weekend home win over Liverpool.
When music and football collide
Carey: If we are still counting Oliver Glasner as new, I am intrigued to see how Crystal Palace fare in the Austrian’s first full season. The loss of Michael Olise — sold to Bayern Munich — was big, but I like the signings of Ismaila Sarr and Daichi Kamada, who offer different skill sets in attack. If Palace can keep hold of their other talents through the spine of their team — Marc Guehi, Eberechi Eze and Jean-Philippe Mateta — they could surprise a few people. Palace had the fifth-best record in the Premier League last season from the point Glasner joined them in February. If they can have a similar one across a full campaign, it will be down to the transformative work of the 49-year-old.
The new manager who will struggle most is….
Pitt-Brooke: No prizes for originality here but it has to be Enzo Maresca. It took Mauricio Pochettino more than half a season to get his arms around Chelsea and he came into the job with years of managerial experience. Maresca has only had one full season of senior management, winning the Championship with Leicester last season, as he walks into one of the most difficult jobs in the English game. He has to manage an oversized and unbalanced squad, work within Chelsea’s unique structure, convince his players of his new style of play and start getting results quickly. Perhaps he will become the next Arteta, but he will need to be given the tools to do the job.
Anka: There was a point last season when Leicester fans cheered their players for punting the ball long rather than slowly building from the back, as per Maresca’s instructions. The Italian is a fine manager, but his adherence to a preferred tactical plan means there could be a spell at Chelsea where things have to get worse before they get better. Their squad is so big that he should eventually figure things out, but there’s potential for a big skid partway through the season.
Whitehead: Steve Cooper faces a tough task. This Leicester squad lacks outstanding individual talent, and they may find themselves facing a points deduction. The loss of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to Chelsea is big — he is an established Premier League performer and was a central figure in the squad dynamic.
Miller: I say this with a heavy heart, because I have a houseplant named after him, but Cooper has been given the ultimate hospital-pass at Leicester. Then again, he joined Nottingham Forest when they were absolute no-hopers early in the 2021-22 Championship and got them promoted eight months later, so who knows what miracles he will perform 20-odd miles up the road?
Elsewhere, people already seem to have memory-holed how bad Manchester United looked for long spells last season. I’d be surprised if Erik ten Hag makes it to May as their manager.
O’Neill: Slot is a name not many people will think of but hear me out. He has to pick up where Jurgen Klopp left off after one of Liverpool’s most successful periods in their history. It is not going to be straightforward. That’s not to say I’m expecting him to struggle the most of any manager, there are plenty who will struggle more, but Slot’s testing moments will be highly publicised. Imagine the panic stations if Liverpool have a couple of bad results, for example. The pressure on him will be gargantuan as he tries to get a team built by his predecessor clicking for him.
Carey: Chelsea’s pre-season has already experienced some teething problems, and history tells us that managers at Stamford Bridge are rarely afforded a long time to get things right. Maresca arrives with clear ideas based on positional principles and a methodical way of working the ball through the thirds. Whether Chelsea can implement that style consistently and effectively is where the question lies. If it goes well, it could go very well — but we said that for Mauricio Pochettino, Graham Potter and Thomas Tuchel, didn’t we?
The new signing who most intrigues me is….
Pitt-Brooke: Fullkrug. You can have all your false nines, your inverted wingers, half-spaces, hybrid pressing and the rest. But there is nothing else in football — or life — quite like getting it launched up to the big man.
Fullkrug has proven in recent years for Werder Bremen and Borussia Dortmund, and for Germany in their past two tournaments, why he is the world’s greatest exponent of that traditional style (with all due respect to Wout Weghorst, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Martin Adam and the rest). With a few long diagonals, floated crosses or whipped set pieces, Fullkrug could become West Ham’s new Andy Carroll, if not their new Ilan. And in doing so, he will say to the world: Big Man Summer is for life.
Anka: Brighton have picked up two of the players who made Arne Slot’s Feyenoord side so impressive. Mats Wieffer is a highly intelligent midfielder who can offer multiple solutions to several on-field conundrums. But it’s Yankuba Minteh who is the great variable. During his 2023-24 season on loan at Feyenoord from Newcastle, Slot asked Minteh to get chalk at his boots and run at defenders. He was rather good at it, too. Can he step up to the Premier League, or will he get lost in the ‘Antony swamp’?
Whitehead: Emile Smith Rowe. After being short of opportunities at Arsenal, this is a chance for him to be a Premier League side’s main man. Fulham need to replace Joao Palhinha in midfield, however, if Smith Rowe is to be put in the best place to shine. I’m also excited to see if Fullkrug can turn Big Man Summer into Big Man Winter — there’s a lot to love about the German striker.
Miller: I like the look of Samuel Iling-Junior at Aston Villa, Fullkrug to West Ham is terrific fun and Joshua Zirkee to Manchester United could go either way. But it must be Dewsbury-Hall to Chelsea. These signings to very specifically fit with a new manager often end in tears, particularly if things don’t go well from the start.
Fullkrug – a big man for all seasons? (Stefan Matzke – sampics/Getty Images)
O’Neill: Arsenal’s new centre-back Riccardo Calafiori. Mostly because he looks like a throwback of an Italian footballer from the 1990s with his long hair held back in an elasticated headband. The 22-year-old signed from Bologna certainly has the style, and it will be interesting to see how he gets on in north London.
Carey: City have picked up fearless dribbler Savinho from one sister club, France’s Troyes, after shining on loan last season at another, Girona in Spain, in a move that could see Pep Guardiola double down on pacy wingers on both flanks if he switched him to a right-sided attacking role. For context, no La Liga player attempted more take-ons than the Brazilian in 2023-24, which shows how direct his style of play is. We already know about Jeremy Doku going ‘meep-meep’ on the left side last season — if he and Savinho played on either wing, there could be a whole new world of fun in Guardiola’s attack over the months ahead.
The player who will finish second to Erling Haaland in the Golden Boot race is…
Pitt-Brooke: Tottenham have finally replaced Harry Kane by signing Dominic Solanke, and he could be set up for a bumper first season. Coach Ange Postecoglou is all about creating high-quality chances for the centre-forward with low cutbacks from wide positions, but it never felt Richarlison had those Sergio Aguero-type instincts you need in the box. Solanke got 19 league goals for Bournemouth last season — more than Richarlison has scored in a single campaign — and if he can continue that form for Spurs and stay fit, then he can get well into the 20s this time.
Anka: Ollie Watkins of Aston Villa.
Whitehead: Newcastle’s Alexander Isak has looked incredibly sharp in pre-season after a summer off, as Sweden didn’t qualify for the Euros. He was third last year (21 goals to Haaland’s 27) and would have been even closer to the Norwegian if not for injuries that kept him out of at least six matches.
Miller: Solanke. If not, this is Darwin Nunez’s year — I can feel it. The Liverpool striker might take a billion shots, but he’ll score many, many goals.
O’Neill: Cole Palmer again, the same as last season. He will score every penalty he takes and continue to be Chelsea’s guiding light, especially in games that finish 3-3, 4-4 and 5-5.
Carey: Mohamed Salah. The Egyptian has had a full pre-season, a hair transplant, and has a new style to adapt to under Arne Slot — he looks hungry for more goals. Slot’s style could be perfect for him to arrive in those dangerous areas. Salah doesn’t need reminding where the goal is, but this season could see more opportunities for him to finish and that is a scary prospect for opposition defenders.
Manchester City’s charges finally being heard this season means…
Pitt-Brooke: There may eventually come a moment when Guardiola wishes deep-down that he was on a beach in Ibiza or Sardinia — or off playing golf with Jurgen Klopp somewhere — rather than fielding constant questions about it.
Anka: Jose Mourinho is going to say something bizarre/hilarious/petty that will be quoted for the next five years.
Whitehead: European Super League plans may be being resurrected in north-west England by May.
Miller: We won’t actually hear the verdict until next season.
O’Neill: Guardiola’s touchline behaviour will intensify in the build-up to it.
Carey: We can finally, hopefully, stop talking about this narrative hanging over the Premier League.
By May, we’ll all be saying….
Pitt-Brooke: If Manchester United can just add one more member of the 2018-19 Ajax team, they could really make it work. Worth a cheeky bid for David Neres? What’s Lasse Schone up to?
Anka: “I can’t believe Pep has signed another contract extension. I will never trust a bald manager again.”
Whitehead: I didn’t realise Mikel Arteta knew how to smile.
Is this the season for Arteta and Arsenal? (Stefan Matzke – sampics/Getty Images)
Miller: Ah, well. Nevertheless.
O’Neill: Next season will be our season.
Carey: So, everyone looking forward to the Club World Cup?
I really hope that this is the season….
Pitt-Brooke: We get full abolition of the video assistant referee system. Do not demand anything less.
Anka: More strikers remember that they’re allowed to chip the goalkeeper.
Whitehead: We remember for the football rather than legal disputes. Will not happen.
Miller: There’s a collective recognition that sometimes referees get things wrong, as we all do from time to time, and there’s not much point in complaining about it.
O’Neill: More fans think before they chant.
Carey: Owners elect to stick with their manager for a full season rather than roll the dice.
(Top photos: Getty Images. design: Dan Goldfarb. Graphic: John Bradford and Mark Carey)
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