The Premier League is known for its unpredictability and often sees some teams that exceed expectations in the league season. Last season, Aston Villa secured the Champions League football by finishing fourth highlighting the excellent work that Unai Emery has done with the Villians.
Let us take a look at which team will be the surprise package of the 2024/25 season.
Ipswich Town
Ipswich gained promotion to the top flight of English football for the first time since the 2001-02 season under the leadership of Kieran McKenna. They have made Omari Hutchinson’s loan move from Chelsea permanent. The Tractor Boys have also signed Liam Delap from Manchester City and goalkeeper Arijanet Muric from Burnley.
McKenna’s experience in English football will come in handy for Ipswich Town as the 38-year has worked at the youth level with Tottenham and Manchester United before becoming part of the first-team coaching staff at Man Utd under Jose Mourinho and Ralf Rangnick. He then moved to Ipswich Town as a head coach and earned them a promotion to the Championship in his very first full season at the helm.
In the Championship, Ipswich finished 2nd in the league behind Leicester City to gain promotion to the Premier League. The club became the first side since Southampton in 2012 to earn two consecutive promotions from League 1 to Championship.
McKenna is widely known for maximizing player potential and bringing the best out of his players. The right utilization of squad depth and rotating players effectively helped Ipswich overcome the challenging demands of the season and finish the season ahead of clubs like Southampton and Leeds.
West Ham United
West Ham finished 9th last season resulting in the departure of David Moyes. The Hammers have now appointed Julen Lopetegui as their new head coach. Having coached clubs like Real Madrid, Sevilla, and Porto, Lopetegui will bring a wealth of experience to the club. The Spaniard also has English managerial experience having been at the helm of the Wolves in the 2022-23 season.
Lopetegui has enjoyed an excellent career so far as a manager having won 230 out of his 403 matches boasting a win percentage of 57.07%. He led Spain’s U-19 and U-23 to the UEFA European Under-19 Championship 2012 and the UEFA European Under-21 Championship in 2013 respectively. He also led Sevilla to a UEFA Europa League win in 2019–20.
His arrival would lead to significant tactical and psychological changes at West Ham. The Hammers have backed Lopetegui in the transfer market this season bringing players like Max Kilman, Crysencio Summerville, Niclas Füllkrug, and Luis Guilherme to the club. With a couple more acquisitions before the transfer window shuts, Hammers could well push for a top-4 finish this season.
Crystal Palace
Oliver Glasner was appointed as the manager of Crystal Palace in February 2024 when Roy Hodgson stepped down as their manager. His arrival drastically improved the Eagles as they won 7 and drew 3 of his 13 matches in charge of the club leading them to a 10th place finish.
Players like Eberechi Eze, Olise, and Mateta thrived under Glasner in the latter stages of the previous season as they were given the freedom to roam around the pitch. Glasner’s tactics also allowed Mateta to find better positions on the field resulting in him becoming much more lethal in front of goal.
The arrival of Ismaïla Sarr from Marseille is seen as a perfect replacement for Michael Olise, who moved to Bayern Munich. They also signed Chadi Riad which would ramp up their defense this season.
Crystal Palace achieved their highest Premier League position in nine years by finishing tenth in the 2023/24 Premier League standings. This season, the Eagles would look to breach into the European places, and with a full preseason with Glasner under their belt, Palace could be the one to watch out for this season.
Read More: 3 Questions Ahead of the New Premier League Season
Mohd Faisal Hakak is a sports author from Kashmir. He likes to keep tabs on the sporting world with a keen interest in football, motorsports, NBA, and other marquee sports. He is a science graduate from Islamia College Srinagar.
