The Premier League 2024 season is just weeks away from commencement and the teams are gearing up for another exciting season. Manchester City will again be the favorites to lift their fifth consecutive Premier League title in a row. However, Pep Guardiola’s men will have their work cut out this season as the rival clubs are starting to catch up.
We’ve picked out three questions to discuss ahead of the new Premier League season.
1. Will any of the new boys survive the drop?
The newly promoted sides often find it difficult to cope with the quality of Premier League football. Last season all three newly promoted teams – Luton Town, Burnley, and Sheffield United finished in the bottom three to face relegation.
This season Southampton, Ipswich, and Leicester City are the three promoted teams. Leicester won the Championship last season and given the experience of the squad, they are tipped by many to survive the drop zone this time around. Most of their players like Jamie Vardy, Harry Winks, Wilfred Ndidi, and Patson Daka have good English top-flight experience and with some good recruits in the summer transfer window, they are more than capable of staying up this season.
Ipswich gained promotion to the top flight of English football for the first time since the 2001-02 season. Ipswich are trying to build a squad capable of competing in the Premier League. 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.
Nathan Broadhead and Conor Chaplin were the best players for Ipswich in the Championship last season and the duo will again be given responsibility of finding the back of the net. Ipswich, however, are still considered one of the weaker teams in the coming Premier League season and the lack of experience in the top flight would make things a little more difficult for Ipswich in their bid to avoid relegation.
Southampton earned their promotion thanks to a playoff win against Leeds United. They spent 10 consecutive seasons in the English top flight from 2012-13 and would be keen to replicate that run again. Saints have done some good business this summer window, making Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Flynn Downes’ loan moves permanent and re-signing Adam Lallana from Brighton.
If Southampton are to stay up, much will depend on their star striker Adam Armstrong. Of the three newly-promoted sides, Southampton are the least likely to be relegated given the quality and depth in their squad but Saints’ manager Russell Martin would be keen to add a couple more players before the summer transfer window shuts.
2. Will the semi-automated offside technology reduce VAR errors?
Premier League are set to adopt the semi-automated offside technology this season to reduce the VAR errors. The league was guilty of some controversial decisions last season and the new offside technology would likely put an end to such decisions.
Serie A was the first major league to adopt the semi-automated offside technology and it was also used in the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar.
SAOT processes and produces the result in a much quicker time. According to the Premier League, the decisions will take approximately 31 seconds lesser as compared to the previous seasons. The technology will also validate confidence in decision-making by checking all possible angles of the play.
However, the technology cannot tell whether an attacker was actively involved in play or not and hence would require the intervention of VAR officials anyway.
3. Can Manchester City be stopped?
Pep Guardiola has been rumored to leave Manchester City at the end of the 2024-25 season with his contract expiring in 2025. If that does end up being the case, he will be keen to end his fairytale journey at Manchester City by winning his fifth consecutive league title in a row.
Having said that some of the key City players are reportedly ready to move out this summer. Ederson and Kevin De Bruyne are linked with a move to the Saudi Pro League with Julian Alvarez linked to Chelsea and Atletico Madrid. If these players do end up leaving the club, their quality will definitely be difficult to replace.
Man City, having seen unprecedented success in the league in past seasons, may not be as motivated as they were in previous seasons and their main focus may turn to lifting the UEFA Champions League which could lead to rival clubs pouncing on the opportunity and given that Gunners have a more settled and experienced side from last season, they would back themselves to go one better this season.
Manchester City’s rivals Manchester United are also doing some good business this summer. Matthijs de Ligt, Manuel Ugarte, Adrien Rabiot, and Jarrad Branthwaite are all expected to join the Red Devils during this transfer window making Manchester United a force to be reckoned with for next season.
Liverpool will be under the new leadership of Arne Slot this season. The former Feyenoord manager will look to provide a fresh start to Liverpool with his new ideas and with the right mentality they are more than capable of mounting a title challenge to Manchester City.
Read More: Why Manchester City May Not Win a Fifth Premier League Title In a Row
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.
