The new Premier League season is upon us with all the giddy excitement and optimism that brings.
We can expect the usual drama from the self-styled ‘best league in the world’ where, as we’ve seen time and time again, anyone can beat anyone.
Manchester City will be looking to defend their title but can expect to be pushing hard by Manchester United, Liverpool and reigning European champions Chelsea.
New Tottenham head coach Nuno Espirito Santo need to start positively this season
FA Cup holders Leicester City will again be trying to crack the top four, leading a cluster of sides with designs on qualifying for Europe.
And towards the bottom, the three newly-promoted clubs – Watford, Norwich and Brentford – will be hoping their Premier League experience isn’t a brief one while the likes of Burnley, Brighton and Southampton battle to keep heads above water.
Ahead of the big kick-off on Friday night, we will preview the new Premier League season in four parts, assessing the prospects for all 20 teams. The final part covers Southampton through to Wolves.
SOUTHAMPTON
Last season, Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side looked like they were finally set for a return to the top-half of the Premier League table after four seasons flirting with relegation, but a stunning collapse mid-way through the season saw them finish fifth bottom.
Austrian boss Ralph Hasenhuttl has suffered a difficult summer with Southampton so far
The club sold star striker and talisman Danny Ings to Aston Villa in a major blow to their hopes
The Saints’ biggest goal hope, Danny Ings, has now jumped ship to Aston Villa in a major blow to Hasenhuttl’s hopes of preventing a slide into more perilous ground.
Southampton responded quickly to the loss of Ings by bringing in Blackburn striker Adam Armstrong, with the 24-year-old striker a gamble despite scoring 28 goals in the Championship last season.
Armstrong is a quick and clinical striker in the mould of Ings but lacks Premier League experience. Che Adams struggled to make an impact straight away after making the step up from tier two to one, even with Ings alongside him – the Saints need Armstrong to step up quicker or for Adams to install himself in Ings’ role.
Blackburn’s Adam Armstrong has come in for £15m after his 28 goals in the Championship
But Southampton are set to lose Jannik Vestergaard (left) to Leicester City soon
The Saints’ strike force could be also helped by Armando Broja, arriving on loan from Chelsea, after ten goals in the Eredivisie last season for Vitesse Arnhem, but then there are problems at the back too.
Having already lost Ryan Bertrand to Leicester this summer, Southampton are set to lose Jannik Vestergaard to the Foxes too so he will need to be replaced, after Hasenhuttl brought in left-back Romain Perraud from Brest.
These are vital experienced players at the back now no longer at the club – and Southampton need to stick together and find replacements or this could be a long, hard season.
TOTTENHAM
It took a while, but Daniel Levy finally found his new direction at Tottenham after Jose Mourinho.
Nuno Espirito Santo was not everybody Spurs fans’ first-choice for the head coach role but the Portuguese boss ended up being the last resort after moves for Antonio Conte, Julian Nagelsmann and Brendan Rodgers failed to come off.
Nuno has inherited a Spurs side playing their second term without Champions League football
The former Wolves boss had to take over the club’s uphill struggle to keep star striker Harry Kane, who wants to move to Manchester City. The England captain has reported to pre-season training later than anyone else and will not be 100 per cent fit by the time the season starts.
Keeping Kane will ultimately define Tottenham’s season. Should last season’s Golden Boot winner remain at Spurs, then the club can confidently challenge for a top-six finish. Lose him and they give away their main source of goals for the past seven years.
What Spurs have done well is reduce the average age of the squad. Toby Aldeweireld, Danny Rose and Erik Lamela have moved on, while youngsters Bryan Gil, Pierluigi Gollini and Cristian Romero have all arrived.
The uncertain future over star striker Harry Kane has dominated Tottenham’s summer plans
Son Heung-Min and Dele Alli (left to right) will lead the line while Kane’s future is resolved
The likes of Dele Alli and Son Heung-Min will be key to whatever Spurs achieve with season, whether it’s Kane or £77m target Lautaro Martinez partnering them up front.
After lifting Tottenham up to the top of the English and European game, Spurs have now spent two seasons out of the Champions League. A third, and all their progress over the past decade could wear off.
WATFORD
The Hornets managed an instant return which, when you look at the squad they had, was not a real surprise at all.
Watford edged Brentford to an automatic promotion spot last term with the likes of Ismaila Sarr, Ben Foster and Tom Cleverley remaining at the club in the second tier.
Watford’s experienced side managed to get over the Championship promotion line last term
Sarr, linked with the likes of Liverpool and Crystal Palace for £30million this time last year, will be their key source of goals alongside forward Joao Pedro, who netted nine times in the Championship last term.
However, the pair are still young so require experience alongside them to relieve the pressure on them Club captain and talisman Troy Deeney will bring that alongside new striker signings Ashley Fletcher, Joshua King Emmanuel Dennis.
Fellow arrivals Imran Louza and Peter Etebo, the latter on loan from Stoke, will bolster the midfield, while Danny Rose brings experience at the back.
Ismaila Sarr (right) ran rings around second tier defences but is now back in the top-flight
With a very difficult run of fixtures in November and December, Spanish boss Xisco needs a good set of results in their first ten games, where they only play two top-six sides, or the trigger-happy Watford owners will yield the axe before Christmas again.
WEST HAM
Last season could not have gone any better for the Hammers, who are finally clicking into gear at their new stadium with David Moyes at the helm.
A small collapse which denied them Champions League football may be a small black spot on the last campaign, but a first ever Europa League group stage campaign awaits for the West Ham fans this autumn.
David Moyes’ West Ham are gearing up for their first ever Europa League group stage fixtures
Continental football has meant they have managed to keep Declan Rice this summer, despite some impressive performances for club and country in recent years.
But that is the only good news on the transfer front for Moyes’ men this summer, with goalkeeper Alphonse Areola the only new face so far.
West Ham’s resources will be stretched this term due to the intense European schedule for at least the first-half of the season.
The club have kept hold of Declan Rice but no outfield players have been signed yet
The club’s Europa League group games are swiftly followed by matches against Manchester United, Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester City so any long European travels or hangovers will be met with difficult challenges.
Last season was exceptional for the Hammers but Premier League teams will not be so easy on them this time around.
WOLVES
The Nuno Espirito Santo era is over and despite another Portuguese manager arriving in Bruno Lage, Wolves are set for a transition period in their fourth Premier League term.
Bruno Lage is the man chosen to begin the post-Nuno Espirito Santo era at Wolves
The Midlands club built their entire project around Nuno but now need to show they are more than one manager. Lage was the club’s first-choice target and brings title-winning experience from his Benfica days, whilst he also knows the English game from his recent assistant manager roles at Sheffield Wednesday and Swansea.
The club lost goalkeeper Rui Patricio to Roma with Olympiakos’ Jose Sa arriving in his place, while the club’s most exciting transfer of the summer is the loan deal for Barcelona forward Francisco Trincao, who was deemed surplus to requirements at the Camp Nou.
The biggest plus for Wolves, however, is the return of Raul Jimenez to first-team action, with the Mexican forward missing most of last season following a fractured skull against Arsenal last November.
Raul Jimenez taking part in pre-season action is a major boost for the Molineux club
Jimenez is the club’s talisman up front and has 34 goals in 86 matches since the club got promoted in 2018. His return to goalscoring form in pre-season matches is a major boost.
Should the 30-year-old be fully fit by the start of the season, Wolves could target a top-half finish, but the fans need patience at Molineux this season following Nuno’s exit.