Man City title rivals seek to lay down early markers
With champions Manchester City opening their Premier League campaign on Sunday, the mostly likely challengers for their crown -- Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United -- all have a chance to make a statement 24 hours earlier.
European champions Chelsea host Crystal Palace after Manchester United take on Leeds United in an early kickoff. Then Liverpool round off the day at promoted Norwich City.
City, who claimed a third title in four years in May but then fell flat in a Champions League final defeat by Chelsea, go to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
Chelsea’s clinical win over City in Porto capped a remarkable start to Thomas Tuchel’s reign at Stamford Bridge, having taken over from Frank Lampard in January.
The imminent arrival of striker Romelu Lukaku for around 95 million pounds ($132 million) from Inter Milan will beef up an attack that often operated without a focal point last season, giving Tuchel another option in an already versatile forward unit.
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer knows he faces a season of reckoning at Old Trafford after so far failing to deliver a trophy since taking over in 2018.
The Norwegian has been backed in the transfer market with the arrival of Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund but improving on last season’s runners-up spot will be a massive challenge.
A visit from old rivals Leeds United on the opening day also ensures that there will be no gentle easing in to a pivotal campaign in the managerial career of Solskjaer.
Liverpool’s attempted title defence last season was undermined by a succession of injuries at the back -- most notably to Virgil van Dijk.