Aussies no show as Premier League kicks off
SOCCEROOS great Robbie Slater laments the absence of Australian players in the English Premier League.
The new season kicked off overnight when newly promoted Brentford hosted the underachieving Arsenal.
It is an Arsenal squad that no longer contains Socceroos goalkeeper Mat Ryan, who finished last season on loan at the Gunners from Brighton.
And with Brighton having sold Ryan to Spanish club Real Sociedad, no Australians are left in the English top flight.
It is a situation that does not sit well with Slater, who won a
Premier League title with Blackburn Rovers in 1995.
“It’s not only in the EPL, it’s right across Europe,” he said.
The only Socceroo playing in Europe’s top four leagues is midfielder Ajdin Hrustic, who plays for German Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt.
“It’s why the Socceroos are not a force any more. Go back in time and all the players we had in the EPL, and players playing in Germany and Italy, and Spain to a lesser extent, and now today we kick off the EPL with not one Australian featuring in a team,” he said.
Slater predicts the battle for the premiership to be a tight affair among champion Manchester
City, Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea
And despite City’s amazing depth, Slater has tipped Liverpool to regain the title.
The key would be the return of star defender Virgil van Dijk from a knee injury, he said.
While tipping Liverpool, he said City could make it backto-back crowns, particularly if it brought England captain Harry Kane to the club.
Tottenham’s Kane is sure to contend for the Golden Boot, but Slater predicts Liverpool’s Mo Salah to be the leading goalscorer, with a watch on Belgian Romelo Lukaku newly returned to Chelsea from Italian champion Inter Milan.