Title hopefuls have to meet standard set by Man City
MANCHESTER: The bar has been raised by Manchester City and the English Premier League title hopefuls know they will have little room for error if they are to challenge Pep Guardiola’s side this season.
But while City begins the campaign as firm favourite after its recordbreaking title campaign last season, it be well aware of the threat posed by Juergen Klopp’s improving Liverpool and the rest of the big six.
City has been quiet in the transfer market, adding just Riyad Mahrez from Leicester, but its attacking potency and ability to dominate possession should be even stronger with the addition of the talented Algerian.
Liverpool, however, beat City three times last season — twice in the twolegged Champions League quarterfinal — and its moves in the transfer market should make it a serious contender.
Like City, Liverpool’s strength is in the final third and the trio of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane will strike fear into Premier League defences again.
The difference this season is that the Merseysiders have greater strength in depth — Fabinho and Naby Keita add increased options in midfield.
Liverpool’s weakness in the goalkeeper position has been addressed with the purchase of Brazilian Alisson from AS Roma and, with Virgil van Dijk having settled in following his move in January, Klopp’s side look a much more complete package.
Jose Mourinho has spent much of the offseason moaning about Manchester United’s squad and the lack of new faces but there is still plenty of talent available to the former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss.
The key question for Mourinho is whether he can finally get the best out of the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku and find a positive style of play the Old Trafford faithful demand.
The pressure will be on in Mourinho’s third season at the club — it pains United fans to see their club trailing City and the prospect of being overtaken by Liverpool would be arguably even more painful.
Tottenham has made no moves in the market but crucially it has kept hold of its key players and the attacking combination of Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli will relish the chance to shine at the club’s new stadium, due to open net month.
Arsenal and Chelsea have changed managers. Spaniard Unai Emery replaces Arsene Wenger at the Emirates and Italian Maurizio Sarri takes over from compatriot Antonio Conte. While neither side has made major splashes in the market, the new managers will be expected to improve on disappointing campaigns and at the very least be pushing for the top four.
The promoted clubs have been spending big. Fulham and Wolverhampton Wanderers have been particularly active in the market as they look to solidify their return to the top flight along with Cardiff City.
West Ham United in Chilean Manuel Pellegrini and Everton in Portugal’s Marco Silva have new managers and have spent significant money on new faces as they look to make sure last season’s struggles become tophalf progress.
City dominated last season by playing attacking possessionbased football featuring several tactical innovations and it will be fasci nating to see to what extent its rivals seek to emulate the approach of Guardiola.
All the ingredients are there for a thrilling season but it is hard to see any of the midtable sides pushing into the top six and the main battle for many clubs will, once again, be simply to survive.