@kaybaba99
The 24th season of the English Premier League kicks off on Saturday week and every football fan cannot wait for the opening game between former champions Manchester United and Top Four-aspirants Tottenham at Old Trafford.
It was just 76 days ago that the battle was won and lost as Chelsea claimed a fourth title and even the players are chomping at the bit as they anxiously count the minutes to kick-off of yet another riveting season.
As a countdown, let’s do a run-down of the 10 things to look forward to in the next nine months.
1. Sterling’s performance at City: There were many, including the influential Skysports which conducted an opinion poll, who felt that Man City paid too much money to secure Raheem Sterling’s signature from Liverpool. For them, £49m for someone who’s largely untested and yet to win anything is akin to a daylight robbery so the England international will be put under the strictest scrutiny by both those who want to prove that he wasn’t worth that fee and those who think if City claimed they splashed money on Sterling’s potentials, then this season is just the right time to expect him to come good. And, just maybe, neutrals who want to see how he will thrive now that the pressure will be more intense and critics less-forgiven.
2. What welcome party awaits Sterling at Anfield: Because of the acrimonious manner of his departure from Liverpool, Reds fans will heckle Sterling’s every touch of the ball when both sides meet at the Etihad in their first game on November 21. But if you think that would be rough, then wait until March 1, 2016 when City travel to Anfield, possibly for Sterling’s first return to the club that nurtured him but which he turned his back on. No prizes for guessing that a hostile reception awaits him. What we look forward to seeing is if the atmosphere would be as charged as the Emirates on Robin van Persie’s return or White Hart Lane when Sol Campbell returned after he had signed for Arsenal.
3. How Mourinho will cope with rivals who are fortifying their teams while he’s not: The Chelsea boss already fired the first shot by alleging that Louis van Gaal, Manuel Pellegrini and Arsene Wenger are trying to buy the title given the way they’ve been acquiring players for the coming season. Trust Mourinho with mind games. Without offering a defence for his own relative lack of activity in the transfer market, even before a ball is kicked, he’s already ramping up the temperature and, now, our appetites are whet and we cannot wait for the season to kick off to see what the ‘Special One’ has in store for his rivals.
4. If Arsenal can finally go the distance and win the PL after two consecutive FA Cups: Without being told, even Arsene Wenger knows that long-suffering Arsenal fans will not be too ambitious in expecting a first Premier League title since 2004. If you factor back-to-back FA Cups in the last two seasons, you’ll agree with them that a league title is the natural progression for a team that has taken forever to mature. Will this be the Arsenal season? We look forward to it!
5. How Petr Cech will perform in an Arsenal backline: The foundation of every great team is an experienced goalkeeper and its no great mystery that the last time Arsenal were a truly formidable side, they’d a certain David Seaman in goal. A succession of goalkeepers from Jens Lehmann down the years to David Ospina has been unable to help Arsenal win much but with the signing of Cech from Chelsea, a measure of stability is expected in the team’s defence. However, pundits argue with merit that a goalkeeper is a s good as the defence before him so we are curious to see if Cech will be the final piece of the jigsaw that makes Arsenal’s puzzle complete. Season ahead truly looks interesting, especially if you’re an Arsenal fan.
6. If Benteke will finally bury the ghost of Suarez at Liverpool: It will be the second season since former talisman Luis Suarez left Anfield for the Camp Nou but the £32.5m capture of Christian Benteke signifies Brendan Rodgers’ real intent to replace the Uruguayan with a player of relative quality after a posse of pretenders have laid claim to the striking role at Liverpool. Benteke, while at relatively ‘weaker’ Aston Villa last season, scored a total of 15 goals which was just one less than the total scored by ALL of Liverpool’s registered strikers (Mario Balotelli 4; Fabio Borini 1; Rickie Lambert 3; Lazar Markovic 3 and Daniel Sturridge 5) so it is a measure of the weight of expectation from fans that the Belgian should hit the ground running and bring back the goal-rious days of Suarez who scored 31 in his last season at Anfield. So, Reds fans are itching for the season to start so Benteke can start scoring for them.
7. If Rodgers will be the first of the big Six managers to get the sack: I’m personally interested in how long Brendan Rodgers will last in the Liverpool hotseat, particularly if his team fails to hit the ground running, which I don’t realistically see them doing given the unkind run of fixtures they must contend with, especially on their travels.
8. If Louis van Gaal’s expensively assembled side will gel and win something: Uncharacteristically, United entered a third season without having won a brass tin, a situation that is strange to their fans and which they want to see quickly reversed. With manager Louis van Gaal spending close to £300m (still counting) for which United fans, long accustomed to winning trophies by the bucketful will wait with bated breath while opposition fans cannot wait to see the Red Devils come up short again.
9. If Wenger will finally break Mourinho’s stifling hoodoo after 12 games between them: Even the staunchest of Arsene Wenger’s supporters are getting a bit embarrassed on behalf of the Frenchman who’s still looking for a first win after 13 games against his traducer, Jose Mourinho who’s already kicked off mind games ahead of the season-opening Community Shield by claiming:
10. Who succeeds Chelsea as league champions: Though the season will not end for another nine months, footie fans are eager to know which team will have the staying power to push Mourinho’s team all the way to prise the title away from them because, make no mistake, Chelsea are still bookmakers’ favourites for the title, their relative lack of transfer activities notwithstanding. Will United do it or will it be City? Will Arsene Wenger finally have this last laugh against his sworn rival or will it be ‘dark-horses’ Liverpool ending a 26-year hoodoo?
Finally, as we take our seats every weekend, being served the latest installment of the world’s most exciting football league, we all want to put an eye on Europe to see which of the four English representatives will go furthest and possibly bring back the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 2012 when Chelsea won in Berlin. Mourinho last won the UCL in 2010.
Now, sit back and relax, grab the popcorn and watch as the new season gets underway this Saturday.
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