The 2024-25 Premier League season is rapidly approaching, and anticipation is building among football fans worldwide. With the transfer window in full swing and teams fine-tuning their squads, it’s the perfect time for World In Sport to offer its pre-season predictions.
As always, the Premier League promises to be fiercely competitive. Established giants like Manchester City, Arsenal, and Liverpool will vie for the title, while ambitious challengers such as Newcastle United and Aston Villa aim to disrupt the status quo. The battle for European spots is set to be equally intense, with several clubs investing heavily in new talent.
Meanwhile, the relegation fight will undoubtedly produce its share of drama, with newly promoted sides hoping to establish themselves in the top flight. As the season draws near, all eyes will be on the Premier League, eagerly awaiting the twists and turns that only this league can deliver.
Can Arsenal Or Anyone Stop City?
Pep Guardiola’s side have become the title-winning juggernaut many of the 19 teams feared.
The question is, can anyone prevent them from five in a row?
After the cruel end to 2022-23, Mikel Arteta’s side put up a better show in the 2023-24 Premier League Title Race, finishing two points behind Manchester City.
Undoubtedly, the 2023 signing of Declan Rice has made Arsenal a far more robust side.
Rice played every game for the Gunners, scoring seven goals and providing eight assists.
He will be a crucial asset for Arsenal and their hopes of ending a 21-year wait for a League Title.
Calafiori To Boost Arsenal’s Left Side
The back four stood firm for most of last season but were still vulnerable, with Oleksandr Zinchenko playing at left-back.
And given that Takehiro Tomiyasu is injury-prone, Riccardo Calafiori could be a great signing for the Gunners.
Calafiori, bought by the North London side on a Long-Term contract for £42 million, made 33 appearances for Bologna, who finished fifth in Serie A last season.
Still In Need Of A Top Striker
A predator in front of the goal would also be useful for the Gunners, as they were in a couple of games, i.e. Aston Villa(Home), where they created numerous chances but failed to capitalise on them.
Numerous players in this Arsenal team pose a goal-scoring threat; however, adding a predator in front of the goal may be the final piece of the puzzle that wins them the title.
The club is keenly interested in Jonathan David from Losc Lille if rumours are to be believed.
David was Ligue 1’s second-highest goal scorer of 2023-24 with 19, behind Kylian Mbappe, who had 27.
If the Gunners can complete this deal, he could be the difference between them being Champions and runners-up to City once again.
What About Liverpool?
While the Jurgen Klopp era brought success to the club, including a first league title in 30 years, can the Arne Slot era be just as successful?
Slot’s tactics may not be heavy metal like Klopp’s, but if the players can quickly adapt to his style of football, Reds fans may be in for a treat.
His style of play is similar to what Pep does at City, where the team is always dominant in possession of the ball and uses Ederson to build attacks out from the back.
The Reds certainly have the players to do that, with Trent Alexander-Arnold, who, along with Kevin De Bruyne, is one of the best passers in world football.
Regarding transfers, the club is looking for a centre-half and a winger.
According to Football365, the club is willing to sell Luis Diaz to persuade Newcastle United to buy Anthony Gordon.
This seems like paper talk, so we will if anything transpires between the two clubs.
Centre-Backs?
Virgil van Dijk has been a team stalwart, not just as a defender but also as a leader.
His partnership, Ibrahim Konaté was looking pretty solid throughout the first half of the season, but because Joel Matip was thorough the back half of the season, and Klopp was too busy tinkering with his starting XI,
They weren’t as fluid in the season’s final few months as they were at the start.
Whether that was to do with the injury setbacks is a matter to be discussed, but there were games at the end of the season, especially in April, where they weren’t themselves.
But if they can invest in another quality centre-back, we could look at another three-way title race that goes down to the wire.
So that’s it for part 1 of our Premier League predictions; join us for part 2 on World in Sport.
