Kick-off the Season: Premier League Previews, Analysis, and Predictions

With Premier League football just four weeks away, and most teams making moves in the transfer window, now seems like the most appropriate time to look ahead to the coming season.

How many weeks until the Premier League returns? 😅 pic.twitter.com/CRfuOmtxxk

— Premier League (@premierleague) July 19, 2024

Manchester City are the title holders; while Leicester City, Southampton and Ipswich Town are newly promoted to the top division.

When does the Premier League season start?

The new Premier League season commences at 20:00 on Friday, August 16th. Manchester United will host Fulham at home in the first fixture.

See all team previews here.

Premier League opening fixtures & where to watch them

Friday, August 16th

Manchester United vs Fulham (20:00 - Sky Sports)

Saturday, August 17th

Ipswich Town vs Liverpool (12:30 - TNT Sports)

Arsenal vs Wolverhampton Wanderers (15:00)

Everton vs Brighton & Hove Albion (15:00)

Newcastle United vs Southampton (15:00)

Nottingham Forest vs AFC Bournemouth (15:00)

West Ham United vs Aston Villa (17:30 - Sky Sports)

Sunday, August 18th

Brentford vs Crystal Palace (14:00 - Sky Sports)

Chelsea vs Manchester City (16:30 - Sky Sports)

Monday, August 19th

Leicester City vs Tottenham Hotspur (20:00 - Sky Sports)

Who will win the Premier League?

Manchester City, of course, are the favourites for the title. Given their four successive wins, it’s no surprise that City are at 6/5 odds on Ladbrokes to scoop the league. We’ve actually placed a tip on this, with further reasoning linked at the bottom of this article.

Of course, Arsenal are in with a shot. They’ve battled resiliently with City over the past two years, and this might be the year they finally win it. At odds of 7/4 on Ladbrokes, it’s certainly worth a shot.

Aston Villa at 50/1 seems like a great long shot, they finished fourth last campaign, and despite losing Douglas Luiz they’ve made some good signings. However, the new demands of Champions League football may have an impact on their domestic performance, as we saw with Newcastle last year.

Who will be the Premier League top scorer?

Erling Haaland has won the last two Premier League top scorer awards, and he’s likely to make it a third.

However, Chelsea’s Cole Palmer finished behind him, and looks to be developing further. The former City man might haunt his old teammate and catch up.

Elsewhere, Ollie Watkins will be likely to recapture his prolific form which saw him grab 19 goals and 13 assists last year.

Leading the way with 13 assists. 👌

The 2023/24 @PremierLeague Playmaker of the Season: Ollie Watkins! 😍 pic.twitter.com/pUAPMSSlkk

— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) May 19, 2024

Who will be the key players in the Premier League?

Once again Cole Palmer has to be in the conversation, this time we’re talking about the key players in the Premier League. Palmer dragged Chelsea kicking and screaming to a Europa League place in his debut campaign for the Blues.

His former team mate, Phil Foden, won player of the season last year at just 23-years-old. He works exceptionally well in Guardiola’s system and I’d expect him to be a key player once more as City look to defend their title.

Our very own @PhilFoden has been named the 2023/24 @premierleague Player of the Season! 🤩🩵

Congratulations Phil on an incredible achievement 👏 pic.twitter.com/49HuDocfnd

— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 18, 2024

Arsenal duo Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard were both nominated for player of the season last campaign, and I’d expect the two midfielders to continue with their outstanding form. Should Arsenal finally pip City to the title, I’d expect these two to be key components for the Gunners.

While Leny Yoro’s €62 million arrival at Manchester United looks very promising, we’ll have to wait and see whether the 18-year-old defender will prove to be a key player in the Premier League.