Premier League Week 1 Preview: Retooled Liverpool Lifts Curtain On New Premier League Season

The Premier League begins its 34th season on Friday with defending champion Liverpool playing host to Bournemouth. The Reds refused to rest on their laurels this offseason, investing heavily in a squad which won the Premier League championship in Manager Arne Slot’s first season. Liverpool first broke the bank with its acquisition of Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen. The 22-year-old attacking midfielder was acquired for a Premier League record transfer fee, surpassing that which Chelsea paid for Moises Caicedo in 2023. Next on the Liverpool shopping list was highly sought French forward Hugo Entitike. Defensively, the Reds added full backs Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez. The cost for all of Liverpool’s signings this summer is more than ten times what the club spent in last summer’s window preceding Slot’s first season with the club.

The new players made a good first impression  this past Sunday in The Community Shield versus Crystal Palace when Wirtz assisted a goal by Ekitike and Frimpong scored Liverpool’s second goal of the match.

Helping to finance Liverpool’s shopping spree of course has been the departure of players such as Trent Alexander-Arnold and Luis Diaz. The revolving door at Anfield may also see a few more turns which will likely include the departure of forward Darwin Nunez. Perhaps the biggest deal of the summer, however, would be a controversial poaching of Newcastle striker Alexander Isak, the prospect of which continues to dominate headlines. Newcastle has so far refused to sell while their wantaway Swedish striker has stridently demanded a move to Liverpool and is currently not training with the Magpies. Even without Isak, Liverpool should again be a juggernaut in attack. Leading Premier league goal and assist leader Mohamed Salah leads a line which now includes Ekitike, a 15-goal scorer in his breakout 2024/25 season for Eintracht Frankfurt. Wirtz, meanwhile, added 10 goals and 12 assists in Bundesliga play. Wirtz and fullback Frimpong also have the versatility to play as wingers in line with Slot’s vision of a fluid squad with dynamic players able to interchange positions and roles.

The retooled Reds face Bournemouth on Friday with the Cherries also undergoing renovations from last season, in their case largely on the back line. Defender Dean Huijsen will now be earning his wages at Real Madrid while his partner last season at center back, Ukrainian Illia Zabarnyi, has signed with Champions League titlist PSG. Left back Milos Kerkez, another budding star at just 21 years old, will now play for Liverpool, the Cherries’ Friday opponent. Bournemouth has begun the painful process of rebuilding its defense with the signing of Lille center back Bafode Diakite.

Like Liverpool, both Arsenal and Manchester United have focused their transfer efforts on improving in the attacking end. The two meet at Old Trafford on Sunday to find out how successful those efforts have been. The bar for Manchester United in particular is exceptionally lower than that of league champion Liverpool. The Red Devils scored 42 fewer goals than their historic rivals last season. To remedy that sad state of affairs, Manager Ruben Amorim and the club’s ownership have aggressively moved to reshape the attack in the manager’s preferred style of play. The tip of the spear is Benjamin Sesko, the RB Leipzig striker signed this past week. Amorim earlier found the two Number 10 cogs for his preferred 3-4-2-1 formation in Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo who bring impressive Premier League resumes from Wolverhampton and Brentford, respectively. The new and improved Manchester United front line will debut at home Sunday against an Arsenal side which hopes to have solved a striker problem which many believe was the Achilles heel which made the club a bridesmaid in the Premier Leage for the last three consecutive seasons. The Gunners beat a host of other suitors this summer to the signature of Viktor Gyokeres. The Swedish striker found the net 97 times in 102 appearances across all competitions for Portuguese side Sporting CP over the last two seasons. The Gunners also acquired winger Noni Madueke from Chelsea and talks reportedly continue for Crystal Palace midfielder Eberechi Eze. There has even been rumor that the Gunners may have interest in Real Madrid winger Rodrygo. A healthy Kai Havertz also returns after a season curtailed by a hamstring tear. Gyokeres and Havertz both scored in Arsenal’s recent tune-up friendly versus Athletic Club.

With Alexander Isak out of the line-up, Newcastle will likely need to start William Osula at striker when the Magpies meet Aston Villa on Saturday. The Danish youngster was signed last summer by Newcastle after short tours with Sheffield United and Derby County. Newcastle could also use some freshening in its midfield and Aston Villa’s Jacob Ramsey is a reported target. Financial rules compliance has forced Villa to consider the sale of key players such as Ramsey, forward Ollie Watkins, defensive midfielder Boubacar Kamara and goalkeeper Emi Martinez. Villa supporters nervously await that game of musical chairs to be completed.

Brighton, meanwhile, could be closing in on another financial windfall consistent with their history of developing and selling on players. Midfielder Carlos Baleba is coveted by Manchester United with Brighton holding out for a major fee. The 21-year-old defensive midfielder has proved a worthy successor at Brighton to Moises Caicedo who was sold for a record-breaking fee to Chelsea. The Seagulls will open at home on Saturday versus Fulham. Cottager supporters are unhappy with a transfer window which has delivered just one signing for the Cottagers, goaltender Benjamin Lecomte who played nary a minute as the backup for Atletico Madrid last season. Fulham risks not only a slide down the table but also the possible loss of respected manager Marco Silva if ownership focuses more on stadium than roster construction. The Kahn family recently invested heavily in a new Riverside stand at Craven Cottage.

Chelsea supporters, on the other hand, often hold their heads in witness to the seemingly crazed nature of the myriad signings by the club. A strong Premier League finish topped by this summer’s Club World Cup trophy, however, has bought around some of the club’s doubters. This summer’s acquisition of forwards Joao Pedro and Liam Delap strengthens a position where the club has long been frustrated with Nicolas Jackson’s inaccuracy in front of goal and lack of discipline across the pitch. With Pedro and Delap available to lead the line, Jackson could be the odd man out. The Senegalese striker will be sitting out Chelsea’s London derby versus Crystal Palace on Sunday due to an overhanging suspension from last season. Crystal Palace visits Stamford Bridge after securing another trophy in a penalty kick victory over Liverpool in last Sunday’s Community Shield. Following on May’s FA Cup win over Manchester City, the Eagles have claimed their first pieces of domestic silverware over the last two champions of the Premier League. Manager Oliver Glasner is rightfully being acclaimed as one of the better managers in the league after leading the Eagles to unprecedented heights.

Sadly for the Eagles, however, their appeal to retain their Europa League place for this season has been denied. Nottingham Forest will inherit that spot from the Eagles who were prohibited from the competition due to multi-club ownership rules. The Tricky Trees, who open at Brentford on Sunday, were successful in keeping Morgan Gibbs-White from the clutches of Tottenham Hotspur and the attacking midfielder has signed a new three-year contract with Forest. Anthony Elanga, however, has moved on and the Tricky Trees have not been aggressive in seeking reinforcement this offseason. That could be problematic for a squad which became fatigued in the late stages of last season and must now juggle European competition as well. Brentford, meanwhile, has been ravaged by a difficult offseason marked by the departure of Manager Thomas Frank and leading scorer Bryan Mbeumo. Forward Yoane Wissa is also a possible loss before this window closes for the beleaguered Bees.

Frank and Tottenham Hotspur will have a quick turnaround from their loss in penalty kicks to PSG in Wednesday’s UEFA Super Cup. Spurs will host newly promoted Burnley on Saturday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Burnley Manager Scott Parker, with an admittedly less than pristine resume, needs be recognized for guiding three different clubs to promotion form the Championship to the Premier League. His problem has been keeping those clubs up.

Daniel Farke has similarly experienced Premier League promotion and relegation before. Farke, the former Norwich manager, now helms newly promoted Leeds, which will host Everton on Monday. The visiting Toffees became a more interesting watch this week when Jack Grealish was acquired on loan from Manchester City. The former Aston Villa icon and English international had become a forgotten man at Manchester City in recent years and will try to resurrect his career on Merseyside this season.

Manchester City visits Wolverhampton on Saturday as Manager Pep Guardiola tries to right the ship after a disappointing 2024/25 season. A third-place finish in the league ended a four-year run of consecutive titles and marked only the second time in eight years that Manchester City has not won the league. A loss to Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final put an exclamation point on a frustrating season which resulted in no trophies for Guardiola for the first time since his maiden 2016/17 season in Manchester. City has added midfielders Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Rayan Cherki to the fold this summer but the renovations have surprisingly fallen short of the investments by other title contenders, surprising for the notoriously big spending club. Wolves have also invested little this summer and must overcome the losses of Matheus Cunha and Ait-Nouri. Manager Vitor Pereira seemed to inspire Wolves last season to a level beyond what their talent would indicate. Replicating that will now be more difficult for the manager with many predicting Wolves are headed for a relegation fight.

One of the clubs who could be battling Wolves for survival is newly promoted Sunderland. The Black Cats return to the big stage after eight years in the wilderness, a torturous period of multiple relegations and failed promotions that was the subject of Netflix documentaries. The Stadium of Light is now once more home to Premier League football and Wearside supporters fervently hope it stays that way. The Black Cats have been active in the transfer market to help their survival hopes. Among the new players is Granit Xhaka, the former Arsenal captain who returns to the Premier League after having won a Bundesliga title with Bayer Leverkusen two seasons ago. Xhaka is joined by 21-year-old Senegalese midfielder Habib Diarra, signed this summer from Strasbourg for a Sunderland club record fee. Bolstering the Black Cat defense is former West Ham left back Arthur Masuaku. The Black Cats make their return to the Premier League at home versus West Ham on Saturday. Hammer Manager Graham Potter is already in the hot seat after a miserable debut with the club last season. Potter took over in January from beleaguered Julen Lopetegui and was unable to positively impact the club, winning but five of 19 matches as the Hammers sank to 14th in the Premier League table. Potter has received little help in this summer’s transfer market. West Ham is gambling that Callum Wilson, last of Newcastle, can take some of the scoring load off Jarrod Bowen. That is unlikely, witnessed by last season’s injury plagued campaign which saw Wilson fail to score in his 18 Premier League appearances.

Double Blow For Tottenham Hotspur

Things just got a lot more difficult for new Tottenham Hotspur Manager Thomas Frank. The former Brentford manager has inherited a tricky situation in north London. Much has been made about the club’s Europa League trophy, a significant achievement for a silverware starved club. However, that title was won over a tournament field weakened by an expanded Champions League. A flawed Spurs club recognized the opportunity presented by a diluted field and put all its focus on being the tallest of midgets in a second-rate competition.

Thomas Frank

The strategy succeeded when Tottenham Hotspur were able to dispatch Manchester United 1-0 in a sad tournament final in which the title winners had only one shot on target and 26% of possession. Spurs fans were understandably thrilled with their first silverware in 17 years, but the truth of the matter was that the 17th place Premier League side merely upset a historically bad Manchester United side which was 15th in the Premier League table. Thomas Frank takes over a title winner but also is now in charge of a club who, at the same time, lost more Premier League matches last season than any club but for those relegated from the league. Spurs Premier League season was historically embarrassing for the Europa winners. No club ever before has lost 22 times in a 38 match Premier League season and not been relegated.

Premier League infamy outweighed the European success in the mind of Spurs Chaiman Daniel Levy who made Ange Postecoglou the 15th Tottenham Hotspur manager to be sacked by Levy. Thomas Frank was hired as the new man on the touchline. The Danish Manager, who maser minded Brentford’s promotion to the Premier League six years ago, led the Bees to a top half finish in 2024/25, 18 points above his new and more storied club. Despite his success at Brentford, Frank recognized at the time of his appointment that “There’s much more pressure at Tottenham Hotspur than at Brentford.” Testament to that is the fact that none of Spurs’ last three permanent managers have lasted more than two seasons at the helm.

Now, before this new season even starts, Frank’s chances for success have received two hammer blows. Club icon Son Heung-min is taking his talents to Los Angeles FC in America’s MLS league. The Korean international battled injuries last season when he failed to score in double digits for the first time since his initial Premier League season ten years ago. Son leaves the club with the most appearances in club history and 173 goals across all competitions. An indispensable wing man to Harry Kane for many of his years at Spurs, Son enjoyed a breakout 2021/22 season when he scored 23 Premier League goals, joining Mohamed Salh as joint Premier Lague Golden Boot winner. The 33-year-old Korean international will now embark on a retirement tour from a Los Angles base that includes the most South Korean residents of any city outside of South Korea itself. The announcement of Son’s departure coincided with Spurs’ Asian preseason tour, facilitating an emotional celebration in Seoul.

The newly arrived Frank, however, soon had even less to celebrate when James Maddison went down with what is believed to be a serious knee injury in that same game in Seoul versus Newcastle. Last week’s non-contact injury is to the same knee which ended Maddison’s 2024/25 season. His appearance versus Newcastle was his first since that May injury and it now appears that Manager Frank will be starting the season without the midfielder who scored nine goals and provided seven assists last season. Without Maddison, Spurs lacks creativity in its midfield with attacking options also limited by the continuing absence of Dejan Kulusevski who is still recovering from his own May knee injury.

The failed attempt to acquire Morgan Gibbs-White from Nottingham Forest earlier this transfer window thus looms larger for Tottenham Hotspur. Of partial consolation is the July purchase of Mohammed Kusus from West Ham. The Ghanian attacking midfielder is recognized as an elite dribbler whose decision making and inconsistency can hopefully improve under Thomas Frank’s tutelage.

Meanwhile, another incoming transfer this window has seen Tottenham Hotspur at least partially address another gaping problem from last season. Only Wolverhampton conceded more goals than Tottenham Hotspur among the clubs that return to the Premier League this season. A big part of that issue was the absence of a defensive midfield presence; a flaw being addressed by a loan deal for Joao Palhinha. The former Fulham defensive midfielder had a difficult transition to Bayern Munch last season and now returns to the Premier League on loan to Spurs. The hope is that Palhinha can anchor things in back and help Frank install more discipline to a club which was often wide-open playing “Ange Ball” the last two seasons. The loss of Son and Maddison from the lineup only heightens the need for that defensive improvement.

Howe Bad Can It Get For Newcastle?

Eddie Howe

A disturbing summer for Newcastle is nearing catastrophe as Alexander Isak has reportedly agreed personal terms with Liverpool, risking a departure which could prove devastating for the Magpies. Isak was the Premier League’s second highest goal scorer behind Mohamed Salah last season when the Swedish striker found the net 23 times in league play. Replacing more than a third of the club’s goal production from last season would be problematic under any circumstances but Newcastle already seems to be struggling in this summer’s window. Winger Anthony Elanga, who scored six league goals for Nottingham Forest last season, has been the only noteworthy attacker added to date while pursuits of higher profile targets such as Hugo Etitike, Bryan Mbeumo and Joao Pedro have failed.

The intent heading into the summer was clearly to complement Isak’s quality up front. Callum Wilson was a non-factor last season, scoring just a single league goal, and has now departed after a five-year, injury plagued run on Tyneside. Should Isak leave, the club could be looking for two replacements up front in a market which has largely been picked over already.

An unstable management situation does not provide a lot of optimism. The club is operating this summer without a permanent sporting director after Paul Mitchell left at the end of June after less than one year in his position. Mitchell had filled a sporting director vacancy created when predecessor Dan Ashworth was put on “gardening leave” prior to a messy departure to Manchester United. In addition to Mitchell’s departure, CEO Darren Eales, who joined the club in 2022, has also announced he will be stepping down to deal with personal health issues. Recruitment, meanwhile, is currently in the hands of former Mitchell subordinates Steve Nickson and Andy Howe, the nephew of Manager Eddie Howe. Family ties have not prevented Manager Howe from being understandably vocal on the lack of success in this summer’s market.

The Toon Army is unhappy as well with supporters even calling for the return of former owner Amanda Stavely. The English businesswoman was a key driver of the 2021 purchase of the club from former owner Mike Ashly to a consortium dominated by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund. Staveley fronted that takeover and was actively involved in transfer negotiations and importantly developed personal relationships with some of the key stars, including Isak. Purportedly, Stavely had spoken with Isak on a new contract before she and husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi shockingly divested their ownership interest in the club and departed a year ago. Mitchell subsequently halted any talk of a new contract for Isak due to Profit and Sustainability concerns. Bad feelings ensued. Isak wants to play for big trophies and is probably a bit disillusioned with the top-level changes at the club and a perceived lack of vision.

Newcastle’s most important player is currently training on his own in Spain at his former club Real Sociedad while his teammates are on tour in Asia. Newcastle, for its part, remains adamant that Isak, with three years left on his current contract, is not for sale. An unhappy star, however, can be fatal to a club’s morale and performance and everyone has a price.

Liverpool’s first bid for the player was rejected this week. It is likely not the last bid from the recently free spending Reds and other suitors may well come to the fore now that the schism between Newcastle and its star is known. There has been rumored interest already from Saudi Arabia though Isak reportedly prefers the chance to compete for major European trophies. While claiming publicly that it will not sell Isak, the club has no choice but to explore other options. Benjamin Sesko, the RB Leipzig striker who has recently been linked with a Manchester United move, is one possibility. Brentford’s Yoanne Wissa is another name.

Trying to hold it all together now for the Magpies is Manager Eddie Howe. The former Bournemouth manager did a masterful job of turning things around last season when the club stumbled from the gate in league play and players were unnerved by the Stavely exit. The Magpies recovered in magnificent fashion to capture fourth place and a Champions League invitation. Even more exhilarating for the Toon Army was winning the Carabao Cup, capturing Newcastle’s first domestic cup in 70 years. Howe can now use some help bolstering his squad to contend with the demands of both Premier League and Champions League competition this season. The last thing he needs is the loss of 23 goals from last season’s Premier League roster as the Magpies prepare for their August 16th league opener at Aston Villa.