The Premier League returns this weekend as fans wait in anticipation for the kick-off of the greatest league in the world.
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Transfer activity has just whet the appetite further as we head into the new season, with clubs looking to hit the ground running and get their campaigns off to a winning start.
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It could be the most open Premier League race we have seen for some time with many teams strengthening their squads during the summer, looking to cut the gap between themselves and defending champions Man City.
Newcastle have Champions League football to look forward to this season and managed to secure the signing of Italian midfielder Sandro Tonali, along with midfielder Harvey Barnes and Tino Livramento.
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Eddie Howe will be focused to push for a top four spot once again to prove that last season was not just a one-off for The Magpies.
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The fans will be expecting the club to build upon last season, compete on all fronts and continue to upset the normal stranglehold ‘the big six’ have had on the Premier League.
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Aston Villa have added to their ranks as they look to build on the good work of Unai Emery in his first season in charge of the club.
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Pau Torres, Moussa Diaby and Youri Tielemans are some of the more notable additions as the Spanish manager looks to continue the evolution of the Midlands club under his guidance.
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The club are having to deal with news that Emi Buendia will spend up to 8 months out injured after rupturing his ACL in training this week, this may force Emery into venturing back into the transfer market.
Bournemouth surprised many when they parted ways with their manager during the summer, bringing in Andoni Iraola to lead the club into the new campaign.
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The Cherries have brought in Justin Kluivert, Hamed Traore, Milos Kerkez and Alex Scott amongst others as the south coast club look to focus on avoiding being involved in any relegation battles this time around.
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Despite having the smallest stadium capacity in the league, they seem to manage to upset the bigger sides at the Vitality Stadium, they will need this to continue to make it a difficult place to visit.
Mason Mount decided his future lay away from Stamford Bridge as he joined Man Utd, who also signed Andre Onana and Rasmus Hojlund.
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Erik ten Hag is keen to close the gap between themselves and local rivals Man City, after watching their ‘noisy neighbours’ win the treble last season.
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Having lost veteran stopper David de Gea when his contract expired, this will be a new era for the Red Devils this time out, with the Dutch manager looking to bring the good times back to Old Trafford.
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Brentford have not been incredibly active in the transfer window, with Nathan Collins and Kevin Schade being the pick of the incomings but it is their goalkeeper David Raya who has been amongst the headlines the most.
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It is looking increasingly likely that he is heading to The Emirates to join Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal.
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One thing is for sure, they will miss Ivan Toney who is banned until January 2024, he was involved in 26 goals for The Bees last season.
Vincent Kompany’s Burnley have had a busy time preparing for the forthcoming season, most notably adding England U21 goalkeeper James Trafford as well as midfielder Sander Berge.
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The fixtures have thrown up an opening game at Turf Moor against the Belgian manager’s old club as Man City come to town for the Friday night game to get the season started.
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It will be an intimidating atmosphere with 22,000 fans looking to act as the twelfth man as they aim to cause an upset in the first game of the Premier League calendar.
Roberto De Zerbi has looked to strengthen his side, bringing the likes of Mahmoud Dahoud, Joao Pedro and James Milner.
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Brighton lost Alexis Mac Allister and goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, while the future of Moises Caicedo still hangs in the balance with both Chelsea and Liverpool showing interest.
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The Seagulls seem to have an ability to sell players and then produce the next big thing, their fans will be hoping that continues this time.
Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool have seen some big names leave in the summer, bringing in Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai to fill some of the gaps left in the squad.
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Their search for a defensive midfielder continues but they will go into the new season with a gaping hole in that position following the departure of Fabinho.
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He was one of the many players to head to the Saudi Pro League as a lot of the Middle Eastern clubs flexed their financial muscle after Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival last season.
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With both Liverpool and Chelsea missing out on the top four last season, there will be huge pressure on both sides to have a good season, ironically the pair will face each other in their opening game this weekend.
There is still a lot of mystery over whether Harry Kane will remain a Tottenham player after the club accepted a €100m offer from Bayern Munich for the striker.
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Having added James Maddison, Micky van de Ven and Manor Solomon to the North London side’s squad, new manager Ange Postocoglou will be hoping the prolific goalscorer will opt to stay at Spurs for another season.
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Should Kane decide to leave, they may need Richarlison to step into the breach and start to show some of the form he produces on international duty for Brazil.
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Chelsea have been one of the most active clubs with plenty of players leaving and joining the club as new manager Mauricio Pochettino starts his West London project.
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Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku seemed to really click in pre-season and Pochettino will be hoping they can develop their playing chemistry further, although Nkunku will now spend several months out with a knee injury it is reported.
There is no doubting this squad has plenty of quality at the manager’s disposal, but as many others have found, getting them to perform to the levels required can be difficult.
Crystal Palace have had a very quiet window with only Jefferson Lerma and Mattheus Franca arriving while they will be reeling over the departure of Wilfried Zaha who left on a free, joining Galatasaray.
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Roy Hodgson committed to another season at Selhurst Park, which was a huge relief to the fans, after he steered them clear of trouble following the sacking of Patrick Viera.
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Holding onto Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze will be key to their season, with the latter earning his first England cap as a result of his form last season.
Fulham signed Raul Jimenez from Wolves and Calvin Bassey from Ajax but manager Marco Silva will be most pleased to see Serbian striker Aleksandr Mitrovic committing himself to the club after some interest from Saudi Arabia.
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The Cottagers tied Willian down to a new deal in the summer when it seemed he may be leaving with his contract having expired.
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The Brazilian impressed last season and showed some of the creativity and skill from his days at Chelsea and was key to Fulham’s goal tally.
New boys Luton Town have brought in Tahith Chong from Birmingham and former Everton midfielder Ross Barkley on a free as they look to take on the top-flight challenge after their surprising promotion last season.
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Fans will be looking forward to seeing their new-look stadium as the club have looked to redevelop Kenilworth Road ready for their Premier League adventure.
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Rob Edwards will be keen to make their home a place that visiting sides do not enjoy coming to, as is key for any newly promoted team, hoping to secure their Premier League status for a second season.
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Nottingham Forest have signed Matt Turner, Chris Wood and Anthony Elanga as Steve Cooper looks to cement their position as a Premier League regular fixture.
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Cooper will have had time to work with the existing squad after the club added an astonishing thirty new players to the payroll last season.
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They have a tough start to the campaign as they travel to The Emirates to face Community Shield winners Arsenal.
Pep Guardiola’s Man City have added Josko Gvardiol to their ranks, along with Mateo Kovacic as they look to defend their Premier League trophy.
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Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan have moved onto pastures new and the treble winners are still keen to bring in more reinforcements before the transfer window closes.
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The form of Kevin De Bruyne will be key to City, having played his first game since tearing his hamstring in the Champions League final when they faced Arsenal in the Community Shield last week.
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Sean Dyche has signed Ashley Young on a free transfer and Arnaut Danjuma on loan from Villareal.
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Everton are having to keep the purse strings tight as they struggle with financial fair play regulations, making for a tough challenge for the manager to steer them clear of another relegation battle.
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Dyche is hoping to add some players before the end of August but his main concern will be to get his existing players scoring goals regularly, something which got them into their relegation problems last time out.
Sheff Utd have lost Sander Berge and Iliman Ndiaye in the lead-up to their Premier League campaign, leaving Paul Heckingbottom with the unenviable task of trying to strengthen The Blades to ensure this isn’t a temporary stay in the top division.
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The manager has said that the owners have told him he has money to spend as a result of the two sales however.
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Heckingbottom will be hoping to get any deals done sooner rather than later so they can start the season well, with many tipping them to go straight back down.
David Moyes has been under increasing pressure to add to the ranks after the sale of Declan Rice, with The Hammers finally able to confirm the signing of Edson Alvarez two days before the start of the season.
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Reports suggest that Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse is close to joining him at the London Stadium after talks between the clubs have been ongoing.
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If the club can reinvest the money brought in from sales, the squad could be far stronger than it was last season which would justify Rice’s departure to the West Ham fans.
Wolves suffered the untimeliest blow when manager Julen Lopetegui decided to resign only days before the start of the season.
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Gary O’Neil has been appointed manager and will have his work cut out as he takes his new side to Old Trafford to face Man Utd on Monday evening.
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Boubacar Traore has joined the club, while Matt Doherty has returned, but the loss of Ruben Neves to Al Hilal will hurt and leave a hole in the heart of midfield.
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It has left the fans a little disillusioned, something that O’Neil will need to address.
Arsenal finally got their main target when they signed Declan Rice from West Ham for £105m and have added Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber to their ranks also.
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Granit Xhaka has moved on due to Rice’s arrival but The Gunners will miss Gabriel Jesus who has had surgery on a knee problem and will miss the start of the season.
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Aaron Ramsdale answered his critics in the Community Shield but The Gunners will have back up as the arrival of David Raya seems imminent.
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Mikel Arteta will be looking to challenge for the Premier League trophy, having spent the majority of last season top of the league, finally missing out to Man City who pipped them to top spot.
The Premier League looks like it will be as highly competitive as ever, but this season, it looks more difficult to predict.
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Nobody has a divine right to where they finish, the historic ‘big four’ is no more, you could even go as far as to say the infamous ‘big six’ no longer exists.
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For the fans, it offers the usual high-octane action of thrills, spills and upsets every week which makes it the most-watched league in the world.
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