Premier League Is Back!
-Syed Suboor Abbas
It’s only a matter of hours before Brentford kick the 2021/22 season off against Arsenal at the Community Stadium in West London. While fans worldwide await the first game of the new campaign, we preview and bring you our forecast for another much anticipated Premier League season.
The Contenders
Reigning champions, Manchester City, will look to defend their title but should expect their neighbors, Manchester United, to mount a meaningful title challenge after finishing second last season. Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool and Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea will also be in contention and we could be in for one of the most thrilling title races in years.
The Relegation Dogfight
Our not-so-favorite part, but come May 22, three teams will be relegated to the second tier of English Football. We predict Watford, Norwich City & Southampton will be the three teams this season who will find it tough to stay up. Sorry, lads!
Top 5 Signings
Premier League clubs have been spending big this summer. Here are the five biggest transfers of the summer:
· Jack Grealish — Aston Villa to Manchester City (£100m)
· Romelu Lukaku — Inter Milan to Chelsea (£97.5m)
· Jadon Sancho — Borussia Dortmund to Manchester United (£76.5m)
· Ben White — Brighton & Hove Albion to Arsenal (£52.6m)
· Raphael Varane — Real Madrid to Manchester United (£41m)
The Match Ball
The Nike Flight is back for its second season with improved aerodynamics. Nike’s new AeroSculpt technology provides a revolutionary design for the 2021/22 season Flight ball.
Top 5 Threads
New kits spark debates each summer as fans hope for instant classics to be launched by their respective clubs. With kits being jazzed up in recent times, we are treated to a wide selection of designs this year. Here’s our top five, in no particular order.
Crystal Palace (Home)
The Eagles love a sash and Puma have delivered it. Palace’s home shirt is a blue & red diagonal striped number that fans would love to get their hands on.
Arsenal (Third)
Arsenal x Adidas is a better love story than Twilight. Adidas have delivered a thing of beauty, basing the third shirt off the Blue Lightning kits from the mid-‘90s. With this retro kit, the Gunners already have something to be proud of this season.
Tottenham Hotspur (Away)
Nike have dropped a number with this kit. The cosmic interpretation for Spurs’ away kit is “out of this world”. 11/10.
Liverpool (Away)
It’s a feast for the eyes of the Merseysiders. With a color palette akin to the ‘96/97 campaign, the cream trunk is accompanied by green & red trim. This shirt has class written all over it.
Manchester United (Away)
The Red Devils have hit it out of the park with this one. A beautiful retro look takes us down memory lane, with the ’90-’92 snowflake design being recreated to perfection. The light blue scheme with a hint of red is a breath of fresh air.
Awards
Golden Boot: Romelu Lukaku. Big Rom is stepping back into Premier League territory on the back of his best season. After taking Serie A by storm in 2020/21, where he scored 24 goals and provided 10 assists, and helped Inter Milan to their first Scudetto in ten years, Lukaku has made his big-money move back to Chelsea after first signing for the club in 2011. We believe the Belgian striker will continue his scintillating football for the Blues of London and with the creative force behind him, special things could be expected for Lukaku and co. this season.
Player of the Season: Bruno Fernandes. Few players have had a bigger impact at a new club in Premier League than Bruno Fernandes. Since joining Manchester United in January 2020, the Portuguese Magnifico has scored 40 goals in 80 games with another 25 assists to add and has kept his side unbeaten on the road for a season and a half now. With a much more strengthened team, one could only expect the Man United man to get better this term.
Manager of the Season: Pep Guardiola. Did you think of somebody else? We know it’s a bit unfair on other managers when you have a squad as stacked as Pep’s, but if the Sky Blues manage another season as runaway winners of the most competitive and grueling top-flight league in the world, it would certainly be impossible to look past the former Barca boss.
Game of the Weekend: Tottenham vs Man City
It’s an opening day spectacle at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with the Harry Kane sub-plot to add more drama to it. With their new acquisition, the £100m-pound man, Jack Grealish, City will look to start their title defense with a win against one of their fiercest rivals, but Pep and his men should be ready for a more hostile reception this time because of their approach for Spurs’ talisman, Harry Kane.
As for the home side, it’s the beginning of a new era, the Nuno Espirito Santos era. With all the flurry of incomings at N17, the fans will be in a buoyant mood and would hope for a successful start. Will Kane feature against his suitors, remains to be seen, but we are expecting a cracker of a game in North London.
Your Fantasy Football Captain? We got you!
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Don’t kid yourself by making a case against him. It’s almost impossible to look beyond a player who scores goals for fun. Salah scored a hattrick on opening day last year and rewarded his owners with a 20point-haul against Leeds. With another favorable opening fixture against Norwich City, Liverpool are expected to run out as comfortable winners and the Egyptian King will probably be central to it.
How do you expect the Premier League 2021/22 season to turn out? Let us know in the comments and do share your feedback.
