(Transfer information as of Thursday 1400)
Hull City v Leicester
City – Saturday 1230
Last year’s
positions: Hull 4th (Championship), Leicester 1st
Key signings:
Hull - Jonathan Edwards (free), Will Mannion (undisclosed
compensation)
Leicester – Nampalys Mendy (£13 million), Ron-Robert Zieler
(£2.6 million), Ahmed Musa (undisclosed), Luis Hernandez (free)
Key departures:
Hull – Mohamed Diame, Ryan Taylor, Sone Aluko
Leicester - N’Golo Kante, Andrej Kramaric, Mark Schwarzer
- Champions Leicester start
their title defence, and only one of their star players – N’Golo Kante –
has moved on. Nevertheless, they start as only seventh favourites at 33-1.
Hull are the rank outsiders at 1500-1 (no bookie has been bold enough to
quote 5000-1 on any club after last season), and have undoubtedly suffered
from being unable to appoint a permanent manager, with no new acquisitions
that will excite the faithful. Expect Leicester to start with a win here.
Burnley v Swansea
City - Saturday 1500
Last year’s
positions: Burnley 1st (Championship), Swansea 12th
Key signings:
Burnley – Nick Pope (£1.1 million)
Swansea – Leroy Fer (£4.75 million), Mike van der Hoorn
(free)
Key departures:
Burnley – Joey Barton, Matt Gilks, Lloyd Dyer, Matt Taylor
Swansea – Ashley Williams, Andre Ayew, Eder, Alberto
Paloschi, Bafetimbi Gomis (loan)
- If Burnley are to survive
in the Premier League, then this is an example of a match they need to
target for a win. Swansea seem to have little prospect of improving on
last year’s lower mid-table finish, especially as two key players have
left. That said, Burnley themselves have little cash to splash. A low
scoring draw may be a good bet here.
Crystal Palace v West
Bromwich Albion - Saturday 1500
Last year’s
positions: Crystal Palace 15th, West Brom 14th
Key signings:
Crystal Palace – Andros Townsend (£13 million), James
Tomkins (£10 million), Steve Mandanda (free)
West Brom – Matt Phillips (£5.5 million)
Key departures:
Crystal Palace – Dwight Gayle, Alex McCarthy, Brede
Hangeland, Marouane Chamakh, Adrian Mariappa
West Brom – Stephane Sessegnon, Victor Anichebe
- Two sides who finished
within a point of each other last year. Don’t expect a goal fest, but home
advantage and the exciting signing of Andros Townsend might give Palace
the edge.
Everton v Tottenham
Hotspur - Saturday 1500
Last year’s
positions: Everton 11th, Tottenham 3rd
Key signings:
Everton – Ashley Williams (£12 million), Idrissa Gueye (£7.1
million), Marten Stekelenburg (free)
Tottenham – Vincent Janssen (£18.6 million), Victor Wanyama
(£11 million)
Key departures:
Everton – John Stones, Leon Osman, Tim Howard, Tony Hibbert,
Steven Pienaar
Tottenham – Alex Pritchard, Federico Fazio (loan)
- Eveeton have spent some money
on a proven top flight performer in Ashley Williams, and it remains to be
seen who Everton will spend their new wealth on, and what impact Ronald
Koeman’s managerial expertise will have. Even with the now departed John
Stones in their defence last season, Everton leaked goals alarmingly.
Expect Tottenham to triumph here as their young squad continues to
develop.
Middlesbrough v Stoke
City - Saturday 1500
Last year’s
positions: Middlesbrough 2nd (Championship), Stoke 9th
Key signings:
Middlesbrough – Marten de Roon (£12 million), Viktor Fisher
(£3.8 million), Victor Valdes (free), Bernardo Espinoza (free)
Stoke – Joe Allen (£13 million), Ramadan Sobhi (£5.5
million)
Key departures:
Middlesbrough – Jonathan Woodgate
Stoke – Peter Odemwingie, Steve Sidwell
- Middlesbrough are another
promoted side who have a winnable home game on the opening day, and they
could well pull it off.
Southampton v Watford
- Saturday 1500
Last year’s
positions: Southampton 6th, Watford 13th
Key signings:
Southampton – Nathan Redmond (£11 million), Alex McCarthy
(£4 million), Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (undisclosed)
Watford – Isaac Success (£12.5 million), Christian Kabasele
(£5.8 million), Brice Dja Djedje (£3 million), Jerome Sinclair (free), Juan
Camilo Zaniga (loan)
Key departures:
Southampton – Sadio Mane, Victor Wanyama, Kelvin Davis,
Graziano Pelle, Gaston Ramirez, Paulo Gazzaniga (loan)
Watford – Almen Adbi, Jose Manuel Jurado,
- Southampton continue to
gain plaudits for their performances and style of play, but what will life
be like under Claude Puel? It also appears at first glance that their
squad is currently weaker than last season’s. Watford once again have a
new manager, Walter Mazzari, and if his big signings fire, the Hornets
could edge this one.
Manchester City v
Sunderland – Saturday 1730
Last year’s
positions: Man City 4th, Sunderland 17th
Key signings:
Manchester City – John Stones (£47.5 million), Leroy Sane
(£37 million), Gabriel Jesus (£27 million), Ilkay Gundogan (£21 million),
Nolito (£13.8 million)
Sunderland - None
Key departures:
Manchester City – Martin Demichelis
Sunderland – Emmanuel Giaccherini, Danny Graham, Steven
Fletcher, Wes Brown
- City have again spent the
summer investing in a wealth of talent, mostly in the forward positions,
although their biggest spend came in the last few days with a British
record outlay on defender John Stones. It remains to be seen how all of
these attackers will fit into the side, never mind where it leaves a
talented young player like Kelechi Iheanacho. David Moyes returns to
Premier League management with Sunderland, replacing the England-bound Sam
Allardyce, and perhaps because of the managerial change, they have not
been active in the transfer market. City start as title favourites, and as
favourites to win here.
Bournemouth v
Manchester United – Sunday 1330
Last year’s
positions: Bournemouth 16th, Man Utd 5th
Key signings:
Bournemouth – Jordon Ibe (£15 million), Lys Mousset (£5.4
million), Lewis Cook (£10 million), Brad Smith (£6 million), Nathan Ake (loan)
Manchester United – Paul Pogba (£89 million), Eric Bailly
(£30 million), Henrikh Mkhitaryan (£26.5 million), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (free)
Key departures:
Bournemouth – Tommy Elphick, Matt Ritchie, Lee Tomlin
Manchester United – Guillermo Varela (loan), Victor Valdes,
Nick Powell
- Two sides who have been
splashing the cash during the close season meet here. Whether or not
United fare better this season remains to be seen, but the Red Devils will
certainly be expecting to start with three points here.
Arsenal v Liverpool –
Sunday 1600
Last year’s
positions: Arsenal 2nd, Liverpool 8th
Key signings:
Arsenal – Granit Xhaka (£34 million)
Liverpool – Sadio Mane (£36 million), Georginio Wijnaldum
(£25 million), Loris Karius (£4.5 million)
Key departures:
Arsenal – Tomas Rosicky, Mikel Arteta
Liverpool – Jordon Ibe, Joe Allen, Martin Skrtel, Jerome
Sinclair
- Arsenal finished last
season strongly, but that was not enough to satisfy some supporters as
another year went by without a significant title challenge. Arsenal have made
just one major addition to the squad this summer. Many people are
expecting Liverpool to fare better this time now Jurgen Klopp has had more
time to mould the team in his style. This match – possibly the heavyweight
clash of the opening weekend – could be won by whoever performs to their
best on the day.
Chelsea v West Ham
United – Monday 2000
Last year’s
positions: Chelsea 10th, West Ham 7th
Key signings:
Chelsea – Michy Batshuayi (£33.2 million), N’Golo Kante (£32
million)
West Ham – Andre Ayew (£20.5 million), Manuel Lanzini (£9.4
million) – previously played for club as loan player, Arthur Masuaku (£6
million)
Key departures:
Chelsea – Mohammed Salah, Baba Rahman (loan), Nathan Ake
(loan)
West Ham – James Tomkins
- Antonio Conte takes charge
of Chelsea, so can he do better than Jose Mourinho, avoid last season’s
stories of player unrest and lead them to the title? Most bookmakers have
Chelsea no better than fourth favourites, and it would be a big leap from
tenth to first in one season. They also face a tricky opening game.
At Your Service,
Tipster Street.
tipsterstreet.net
