There has never been a greater time to get into the beautiful game if you haven’t already, as the 2020-2021 English Premier League season is set to start this evening and will be broadcast for free on Philippine TV for the first time. Long touted as the most exciting, most physical and most competitive of any football league in the world, this season looks to prove that description even further as several teams look like worthy candidates to lift the greatest prize in British football next May.
Here are some teams to keep an eye out for this upcoming season:
Leeds United
Newly promoted as winners of the Championship (the tier of football below the Premier League where each season the top three teams get promoted to the Premier League while the three bottom teams in the Premier League get demoted to the Championship), Leeds United and manager Marcelo Bielsa are set to make waves with their distinctive brand of attacking football. Notably, their 4-1-4-1 formation emphasises a focal point with an ‘enganche’ midfielder who is the primary mover of the ball from deep spaces to the attacking front. For Bielsa, that man is Kalvin Phillips, one key player to watch for during their matches.
The Argentinian Bielsa has had a storied managerial career filled with many highs and lows, but no matter what, his passion for the beautiful game is always involved. One such incident in his home country involved 20 angry ultra-fans of club Newell’s Old Boys who showed up to his doorstep demanding answers for losing by six goals to zero earlier that day. In response, Bielsa went outside with a grenade in hand and said to them “If you don’t leave, I will pull the pin.” This infamous event earned him the nickname ‘El Loco’, as well as an incident two years ago where he was fined because he sent a staff member to spy on a rival club outside their training ground. Now, he is known reverentially by Leeds’ fans as ‘God’ for lifting them out of mediocrity and into the Premier League after 16 long years. Although Leeds United certainly aren’t expected to win the Premier League, they will bring an excitingly unique style of football not seen before and will certainly play a pivotal role in the title race as potential party crashers with ‘El Loco’ at the helm.
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool were crowned the winners of the ’19-20 Premier League in July, their first Premiership title in a 30-year wait filled with drama and heartbreak. Their charismatic manager, Jürgen Klopp, stated that “we will not defend the title next season; we’ll attack the next one.” Due to unprecedented circumstances from the Covid-19 pandemic affecting the club’s finances however, Klopp will have to make do without much reinforcements to his title-winning squad with only one addition so far added in Kostas Tsimikas, the long-awaited backup for left-back star Andy Robertson.
Liverpool’s style of play revolves around their fullbacks (defenders who play on the sides of a formation) rushing forward on offense and creating scoring chances through the previously mentioned Robertson and the young Trent Alexander-Arnold, arguably the best right back in the world today. This tactic has proven wonders for Liverpool in their achievements of three major trophies in the past year-and-a-half, but whose effectiveness has become a bit stunted toward the end of last season. Liverpool will look to rely upon their midfield creativity more this season to get their goals and expose defenses. With an emerging Naby Keïta who has been rocked by injury since joining the club but has looked better every match and Japanese international Takumi Minamino being the player of the preseason, the Reds look set to add more central bite to their already potent squad.
Manchester City
Liverpool’s biggest rivals for the past three years, Manchester City has won two out of three Premier League trophies during that time period. A squad filled to the brim with talent and a relentless attacking philosophy from manager Pep Guardiola – arguably the best to ever coach – City will seek to claim their crown back from Liverpool this season. As it is Pep’s final contractual year with Manchester City, he will be looking to acquire as much silverware as he can before leaving, including the long-awaited Champion’s League trophy after crashing out in the semifinals a month ago.
Captain, midfield maestro and PFA Player of the Year Kevin De Bruyne will be their primary driving force as he has been in season’s past. Incoming defensive reinforcements Nathan Aké and potentially Kalidou Koulibaly will be welcome sights as this City side has been very prone to errors at the back which has led to a significant loss of points last season. Going off the trend of previous years, expect this season to once again be a closely contested battle between the two current giants of Liverpool and Manchester City.
Manchester United
Can Bruno Fernandes continue his blazing Premier League form into next season? His move to historical English giants Manchester United in late January has reinvigorated the side and led them to third place all the way from seventh with his eight goals and seven assists. However, the squad as a whole, especially Fernandes, looked very fatigued towards the end of last season due to manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s apparent lack of bench options. The Red Devils have looked to remedy that issue this with new midfield signing Donny van De Beek who looks to be an astute transfer, as he can cover one of Fernandes or Paul Pogba (their primary creators) should one get injured or need rest.
Another player looking to make his mark this season for Manchester United is 18-year-old forward and England international Mason Greenwood. For his age he already looks as composed on the ball as players years older than him, and last season he contributed 10 goals and 1 assist as a player who didn’t regularly start until the end of the campaign. Not a bad return for such a young player playing under the weight of a club as big as United. With an equally powerful right foot to compliment his natural left, Greenwood is set to play a very important role for Manchester United this season as he can also play effectively across multiple attacking positions.
Chelsea F.C.
Will Chelsea’s absolutely massive spending spree pay off? We’ve seen this story in the Premier League before where teams hope to integrate five or more talents into a squad only to see it backfire or ultimately have only one or two players breakthrough (see: Chelsea themselves in 17-18 and Manchester United from 14-16). It’s still early days but their attack on paper is set to be one of the strongest young sides in world football by adding £150 million worth thus far: £30m for winger Hakim Ziyech, £50m for forward Timo Werner, and £70m for 21-year-old wunderkind Kai Havertz join the likes of the already established American star Christian Pulisic. They’ve also bolstered their defense with £50m Leicester fullback Ben Chilwell and Brasilian veteran Thiago Silva on a free transfer. Goalkeeper Edouard Mendy from Rennes and Declan Rice from West Ham are further rumored to move to West London for considerable fees. Time will tell if this massive incoming crop of talent will all gel and adapt to the English game. This kind of ‘video-game’ spending is rarely seen in football, let alone during a pandemic. Like Manchester City, petro-pumped Chelsea are immune to financial ruin due to their questionable yet undeniably unlimited funding. Nonetheless, this Chelsea side look like quite a force and if all goes to plan, they will most certainly close the gap between themselves and the two-horse race at the top between Liverpool and Manchester City. No excuses now for sophomore manager Frank Lampard this season considering how much he’s been backed financially.
The North London Clubs
Arsenal
Historically a part of the “top four” of the Premier League, these two clubs missed out on that honor this past season and seek to regain entry back into an increasingly hard-to-enter group. Both sides have made some modest additions with the Gunners having added two Brasilians: former Chelsea winger Willian who provides veteran experience and attacking versatility, and young defender Gabriel Magalhães who brings prospective left-footed solidity at the back. Tottenham meanwhile have added steel and leadership with former Southampton captain and midfielder Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and former Wolves right back and Ireland international Matt Doherty.
Tottenham Hotspur
Coming off the backs of his side’s F.A. Cup victory, Arsenal manager Milkel Arteta couldn’t be any more different than Spurs’ manager Jose Mourinho in terms of football philosophy. Arteta is 20 years Mourinho’s junior and plays a more modern possession-based style to reflect that age gap. Mourinho meanwhile is still adjusting this Tottenham side to his quintessentially pragmatic yet successful counter-attacking style of play which has won him 25 trophies across Europe. Although both managers have struggled last season to get consistent results out of their clubs, both teams nonetheless have two prolific and reliable star strikers upfront in former Golden Boot winners Harry Kane and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. These two key players can be the difference to both sides as they try to break into that exclusive top four group and perhaps even be dark horse challengers.
The Premier League is set to be broadcast this weekend on Premier Football for free. Premier Football, owned and operated by TAP Digital Media Ventures Corp, is available on Sky Cable, Cignal and Air Cable for Central and South Luzon. For updates please follow @PremierFootballPH on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Below is the schedule of games for the weekend:
| Matchup | Day & Time |
|---|---|
| Fulham v. Arsenal | Saturday, 7:30 P.M. |
| Crystal Palace v. Southampton | Saturday, 10:00 P.M. |
| Liverpool v. Leeds United | Sunday, 12:30 A.M. |
| West Ham v. Newcastle United | Sunday, 3:00 A.M. |
| West Brom v. Leicester City | Sunday, 9:00 P.M. |
| Tottenham v. Everton | Sunday, 11:30 P.M. |
| Sheffield United v. Wolves | Tuesday, 1:00 A.M. |
| Brighton v. Chelsea | Tuesday, 3:15 A.M. |
