FOOTBALL: New Premier League season kicks off in midst of Covid-19 uncertainty

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It feels like the English Premier League just ended, but this weekend, it starts all over again as Covid-19-ravaged sports schedules are still trying to normalise as the planet emerges from the pandemic.

In late June Liverpool Football Club ended a 30-year wait to win the Premier League title. It formally became theirs when Chelsea beat nearest chasers Manchester City 2-1, giving Liverpool an unassailable lead with seven games remaining. It was the earliest title win in terms of games remaining, and the latest in terms of date due to three months of Covid-19 lockdown.

Also, it was clear that in the finale of last season, after the Covid-19 lockdown, teams such as Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal were more settled under their new managers who were all still finding their way at new clubs. Liverpool stuttered slightly and Manchester City remained inconsistent. Were those portents of things to come?

Liverpool, who have amassed 196 league points in the past two seasons and are undefeated in the Premier League at their Anfield home for three seasons, naturally start as favourites. But they have been miserly in the transfer market, only adding Greek left back Kostas Tsimikas while they are still pursuing Bayern Munich’s Spain international Thiago Alcântara.

Guardiola’s team, given its depth, is clearly going to be a threat again while free-spending Chelsea, under former star player Frank Lampard, are a real danger. In the short off-season Chelsea have brought in some big names, including wings Hakim Ziyech and Kai Havertz and free-scoring centre forward Timo Werner.

Jose Mourinho, who used the fact that he was appointed 10 games into last season as a reason for Tottenham Hotspurs’ failure to finish in the top four, now has to show his worth. There are no more excuses.

 

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