The English Premier League kicks off August 13th and will get extensive television coverage over the FOX family of channels. This year marks the 25th season since the league was established back in 1992. Will this season create the insanity that took place last year? Leicester City, having barely avoided relegation the previous season won the EPL for the first time in their 132 year history. Oddsmakers had them as a 5,000-1 preseason choice. On the other end of the spectrum Aston Villa was relegated. The first time in history that Aston Villa will not be playing in the EPL. As always there are lots of story lines to follow this year.
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The Clubs for the 2016-2107 Season
| Club | Location | Stadium | Capacity[9] |
|---|---|---|---|
| AFC Bournemouth | Bournemouth | Dean Court | 11,464 |
| Arsenal | London | Emirates Stadium | 60,432 |
| Burnley | Burnley | Turf Moor | 22,546 |
| Chelsea | London | Stamford Bridge | 41,623 |
| Crystal Palace | London | Selhurst Park | 26,309 |
| Everton | Liverpool | Goodison Park | 40,569 |
| Hull City | Hull | KC Stadium | 25,404 |
| Leicester City | Leicester | King Power Stadium | 32,500 |
| Liverpool | Liverpool | Anfield | 45,362 |
| Manchester City | Manchester | Etihad Stadium | 55,097 |
| Manchester United | Manchester | Old Trafford | 76,100 |
| Middlesbrough | Middlesbrough | Riverside Stadium | 35,100 |
| Southampton | Southampton | St Mary’s Stadium | 32,689 |
| Stoke City | Stoke-on-Trent | Bet365 Stadium | 28,383 |
| Sunderland | Sunderland | Stadium of Light | 49,000 |
| Swansea City | Swansea | Liberty Stadium | 20,972 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | London | White Hart Lane | 36,274 |
| Watford | Watford | Vicarage Road | 21,977 |
| West Bromwich Albion | West Bromwich | The Hawthorns | 26,500 |
| West Ham United | London | Olympic Stadium | 60,010 |
Key Transfers
As always, pre-season transfers can quickly change the outlook for a team and the upcoming season. Like most sports, its all about the money. How you use that money is critical. There are two common approaches that teams take. Build from within relying on your youth development programs to deliver you quality players with a judicious use of money to buy key outside help. Then when a young star is to the point where you can parlay him into a good transfer fee you send him packing and turn the profit into more building blocks. The second approach, for the big money clubs, is the spend heavily in the international market. Both approaches work given enough time and money. Of course, the best of the best use a combination. Invest heavily in their development programs and have the funds to go big in the transfer arena. Probably nobody does this better than Manchester United. Their long term successes speak for themselves.
If you are interested in the details of the transfer process here is a link you can check out.
Then there are loans. An unheard of approach to most American sports fans, loans are an integral building block for successful soccer teams, especially in Europe. Manchester United, as an example, uses this tactic a lot. They have an incredibly deep and talented roster. They simply have too many players to get them all quality playing time. So they loan players to other clubs in what is usually a win-win. The owning club gets their players better competition than keeping them stacked on their lower level development teams. And the receiving clubs get some quality players increasing their competitiveness.
So lets take a look at some of the key transfers that have occurred and how they may impact this season.
1. While there are a number of big moves happening, none is bigger than the return of Paul Pogba (midfielder) to Manchester United. Jose Mourinho’s side has agreed to a transfer fee of €110M. Pogba would join Eric Bailly (central defender), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (striker), and Henrikh Mkhitaryan (midfielder) who was voted the Bundesliga Player of the Season in 2015-2016. Need less to say Manchester United is one of the favorites to take the league title this season. It should also be pointed out that Louis Van Gaal was sacked despite the club winnings its 12th FA Cup (tied with Arsenal for the most all time) and replaced by Mourinho.
2. N’Golo Kante has been signed by Chelsea. The French midfielder had an incredible first season in the EPL leading Leicester to the crown. He now joins Antonio Conte’s powerful squad. Also a pre-season favorite for the league title.
3. Granit Xhaka has been transferred from Borrusia Monchengladbach, where he captained the squad to fourth place in the Budesliga to Arsenal. Adding a talented midfielder to an already topflight club, Arsene Wenger’s club looks to jump up one more spot from last year’s second place finish to capture the EPL.
EPL Clubs in 2016-2017 UEFA Champions League
The Champions League is the top level club competition in Europe and is the highest level of soccer you can find. For the upcoming season, Leicester City, Arsenal, and Tottenham have already qualified for the Group Stage as the top three teams from last years EPL. The Group Stage starts play in mid-September. Manchester City, as the fourth place EPL team has qualified for the playoff stage that runs the last two weeks of August.
EPL Clubs in 2016-2017 Europa League
The Europa League is the second tier club competition and still provides plenty of top flight soccer. For the upcoming season Manchester United and Southampton have qualified for the Group Stage which also begins play in mid-September. West Ham United has qualified for the third round starting the end of this month.
Newcomers
Burnley, Middlesbrough, and Hull City are the three teams promoted from the Championship replacing Newcastle United, Norwich City, and Aston Villa who were relegated following their bottom three finish in the EPL last season. Don’t look for one of these newcomers to make a serious challenge toward the top of the table this season. But still its soccer. Just ask Leicester City!
Things can change over the next month as the summer transfer season wraps up. But look for both clubs in Manchester, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool to all be hanging around the top 5. As to this years Leicester City? Somebody will come from deep and make some noise. One of the things that makes the EPL so special. Every year their are surprise teams that exceed expectations and teams that look to be solid if not downright stacked that falter. So stay tuned. Less than a month away……
Soccer Analyst
Steve is an avid fan of all things soccer and the O’s. Originally from the west, he grew up in the Baltimore area. He returned to the west for college where he earned a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from Montana State University and spent 36 years working at the Idaho National Laboratory prior to retiring in 2013. It was during his school years in Baltimore where he learned to play soccer and that developed into a life long passion. He played competitively for over 40 years and was a four year starting goalkeeper at MSU. He also coached and refereed in the Idaho premier soccer and High School programs for many years.