Premier League Preview - Man.United, City, Everton, Liverpool & Burnley

The North West of England is the most historic region in all of English football. Between the clubs they have won over half of all top flight league titles, with Manchester United having won the most. Last season Man United, Manchester City, Everton, and Liverpool all competed in the English Premier League. They will be joined by a fifth team this time around, as Burnley earned promotion after winning the English Championship last season.

Article by Kevin Harris

There are plenty of story lines to go around for all five clubs this season. Man United, Man City, and Everton will all be under new managers this season, while Liverpool will play its first full campaign under Jürgen Klopp. United and City both tasted success last season, winning the FA Cup and League Cup respectively. Liverpool and Everton were both on the cusps of cup triumphs of their own. Liverpool lost to City in the League Cup final, while Everton bowed out of both competitions in the semi-final stage, losing to the eventual champion each time. As for Burnley, they will try to avoid relegation this time around, after going right back down following their promotion two years ago.

Manchester United:

The Red Devils will begin the 2016-17 campaign under the leadership of Jose Mourinho. The former Real Madrid and Chelsea boss arrives in Manchester to try and bring back the success United enjoyed under Sir Alex Ferguson. He will get his shot to win silverware right off the back, when he takes his men to Wembley, for the Community Shield showdown against League Champions, Leicester City. United will not be participating in the Champions League this coming season, but they do have a spot in the Europa League. English teams have struggled in the past in balancing the strain of the Europa League schedule with that of the domestic league schedule. However, Man U should have more than enough depth in the squad to where that will not be a problem. They have loads of young talent, Marcus Rashford, Martial, and Jesse Lingard all showed promise last season. David de Gea will be in goal which will always help put your mind at ease if you are a United fan. They will also be getting back Luke Shaw and Bastian Schweinstager who both spent the majority of last season injured. In addition, they have world class talent in Wayne Rooney and newly acquired Zlatan Ibrahimovic. With talent from top to bottom and “the Great One” managing the side anything other than winning the league should be considered failure.

Manchester City:

Last season the Citizens took a step back from the previous seasons. They still managed to hold onto their Champions League spot, but they will have to win a qualifier if they want to participate in the group stage. Manuel Pellegrini was informed before the season was out that he would not be back and after the season he was sacked. City then went out and got Pep Guardiola, the former Bayern Munich and Barcelona manager. City’s only success last season came in the League Cup where they defeated Liverpool on penalties. City have the personnel that should surely be winning more than that. Kevin de Bruyne, David Silva, and Raheem Sterling make up a talented midfield. Sergio Aguero has established himself as one of the best strikers to ever play in the top flight in England. He has a youngster to playing alongside in Kelechi Iheanacho that showed real promise last season and if he continues his form will be a goal scoring threat whenever he is on the pitch. At the back Vincent Kompany will be returning from injury, but should still be able to hold down the back line along with Joe Hart in goal. Assuming City win their qualifier, then the Champions League must be their top priority. However, fourth place with a League Cup title cannot be the domestic result this time around. With the money they spend and the talent they have, to not be in the thick of the title race at seasons end is a failure.

Liverpool:

The Reds finished last season 8th in the Premier League, but they did manage to get to two cup finals, the Europa League final and the League Cup final. On both occasions they were defeated by Sevilla and Man City respectively. This season will be the first full one for Jürgen Klopp. In his partial campaign last season, Liverpool showed lots of promise, but also had some moments of mediocrity. In order for Liverpool to get up and challenge for a spot in Europe they must play consistent. That all starts up front. Christian Benteke has to score goals and get back in the form he was as a member of Aston Villa. However, he cannot do it alone, Daniel Sturridge must also do his part in front of goal. Liverpool have a talented midfield in Philip Coutinho, Adam Lallana, Emre Can, and the Captain, Jordan Henderson. These four players must mesh together and provide fluidity in getting the ball up the field to their strikers. Defensively, Martin Skrtel and newly acquired, Joel Matip, will provide a continuity to the Liverpool backline that should help whomever the Liverpool keeper will be this season (most likely new addition, Loris Karius). All in all, Liverpool have loads of talent and a great coach. If the team can mesh together and consistently show the brilliance they did at points last season, then they will be challenging for a European place and should have another deep domestic cup run.

Everton:

The high point to the Toffees season last year were, two semi-final appearances in both the League and FA Cups. In the league they managed a mediocre 11th place finish and Roberto Martinez got the sack. Ronald Koeman was then brought in with promises of money to spend and a full support of the board. Koeman the former Southampton boss brings to Everton a style of attacking from the back which will suit them quite well. They have a backline in, Leighton Baines, John Stones, Phil Jagielka, Seamus Coleman, and Ramiro Funes Mori, who are all more than capable of pushing forward into attack and are all very comfortable with the ball at their feet. The big question for Everton will be whether or not they will be able to keep Romelu Lukaku and Stones. If they are able to fight off bids from the likes of Barcelona, Chelsea, PSG, AC Milan and other big name clubs, then they will be a team with a lot of talent and one that is hungry to bring silverware back to Goodison Park for the first time in more than 21 years. Ross Barkley and Gerard Deulofeu are the two players in midfield who must get on the ball for Everton to have any success in attack. Deulofeu’s crossing ability is second to none and Barkley is great at running at defenders with the ball and creating something out of nothing. The Toffees need to set their sights realistically at a top 7 finish and really put effort into the domestic cups. If they do this they may find themselves not only in the thick of a race for a Europe spot, but they may also find themselves lifting a trophy inside Wembley.

Burnley:

The Clarets are back in the Premier League after a one-year absence. Last season they earned their place back in England’s top flight by winning the English Championship title. This time around they hope to stay around for more than one season. Sean Dyche is the man in charge at Burnley and has been since October of 2012. The man Dyche will be relying on to carry Burnley is Andre Gray. Gray led Burnley last season in both goals and assists with 23 and 7. They also have a pretty good duo at the back with Michael Keane and Stephen Ward. Tom Heaton will be helping those two defend the goal. The former Man United youngster and current England international, did a fine job in goal last season. He allowed only 35 goals and kept 20 clean sheets. Burnley has some quality players on their team, but they need to add some pieces if they really want to feel safe going into the start of the season. Staying up is not easy to do for recently promoted clubs and Burnley must realize this and get Gray some help both up front and in the midfield. First things first Burnley needs to focus on the 40-point safety threshold, if and when they do that, then they can try and go after a cup run, into the quarterfinals or even a semifinal at Wembley. Realistically Dyche’s men will be in for the relegation fight of their lives and depending on how they respond will make all the difference in how next season goes.

There will be plenty of drama in England’s Northwest corner next season. With the resurgence of Man United, the current status of Man City, and with Liverpool and Everton showing that they want to get Merseyside back to the glory years of the 70’s and 80’s, it will be an exciting year with lots of success from the region. Do not be surprised if four of the top six or even four of the top five are clubs from the England’s historic football corner.