Man City’s Savio (centre) celebrates with his teammates in the win over Man United in the Community Shield last weekend. The Citizens face a potentially tougher task in the league clash against Chelsea today. — Reuters
Chelsea should provide some good ‘ol early season resistance
SEEKING a historic fifth successive English Premier League title, Manchester City travel to London today for the opener of their new campaign.
Stamford Bridge will be the destination, where Enzo Maresca starts his tenure as Chelsea’s head coach.
Having taken over the Blues in the off-season, the Italian faces a tall order with the visit of Pep Guardiola’s champions.
Given that this will be the first league outing of the 2024-25 season, and coming as it does after a long and absorbing three months since the end of last season due to the Euros 2024 in Germany and the Paris Olympic Games, one cannot write too much into what we might expect from either.
But if there was one thing most folk would back – it would be a victory for Man City.
Guardiola and his gallant squad set a precedent in the Premier League when they claimed a fourth straight league title last season, and have done little, or nothing, to disguise their intent for a fifth on the trot.
The Citizens acquired 20-year-old Savio from Troyes for £33.6mil in this transfer window and let Julian Alvarez go to La Liga’s Atletico Madrid in an £82mil move.
By and large, that has been the only transfer business that Man City have done this summer.
But they have also been tied up with the 115 charges for alleged breaches of Premier League financial rules, brought against them by the English Football Association that Sky Sports News reported “an independent commission is set to rule on in mid-September.
“It is expected the formal hearing will go on for around 10 weeks, but a decision is unlikely to be made public before the spring of 2025.”
It was originally expected to start in November, Sky Sports added.
In contrast, Chelsea have had a handful of players hit the exit door, and similarly, a healthy number come into the side.
Pedro Neto’s signing from Wolves for £54mil has been their top buy so far, followed by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s arrival from Leicester for £30mil and Estevao Willian’s move from Palmeiras for £29.1mil.
Ian Maatsen’s transfer to Aston Villa for £37.5mil, Lewis Hall shipped off to Newcastle United for £28mil and Omari Hutchinson’s switch to Ipswich for £18mil, have been the key transfers out.
It should be interesting to see how these giants of the English game do in the early stages of the season – although Man City should get past the blues without too much of a sweat.
Arsenal welcoming Wolves and Newcastle entertaining Southampton should also be fixtures that excite many.
Wolves’ visit to the Emirates Stadium in London will be of particular interest to not only the fans, but also those who want to see the Gunners go one better than their runner-up finish last season.
Arsenal have been installed to finish in the top three by more than just a few fans and a good start – a win over Wolves in this case – would certainly do their confidence a world of good.
