English Premier League is back !! Real football is back ! And, obviously, Fantasy Premier League squads are up and ready to roll 😎
We begin the Game Week 1 (GW1) with Crystal Palace taking on Arsenal, a (one of a zillion) London derby to get us up and running. The Gunners (Arsenal’s nickname) have huge upgrades with the likes of Gabriel Jesus at striker and Oleksandr Zinchenko at left-back in defense from the defending champions Manchester City. Jesus has been in glittering form in the pre-season games having scored a hat-trick in the final pre-season game. Haha, no sweat 😤 Will these be the pieces for Arsenal’s fan favourite manager Mikel Arteta that elevates his team to that top-4, Champions League, level teams? We will wait and see !
The weekend begins with Liverpool visiting Craven Cottage to face Fulham while Chelsea travel to the shores of river Mersey, to face Everton (currently managed by former Chelsea player and legend, Frank Lampard). This will be a tough test for the Toffees (Everton’s nickname) as Chelsea look to put their new additions, Raheem Sterling from Man City, to test.
There is genuine excitement in Manchester as first the Reds, Manchester United, see the first glimpse of their new manager Erik ten Hag when United faces Brighton and Hove Albion at home. Secondly, as defending champions Man City unveil their hottest siginning, Erling Haaland at striker, to look and set the Premier League ablaze.
Liverpool beat Man City in the Community Shield (which is the curtain raiser for the next season) after City pipped Liverpool to win the Premier league title by a point (again 🤯). Will it be a two-way battle of the elites again? Or Will there be new party spoilers in Chelsea, Spurs (Tottenham), Man United and Arsenal ! We shall see (grabs popcorn 🫣😇)
Elsewhere in Europe, Bundesliga kicks off in Germany today with defending champions Bayern Munchen (Munich) take on Eintracht Frankfurt. Bayern have added the former Liverpool superstar Sadio Mane and former Juventus man Matthijs de Ligt to their squad while bidding farewell to their old pal, Robert (goal machine) Lewandowski.
Lyon takes on Ajaccio in French Ligue 1 while Spain will kick off the La Liga next week.
With the FIFA World Cup falling in the middle of regular season this year, it’s going to be a ever tricky task for the managers. Who’ll have the last laugh ? Who’ll have the most injuries to juggle with ? Will players lose form ? A lot coming ahead of us ! Stay tuned 😎
Ball in the Net 