Tomorrow, Friday, the new season of the English Premier League (2024/2025) will kick off, with the first round opening with a match between Manchester United, the historic champion of the tournament with 20 titles, and its guest Fulham, tomorrow at Old Trafford Stadium.
United, led by Dutch coach Erik ten Hag, are seeking a different appearance after the team’s disappointment last season, when it finished eighth in the league standings, missing out on the next edition of the Champions League.
All eyes will be on Stamford Bridge, which will host the top match of the first stage of the tournament between Chelsea and its guest, Manchester City, the title holder for the last four seasons, next Sunday.
Manchester City seeks to exploit the great incentive of winning the Charity Shield when it played the match with Manchester United, and Manchester City decided the title in its favor by winning 7/6 on penalties.
The two teams’ meetings are always exciting, the most recent of which was last season, when they drew 4-4 in London and 1-1 in Manchester in the English Premier League, before City overcame Chelsea with great difficulty after beating them 1-0 at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-final. While the Spaniard Pep Guardiola continues his career with Manchester City, as he prepares to spend his ninth season in charge of the team, the Italian coach Enzo Maresca will make his first official appearance with Chelsea, after taking over the team’s coaching last June, succeeding the Argentine Mauricio Pochettino.
Chelsea are still looking for their first victory over their guest in more than 3 years, specifically since their 1-0 victory over them in May 2021 in the Champions League final.
Chelsea have failed to beat Manchester City in their last 8 official matches in various competitions, losing 6 and drawing 2.
In general, the two clubs’ meetings began in December 1907, where they met in 178 matches in all tournaments, with Chelsea having the advantage, achieving 71 victories, compared to 66 victories for Manchester City, while 41 matches ended in a draw.
In a second match, Liverpool, led by Egyptian international Mohamed Salah, will face hosts Ipswich Town, who have returned to the English Premier League, and whose captain is Egyptian midfielder Sam Morsy.
Salah will set a new record in the English Premier League if he scores in the match that will be held at Portman Road Stadium the day after tomorrow (Saturday).
Salah has scored eight goals in Liverpool’s opening Premier League games over the past seven seasons, making him the player with the most goals in the competition’s opening games, level with the retired trio of Alan Shearer, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney, who scored the same number of goals for their clubs in the first round of the season.
If Salah, who is preparing for his eighth season with Liverpool, scores against Ipswich Town, he will hold the record for the most goals scored in the opening rounds of the tournament.
The Ipswich clash will be the first official appearance for Arne Slot, the former Feyenoord Rotterdam manager who has become Liverpool’s manager, and who dreams of equaling Manchester United’s record as the club with the most Premier League titles. The Dutch coach took over from German Jurgen Klopp, who left Liverpool after the end of last season, which saw the Reds finish third.
In contrast, Arsenal, who came in second place in the league for the past two seasons, will face a tough test against their guest Wolverhampton, in London the day after tomorrow (Saturday).
Arsenal are looking to continue their dominance over Wolverhampton for the fifth consecutive match, after beating them in their last four meetings.
Arsenal, led by its Spanish coach, Mikel Arteta, wants to put an end to the bad luck that has plagued it, especially in the last two seasons in the tournament, in order to regain the title that has been absent from its coffers since the 2003/2004 season.
The opening round will witness several other strong matches, as Everton plays its guest Brighton, Newcastle United plays Southampton, Nottingham Forest plays Bournemouth, and West Ham United plays Aston Villa, the day after tomorrow (Saturday), while Brentford meets Crystal Palace, on Sunday.
The matches of this round will conclude with the match between Leicester City, which is back in the spotlight again, and its guest Tottenham Hotspur, next Monday.