After two near misses, look out for Arsenal
Off the back of not missing football one bit thanks to EURO 2024, the new club season is upon us just one month after Spain were crowned the kings of Europe. In the Premier League, Manchester City are the early favourites to make it five in a row, but could this be the season Arsenal end their drought?
They have been thereabouts two seasons in a row now. At one point during the season, Arsenal are right in the mix or even considered the frontrunners, but the unwavering aura surrounding the last few Man City teams has proved their undoing. The Londoners finished five points back in 2022/23 and just two in 2023/24.
But with Man City facing the 115 breaches that could, in theory, send them down to the North West Counties League Division One South – the hearing is scheduled to start mid-September and reach a verdict before the end of the season – and contract years for both Pep Guardiola and midfield maestro Kevin De Bruyne, they could well have enough on their hands to falter. City look fallible.
If not them, who else? Jürgen Klopp left Liverpool and was replaced by Arne Slot; although the jury is still out on the 45-year-old Dutchman, he certainly lacks the experience Klopp had. Slot has not experienced similar levels as either player or manager before. With Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk well into their thirties, it could take some time and possibly a learning curve before Liverpool are back to their best.
Aston Villa finished fourth last season, but will now face the expanded (since each team will play at least eight matches as opposed to six previously) challenge of balancing the burden of the Champions League. Realistically, they do not have the tools. Tottenham, fifth last season, are some way off – beautifully proven in the first round by allowing a 37-year-old Jamie Vardy to equalise on his return to the Premier League.
Who else? Chelsea, who have somewhere between 39 and 54 players on their books, including eight goalkeepers, first need to sort their mess (or build another dressing room); Newcastle are trying to balance the books despite unlimited funds; Man United still look way off from a functioning establishment. The rest are even further.
Arsenal would be better off with a proper striker, but they did score 91 goals in 38 games last season, so it can not be that bad, right? The 2:0 win over Wolverhampton was almost boring, words every manager loves to hear. They have come too far and too close to back off now.
Can they take all three points from a challenging away trip to Aston Villa and which other games to enjoy over the weekend?
All times listed below are in Eastern European Summer Time (GMT+3).
Aston Villa – Arsenal
Saturday 19:30
Speaking of challenges, Aston Villa won both games against Arsenal last season, accounting for 40 percent of their defeats (2/5). To date, they are the only side to beat Arsenal in the Premier League in 2024, a 2-0 away win in April. Villa started this season with a 2-1 win over West Ham with Jhon Duran scoring the winner – the 20-year-old Colombian has an interesting profile, as he has now scored 6 goals in the PL with one per 103 minutes, second only to Erling Haaland (85 min).
Arsenal can take solace from a near-perfect run in 2024 as they have won eight of their nine away games in the calendar year (1D) and 17 of 19 in total (1D 1L). In those nine away games, they have scored 28 times while conceding just thrice while keeping seven clean sheets. Kai Havertz is the man in form, he has ten goals and seven assists since February and started this season with another 1+1.
Real Madrid – Real Valladolid
Sunday 18:00
The reigning Spanish and European champions Real Madrid won the UEFA Super Cup to kick off the new season, but could not overcome a stubborn Mallorca side in their league opener (1-1). Furthermore, they have not won any of their last three La Liga matches (3D). Their record against Valladolid is perfect though, with five straight wins without conceding a goal; they have not lost a home game to Valladolid since May 2000 (11W 2D) while scoring 3.8 goals on average.
Followers of Estonian football know all well that Valladolid started the season with a 1-0 win over Espanyol which also marked the debut for goalkeeper Karl Hein; the 22-year-old Estonian had the perfect debut, but this will be a much tougher challenge. Valladolid has not won their first two games of a La Liga campaign since 2012/13.
Atletico Madrid – Girona
Sunday 22:30
After a disappointing fourth-place finish last season, Atletico coach Diego Simeone made notable moves in the transfer market to return to the summit. A 2-2 draw vs Villarreal on opening night was not the desired outcome, but Girona, who finished above them (3rd) in May, has been a rather comfortable opponent over the years (4W 3D 1L), especially at home (3W 1D).
Girona is also yet to find their footing after at least six key players left over the summer with new additions still adapting to the demands of coach Michel. And while the 1-1 away draw against Real Betis could be considered a positive result, the home side had 19 shots on the day, the most of any side in the first gameweek.
The Betis Babble
OlyBet is the proud betting partner of Real Betis.
Next game: Sunday 20:15 @ Alaves
Betis has had a busy transfer window without splashing too much cash, and many cogs are still moving. There is also the Conference League play-off to consider, with a trip to Slovakia to face Kryvbas – an Ukrainian side – this week. But games like the 1-1 draw vs Girona on MD1 need to be won if Betis aims to finish higher than seventh (as they did last season).
Alaves is another of those opponents – they have not won any of their last six home games vs Betis (3D 3L). Betis head coach Manuel Pellegrini has a particularly faultless record vs Alaves, with five wins and three draws without any losses.
