Here's the thread for the new 2022/23 season.
Premier league starts on Fri 5 Aug and finishes on Sun 28 May. Fixtures have just been released:
https://www.premierleague.com/fixtures
FA Cup 3rd round is on Sat 7 Jan with the final on Sat 3 Jun.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022-23_FA_Cup
League Cup starts on Wed 10 Aug and the final is on Sun 26 Feb.
Play-off finals will be Sat 27 May for League Two, Sun 28 May for League One, Mon 29 May for the Championship.
https://www.efl.com/news/key-dates/
English Football 2022/23
Club home and away pairings for the fixture list are as below.
Everton / Liverpool
Man Utd / Man City
Arsenal / Tottenham
Chelsea / Fulham
A Villa / Bournemouth
Brentford / West Ham
Brighton / Leeds
C Palace / Wolves
Leicester / Nottm Forest
Newcastle / Southampton
This year the first 4 pairings are the traditional derby neighbours that you would expect.
Some of the other teams need pairing with their neighbours in lower divisions to avoid conflicting home matches and pressure on police. Those should include Newcastle / Sunderland(2), A Villa / Birmingham(2), Southampton / Portsmouth(3), Nottm Forest / Notts County(5).
Everton / Liverpool
Man Utd / Man City
Arsenal / Tottenham
Chelsea / Fulham
A Villa / Bournemouth
Brentford / West Ham
Brighton / Leeds
C Palace / Wolves
Leicester / Nottm Forest
Newcastle / Southampton
This year the first 4 pairings are the traditional derby neighbours that you would expect.
Some of the other teams need pairing with their neighbours in lower divisions to avoid conflicting home matches and pressure on police. Those should include Newcastle / Sunderland(2), A Villa / Birmingham(2), Southampton / Portsmouth(3), Nottm Forest / Notts County(5).
Including the upcoming 2022/23 season, here are the total number of seasons spent by each club in the top flight (total history of 124 seasons):
Clubs with the longest top flight history who are absent this year include:
86 Sunderland
81 West Brom
73 Bolton
72 Blackburn
66 Sheffield Wed
65 Derby
62 Sheffield Utd
62 Stoke
61 Middlesbrough
59 Burnley
57 Birmingham
Interesting that all of the absent historical clubs are from the Midlands or the North, while the 6 current clubs with shortest top flight pedigree are all from the South.
Code: Select all
Top flight Current
seasons streak
Everton 120 69
Aston Villa 109 4
Liverpool 108 61
Arsenal 106 97
Man Utd 98 48
Man City 94 21
Newcastle 91 6
Tottenham 88 45
Chelsea 88 34
Wolves 68 5
West Ham 65 11
Nottm Forest 57 1 (23 year absence)
Leicester 55 9
Leeds 53 3
Southampton 46 11
Fulham 28 1 (1 year absence)
C Palace 23 10
Brighton 10 6
Brentford 7 2
Bournemouth 6 1 (2 year absence)
86 Sunderland
81 West Brom
73 Bolton
72 Blackburn
66 Sheffield Wed
65 Derby
62 Sheffield Utd
62 Stoke
61 Middlesbrough
59 Burnley
57 Birmingham
Interesting that all of the absent historical clubs are from the Midlands or the North, while the 6 current clubs with shortest top flight pedigree are all from the South.
Nketiah's new deal:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/61852053
He is our top scorer though.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/61852053
LOL, LOL, LOL. We finished bottom of our group in 2021...He is also the England Under-21s all-time top scorer with 16 goals in 17 appearances and captained the side that won the 2021 European Under-21 Championships.
He is our top scorer though.
Nick Pope has been rescued from Burnley by Newcastle.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/61917622
Suitors are sniffing around Kalvin Philips as well, so hopefully he too will be rescued from the Championship by someone.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/61917622
Suitors are sniffing around Kalvin Philips as well, so hopefully he too will be rescued from the Championship by someone.
Leeds didn't get relegated.Lorric wrote: ↑Thu Jun 23, 2022 21:55 Nick Pope has been rescued from Burnley by Newcastle.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/61917622
Suitors are sniffing around Kalvin Philips as well, so hopefully he too will be rescued from the Championship by someone.
Oh yeah, ha ha ha ha! I've just seen the stuff about Philips and thought so.Firnen wrote: ↑Thu Jun 23, 2022 22:00Leeds didn't get relegated.Lorric wrote: ↑Thu Jun 23, 2022 21:55 Nick Pope has been rescued from Burnley by Newcastle.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/61917622
Suitors are sniffing around Kalvin Philips as well, so hopefully he too will be rescued from the Championship by someone.
OUCH...
A blast from the past. The decline of all the players Robbie named is crazy. Arsenal...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShVvi-cbKAY
A blast from the past. The decline of all the players Robbie named is crazy. Arsenal...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShVvi-cbKAY
Time to start the previews (in last year's finishing position order)
Manchester City
An unusual amount of player turnover means the champions are in an unaccustomed position - over the last 2 windows they have the highest transfer profit in the division. Sterling, Jesus and Zinchenko have all gone to PL rivals, the former two in a move to cash in before their contracts run down.
Coming in to much fanfare is Erling Haaland. It is safe to say the expectations are somewhat higher than when his father signed for the club at the turn of the century. An archetypal number 9 will now lead the line for a club who have spent the past 2 seasons playing without a striker. More under the radar, but still likely to play a major part is Julian Alvarez from River Plate. Replacing Fernandinho in the engine room is England's Kalvin Phillips.
City start as strong favourites to retain the title. But there are weaknesses. Guardiola likes to run with a relatively small squad by megaclub standards, in an attempt to keep everyone happy with playing time. He has just 16 senior outfield players at his disposal, and only 6 defenders. All but Haaland and Mahrez will be headed to the World Cup. In general players take a while to adjust to playing under Guardiola. Cancelo, Sane, Silva, Mahrez all took until their second season to hit their stride. If the new signings take time to bed in the lack of depth could be exposed, particularly if injuries hit in a compressed schedule. If Haaland isn't firing or is injured, the secondary scoring of Sterling and Jesus may be missed. Related to this, it is a big second season for Jack Grealish, scorer of only 3 league goals last season. There could also be plenty of opportunities for 20 year old Cole Palmer, who got a bad injury just as he looked like establishing himself.
Ederson
(Ortega)
Walker Dias Laporte Cancelo
(Stones) (Ake)
Rodri
(Phillips)
B Silva De Bruyne
(Gundogan)
Mahrez Haaland Foden
(Grealish) (Alvarez) (Palmer)
Manchester City
An unusual amount of player turnover means the champions are in an unaccustomed position - over the last 2 windows they have the highest transfer profit in the division. Sterling, Jesus and Zinchenko have all gone to PL rivals, the former two in a move to cash in before their contracts run down.
Coming in to much fanfare is Erling Haaland. It is safe to say the expectations are somewhat higher than when his father signed for the club at the turn of the century. An archetypal number 9 will now lead the line for a club who have spent the past 2 seasons playing without a striker. More under the radar, but still likely to play a major part is Julian Alvarez from River Plate. Replacing Fernandinho in the engine room is England's Kalvin Phillips.
City start as strong favourites to retain the title. But there are weaknesses. Guardiola likes to run with a relatively small squad by megaclub standards, in an attempt to keep everyone happy with playing time. He has just 16 senior outfield players at his disposal, and only 6 defenders. All but Haaland and Mahrez will be headed to the World Cup. In general players take a while to adjust to playing under Guardiola. Cancelo, Sane, Silva, Mahrez all took until their second season to hit their stride. If the new signings take time to bed in the lack of depth could be exposed, particularly if injuries hit in a compressed schedule. If Haaland isn't firing or is injured, the secondary scoring of Sterling and Jesus may be missed. Related to this, it is a big second season for Jack Grealish, scorer of only 3 league goals last season. There could also be plenty of opportunities for 20 year old Cole Palmer, who got a bad injury just as he looked like establishing himself.
Ederson
(Ortega)
Walker Dias Laporte Cancelo
(Stones) (Ake)
Rodri
(Phillips)
B Silva De Bruyne
(Gundogan)
Mahrez Haaland Foden
(Grealish) (Alvarez) (Palmer)
No to Superleague
Liverpool
Overhauls of the forward department are going to be a theme in these previews. Salah and Mane both hit 30 and entered the last year of their contract so something had to give. Salah got his bumper contract but Mane has headed to Bayern. The new man is Darwin Nunez, who impressed in the CL with Benfica. Other than that it is mostly a case of running it back for Liverpool, other than adding a couple of promising youngsters for depth. Klopp has been there a long time now, the style of his team remains the same and it would be a shock if they do not contend for the title.
Alisson
(Kelleher)
Alexander-Arnold Van Dijk Matip Robertson
(Konate) (Gomez) (Tsimikas) (Ramsey)
Henderson Fabinho Thiago
(Milner) (Jones) (Keita) (Oxlade-Chamberlain)
Salah Nunez Diaz
(Jota) (Firmino) (Elliott) (Carvalho)
Overhauls of the forward department are going to be a theme in these previews. Salah and Mane both hit 30 and entered the last year of their contract so something had to give. Salah got his bumper contract but Mane has headed to Bayern. The new man is Darwin Nunez, who impressed in the CL with Benfica. Other than that it is mostly a case of running it back for Liverpool, other than adding a couple of promising youngsters for depth. Klopp has been there a long time now, the style of his team remains the same and it would be a shock if they do not contend for the title.
Alisson
(Kelleher)
Alexander-Arnold Van Dijk Matip Robertson
(Konate) (Gomez) (Tsimikas) (Ramsey)
Henderson Fabinho Thiago
(Milner) (Jones) (Keita) (Oxlade-Chamberlain)
Salah Nunez Diaz
(Jota) (Firmino) (Elliott) (Carvalho)
No to Superleague
Chelsea
This time last year I thought the addition of Lukaku would make Chelsea title challengers. Instead he bombed and is now back in Milan. A promising start to the season petered out, and poor penalty shootouts denied Chelsea in both domestic cup finals. The post Abramovich era begins with a search for new defenders following the departure of Rudiger, Christiansen and possibly Azpilicueta. Long time transfer gossip column staple Koulibaly is the first defensive recruit.
Chelsea have an outstanding academy. Last year several youth products were sold to fund Lukaku. Had Lukaku worked out this would look like smart business. Instead he's gone already and we have a defence shorn of its standout performers, relying on soon to be 38 year old Thiago Silva. They could really use those some of those sold defenders: Tomori just won Serie A, Guehi received an England call-up for his Palace performances, Livramento earned rave reviews at Southampton. The next conundrum: how best to use returning loanees Gallagher and Broja, and whether to blood Colwill who did well at Huddersfield.
Elsewhere we have - stop me if you've heard this before - a major addition to the forward line. The transfer of Raheem Sterling is a rare one that suits everyone. Chelsea get a serial title winner still in his prime, Manchester City get a decent fee for a player reaching the end of a contract, Sterling gets to be the main man again after things went a bit stale at the end of his time at City. He should fit Tuchel's style of play well, provided he strikes up a good relationship with Chilwell (or James).
Beyond Sterling there is a dizzying array of forward options. Havertz, Mount, Werner, Pulisic, Ziyech, Hudson-Odoi. They can't all fit in the squad so it would be no surprise to see some loan departures. Players you forgot they had are still knocking about (Batshuayi, Barley, Kenedy). Chelsea certainly have the largest squad in the division. However, when it comes to strongest XI they are behind City and Liverpool.
Mendy
(Kepa)
James Koulibaly T Silva Azpilicueta Chilwell
(Emerson) (Sarr) (Chalobah) (Alonso) (Kenedy) (Ampadu)
Kante Jorginho
(Kovacic) (Barkley) (Loftus-Cheek) (Gallagher) (Gilmour)
Sterling Havertz Mount
(Werner) (Pulisic) (Ziyech) (Hudson-Odoi) (Broja) (Batshuayi)
This time last year I thought the addition of Lukaku would make Chelsea title challengers. Instead he bombed and is now back in Milan. A promising start to the season petered out, and poor penalty shootouts denied Chelsea in both domestic cup finals. The post Abramovich era begins with a search for new defenders following the departure of Rudiger, Christiansen and possibly Azpilicueta. Long time transfer gossip column staple Koulibaly is the first defensive recruit.
Chelsea have an outstanding academy. Last year several youth products were sold to fund Lukaku. Had Lukaku worked out this would look like smart business. Instead he's gone already and we have a defence shorn of its standout performers, relying on soon to be 38 year old Thiago Silva. They could really use those some of those sold defenders: Tomori just won Serie A, Guehi received an England call-up for his Palace performances, Livramento earned rave reviews at Southampton. The next conundrum: how best to use returning loanees Gallagher and Broja, and whether to blood Colwill who did well at Huddersfield.
Elsewhere we have - stop me if you've heard this before - a major addition to the forward line. The transfer of Raheem Sterling is a rare one that suits everyone. Chelsea get a serial title winner still in his prime, Manchester City get a decent fee for a player reaching the end of a contract, Sterling gets to be the main man again after things went a bit stale at the end of his time at City. He should fit Tuchel's style of play well, provided he strikes up a good relationship with Chilwell (or James).
Beyond Sterling there is a dizzying array of forward options. Havertz, Mount, Werner, Pulisic, Ziyech, Hudson-Odoi. They can't all fit in the squad so it would be no surprise to see some loan departures. Players you forgot they had are still knocking about (Batshuayi, Barley, Kenedy). Chelsea certainly have the largest squad in the division. However, when it comes to strongest XI they are behind City and Liverpool.
Mendy
(Kepa)
James Koulibaly T Silva Azpilicueta Chilwell
(Emerson) (Sarr) (Chalobah) (Alonso) (Kenedy) (Ampadu)
Kante Jorginho
(Kovacic) (Barkley) (Loftus-Cheek) (Gallagher) (Gilmour)
Sterling Havertz Mount
(Werner) (Pulisic) (Ziyech) (Hudson-Odoi) (Broja) (Batshuayi)
No to Superleague
Tottenham
Optimism abounds after a strong second half of the season under Conte. He likes his wing backs, and has brought in both old (Perisic) and young (Djed Spence, the standout defender from last season's second tier). Richarlison, Lenglet and Bissouma add options to cope with the compressed schedule.
In Kane and Son Spurs have the most effective forward pairing around. Richarlison will have a hard time getting regular starts if both stay fit. Spurs excel at the counter attacking game against top teams, the question for them as always is how to prevent dropping points against the bottom half teams. Big things are expected of Perisic who did so well under Conte at Inter. Taking a 33 year old wing back from Serie A is not without risk; I am reminded of Maicon's ill fated year in the Premier League, Spurs fans will hope I am wrong.
Conte is a combustible chap, and when he decides he doesn't like a player there is rarely a way back. Regulion and Winks appear to be among those bombed out. Don't bet against someone else joining them over the course of the season.
The Spurs heirachy will regard CL qualification as the yardstick of success. For the fanbase, a trophy of any sort would be the preference. It is now 15 seasons since the last one. The Conference League was a real missed opportunity in that regard.
Lloris
(Forster)
Perisic Sanchez Dier Romero Royal
(Lenglet) (Sessegnon) (Davies) (Spence) (Regulion) (Tanganga) (Doherty) (Rodon)
Betancur Bissouma Kulusevski
(Hojbjerg) (Winks) (Skipp)
Son Kane
(Richarlison) (Moura) (Lo Celso)
Optimism abounds after a strong second half of the season under Conte. He likes his wing backs, and has brought in both old (Perisic) and young (Djed Spence, the standout defender from last season's second tier). Richarlison, Lenglet and Bissouma add options to cope with the compressed schedule.
In Kane and Son Spurs have the most effective forward pairing around. Richarlison will have a hard time getting regular starts if both stay fit. Spurs excel at the counter attacking game against top teams, the question for them as always is how to prevent dropping points against the bottom half teams. Big things are expected of Perisic who did so well under Conte at Inter. Taking a 33 year old wing back from Serie A is not without risk; I am reminded of Maicon's ill fated year in the Premier League, Spurs fans will hope I am wrong.
Conte is a combustible chap, and when he decides he doesn't like a player there is rarely a way back. Regulion and Winks appear to be among those bombed out. Don't bet against someone else joining them over the course of the season.
The Spurs heirachy will regard CL qualification as the yardstick of success. For the fanbase, a trophy of any sort would be the preference. It is now 15 seasons since the last one. The Conference League was a real missed opportunity in that regard.
Lloris
(Forster)
Perisic Sanchez Dier Romero Royal
(Lenglet) (Sessegnon) (Davies) (Spence) (Regulion) (Tanganga) (Doherty) (Rodon)
Betancur Bissouma Kulusevski
(Hojbjerg) (Winks) (Skipp)
Son Kane
(Richarlison) (Moura) (Lo Celso)
No to Superleague
Arsenal
Arsenal really ought to have qualified for the Champions League last season. That they did not has hampered their recruitment efforts. That said, Gabriel Jesus, who previously worked with Arteta at City, should be a shrewd acquisition. He's still only 25, and at the very least will provide a work rate lacking in Aubameyang or Lacazette.
There's a core of good young players here: Saka, Smith-Rowe, Nkeitah. Will being a year older and wiser push them into the CL? I'm intrigued as to whether returning loanee Saliba will get a chance in defence, and whether Zinchenko will be deployed in midfield or defence. The weakness appears to be the base of midfield, where Xhaka is somehow still a fixture. Arsenal now have a Vieira again, in the form of Portuguese playmaker Fabio. What they would give for another Patrick Vieira in the midfield!
This feels like a make or break season for Arteta. He's been given the opportunity to shape the squad in his image. The team shape is broadly influenced by the Guardiola type approach, Arteta having worked with him before joining Arsenal. The missteps of previous managers have largely been moved on, other than Pepe. Now the rebuild is due for fruition. Arteta will either be lauded for taking Arsenal back to the CL, or out of a job.
Ramsdale
(Leno)
Tomiyasu Gabriel White Tierney
(Saliba) (Zinchenko) (Tavares) (Holding) (Cedric) (Mari)
Xhaka Partey
(Elneny) (Torreira) (Maitland-Niles) (Sambi)
Smith-Rowe Odegaard Saka
(Pepe) (Vieira) (Martinelli) (Nelson)
Jesus
(Nkeitah)
Arsenal really ought to have qualified for the Champions League last season. That they did not has hampered their recruitment efforts. That said, Gabriel Jesus, who previously worked with Arteta at City, should be a shrewd acquisition. He's still only 25, and at the very least will provide a work rate lacking in Aubameyang or Lacazette.
There's a core of good young players here: Saka, Smith-Rowe, Nkeitah. Will being a year older and wiser push them into the CL? I'm intrigued as to whether returning loanee Saliba will get a chance in defence, and whether Zinchenko will be deployed in midfield or defence. The weakness appears to be the base of midfield, where Xhaka is somehow still a fixture. Arsenal now have a Vieira again, in the form of Portuguese playmaker Fabio. What they would give for another Patrick Vieira in the midfield!
This feels like a make or break season for Arteta. He's been given the opportunity to shape the squad in his image. The team shape is broadly influenced by the Guardiola type approach, Arteta having worked with him before joining Arsenal. The missteps of previous managers have largely been moved on, other than Pepe. Now the rebuild is due for fruition. Arteta will either be lauded for taking Arsenal back to the CL, or out of a job.
Ramsdale
(Leno)
Tomiyasu Gabriel White Tierney
(Saliba) (Zinchenko) (Tavares) (Holding) (Cedric) (Mari)
Xhaka Partey
(Elneny) (Torreira) (Maitland-Niles) (Sambi)
Smith-Rowe Odegaard Saka
(Pepe) (Vieira) (Martinelli) (Nelson)
Jesus
(Nkeitah)
No to Superleague
The Championship season started last night. Burnley did 301 passes in the first half of their 1-0 win at Huddersfield. They only did that many in 90 minutes twice last season.
No to Superleague