(Photo courtesy of Manchester City)
By Dennis Mungai
Ladies and gentlemen, finally! It’s time. The new season is here with us. The 2023/24 English Premier League starts today, 11th August at 10pm Kenyan time with defending champions Manchester City travelling to newly- promoted Burnley. It will be a case of student versus teacher as Burnley’s head coach Vincent Kompany welcomes his former manager Pep Guardiola, with whom he served as captain when City won the 2017/18 season. City are favorites to win the season for a fourth time in a row, becoming the first team in English football history to do so.
Their arch- rivals Manchester United open the season with a home game against Wolves on Monday. New signing Rasmus Hojlund is out with an injury but new goalkeeper Andre Onana is expected to make his official Premier League debut in that match. The former Ajax ‘keeper was brought in to replace De Gea and is hoping to make a better start after conceding an embarrassing long range lob during their pre season game against Lens. Mason Mount is also expected to make an impact amidst growing pressure after his move from Chelsea and now wearing the number 7 shirt, having been worn by greats like Cristiano Ronaldo and Eric Cantona.
Chelsea face a tough start; they welcome Liverpool to Stamford Bridge. Christopher Nkunku is out and will not feature in this game. Chelsea seem to have found an attacking rhythm under new manager, Mauricio Pochettino. But whether that was just pre- season luck or is a sign of good things to come will be determined by how they start the season. Spurs travel to Brentford to start their season under new head coach Ange Postecoglou. Brighton welcome newly- promoted Luton town, Everton face Fulham and Crystal Palace travelled to Sheffield United.
Surprise top four finishers Newcastle welcome Aston Villa, while last season’s runners- up Arsenal welcome Nottingham Forest, the team that beat them last time to crown City champions. Their win against Man City to win the Community Shield has bolstered confidence among the fans and may hope to give the Cityzens another proper fight for the title this season.
The season is set to conclude on May 2024 and will be quite the normal season, compared to the previous three which had various interruptions like COVID-19 pandemic, the death of Queen Elizabeth and the 2022 FIFA World Cup.