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Here we go again! Just 82 days after Manchester City lifted the Premier League trophy the new season dawns with newly promoted Brentford bringing up the curtain on their first top flight season since 1947 at home to Arsenal. With the European champions, the 2020 English champions Liverpool, the current holders and an ambitious, big spending Manchester United in the mix this promises to be a fascinating season at the top of the table. There could be plenty of drama in the lower reaches as well as well-run new additions such as Norwich join the division and those who struggled last season look to arrest their slide.

Team guides

We'll be taking a look in further depth at our predicted top seven over the coming days -- stay tuned to this page for deep dives into the Premier League's biggest clubs:

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Player of the season

With Manchester City the favorites to win the division the logical answer might be to just pick their best player and assume he will win it. Certainly if Kevin De Bruyne plays more games he will be well placed while newcomer Jack Grealish and/or Harry Kane should he move to the Etihad Stadium and excel could be in the mix. 

Away from the likely champions, if N'Golo Kante picks up where he left off he will carry a lot of votes. The same might be true for Virgil van Dijk if he makes a triumphant return. Narrative counts and for that reason the most tempting contender might just be Jadon Sancho, one of the best players in the world at his position and yet curiously underappreciated in his homeland. Should Manchester United mount a convincing title challenge -- something they are perhaps only a top quality anchoring midfielder away from -- then it may just be that their new attacker gets a lot of the credit.

Golden Boot winner

Given the drama swirling around him it seems at least plausible that Harry Kane's goal scoring form will drop off at long last. He is not the only English striker who might not be at the top of the charts next season; Jamie Vardy will still get a healthy diet of penalties for Leicester but his scoring has tailed off somewhat as Kelechi Iheanacho's has improved. 

Of the other consistent presences at the top of the scoring charts over recent years Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang may not return to peak form now he is in his 30s, Sergio Aguero is gone and Raheem Sterling's future at Manchester City seems insecure. As such Mohamed Salah feels like the logical choice by default, even in what felt like a down year in 2021-22 he scored 22 league goals, just one fewer than Kane.

Golden Glove winner

Chelsea had the best defense in the Premier League after Thomas Tuchel's appointment and it was not particularly close -- Edouard Mendy may well get the prize this season. But perhaps the reason for the gulf between the Blues and the rest was the absence of Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and even Joel Matip from the Liverpool side. With that trio back and Ibrahima Konate added to the squad this may be an altogether quieter season for Alisson.

Signing of the season

After throwing a quarter of a billion dollars at the problem over the last seven years if Ben White proves to be the center back that Arsenal have always needed then this one may not be all that close but for now, with just a year of Premier League football to his name, $70 million feels a high price to pay. Of the big clubs Manchester United will surely be most pleased with their business, both Sancho and Raphael Varane will be leading contenders for this honor.

Away from the top four Aston Villa's signing of Emiliano Buendia is an astute pick up to help them weather a post-Grealish storm while the loan with $13 million option West Ham agreed for Alphonse Areola looks to be a sniff for one of the league's best goalkeepers last season. Still it is another former Fulham player who might be the best pick up of the window. Joachim Andersen looked to be the complete package in his first season in the Premier League and offers some energy and discipline to Patrick Vieira's youth drive at Crystal Palace.

Surprise package

If their form starts to reflect their underlying statistics from last season then there may be a few who are shocked to see Brighton and Hove Albion rifle up the table, while the fact that Leeds picked up the fourth most points in the second half of the season suggests they could do even better than last year's ninth placed finish.

And yet a team that may yet do far more than is expected of them is Norwich City. It is a story we have seen before in the Premier League: a one season dalliance with the top flight, an immediate bounce back and a far better second bite of the cherry. Buendia may have left but the likes of Todd Cantwell and Max Aarons remain, supplemented by smart younger additions including Milot Rashica and Billy Gilmour. Daniel Farke is a fearless, engaging manager who will have learned a great deal from relegation in 2019-20. He may well do better this time out.

Potential disappointments

The extent to which Southampton tapered off from January onwards means that they perhaps ought to be looking over their shoulders whilst it is hard to shake the sense that another year with little investment in the Burnley squad might be asking too much of Sean Dyche.

Higher up the table, the great leap forward might not come just yet for Aston Villa now that they have lost Grealish. For all that they have replaced their talisman with Premier League experience it will take time for Danny Ings, Emiliano Buendia and Leon Bailey to adapt and indeed for Grealish's former teammates to adapt to this new side.

Villa were another side to taper off last season, from Christmas onwards their opponents had a higher expected goals than all bar three other teams, and in attacking terms Dean Smith will have a great deal to do to restructure his side without its star man. 

Premier League table prediction

Pos.Team

1

Manchester City

2

Chelsea

3

Manchester United

4

Liverpool

5

Leicester City

6

Arsenal

7

Tottenham

8

Leeds

9

Everton

10

West Ham

11

Brighton and Hove Albion

12

Aston Villa

13

Crystal Palace

14

Norwich City

15

Wolverhampton Wanderers

16

Newcastle United

17

Brentford

18

Burnley

19

Southampton

20

Watford