Man City Begin Title Defence with Visit to West Ham

After a not too convincing performance against Liverpool in the Community Shield last weekend  where they lost 3-1, Premier League defending champions, Manchester United will on Sunday begin their title defence against a tricky West Ham side at the London Stadium

David Moyes’ West Ham United side will today kick off a new Premier League season, at home, against reigning champions, Manchester City.

West Ham are coming off of a season that they and their fans will long remember, both for its spectacular highs (the run to the Europa League semifinals) and disappointments (the slip-ups down the stretch that cost them a top-six finish).

Man City, meanwhile, took care of business in the Premier League, winning 29 times and losing just three in 38 outings, and nipping Liverpool by a single point for the league title. City, of course, have a monumental disappointment of their own from last season upon which to reflect. Theirs comes from the semifinals of the Champions League, in which despite seemingly having Real Madrid down for the count, with a 5-3 aggregate lead with less than seven minutes to play, City conceded twice, allowing extra time, during which Real Madrid scored the decisive goal that sent them to the Champions League Final.

These sides met three times last season: first, in late October in the Carabao Cup, and then in November and May in the Premier League. West Ham emerged victorious in the League Cup (1-0), before falling 2-1 to City a month later at the Etihad and then holding the champions to a 2-2 draw at the London Stadium late in the year. Looking back a bit further, these sides produced an identical set of league results in 2020-21, with Man City winning 2-1 at home, and the sides drawing, this time 1-1, in London.

Both of these sides have made a relatively small number of acquisitions in this summer transfer window, but the moves that have made promise to be hugely impactful.

West Ham made four acquisitions: 23-year-old striker Gianluca Scamacca, who scored 25 goals in 64 appearances (all competitions) over the past two years in loan spells with Genoa in Serie A and Ascoli in Serie B, was acquired for roughly £28 million from his parent club, Sassuolo. Center back Nayef Aguerd was acquired for a similar fee from French Stade Rennais, while goalkeeper Alphonse Areola’s loan from PSG was made permanent for a fee of just under £8 million pounds.

Additionally, the hammers acquired 23-year-old central midfielder Flynn Downes from Swansea for a fee of roughly £9 million. Meanwhile the most notable losses for the Hammers were club talisman Mark Noble, who retired at the age of 35, and winger Andriy Yarmolenko, who, at age 32, left on a free for Al-Ain FC in the United Arab Emirates.

Man City, meanwhile, have made a relatively small number of additions to their Premier League-winning side. However, what they lack numbers, they’re likely to make up for in impact. First and foremost, up front, City were the winners in the seemingly years-long sweepstakes to sign 21-year-old Norwegian phenom Erling Braut Haaland, who they signed for a fee of £51 million  from Borussia Dortmund. Secondly, they added standout central midfielder Kalvin Phillips from Leeds United, for a fee of £42 million.

City’s departures, it must be said, promise to be far more impactful. Perhaps most notably, Raheem Sterling is off to Chelsea for a fee of roughly £45 million pounds, while Gabrielle Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko also left for London, joining Arsenal in separate deals for a combined total of just over £70 million. Finally, City farewell to its own midfield mainstay, as Fernandinho, Man City’s rock in the middle for nearly a decade, was allowed to leave on a free transfer.

At age 37, he’s returned to his native Brazil, where he joined Serie A side Athletico Paranaense.

One of the most intriguing fixtures on the opening weekend of the 2022-23 Premier League campaign will take place at Goodison Park today, as Everton welcome Chelsea in the late start.

The Toffees finished down in 16th position last season, only narrowly avoiding relegation to the Championship, while Chelsea were third, five points clear of fifth-place Arsenal in the battle for the Champions League spots.

The Toffees remain one of six English clubs to have never been relegated from the Premier League, but they had been picked out as possible European challengers last term, and the only real positive was that they managed to finish above the bottom three, with Frank Lampard helping to secure survival after being appointed in January.

The 2021-22 campaign ended with a 5-1 defeat at Arsenal, but Lampard managed to steer the club to safety, finishing on 39 points, boasting a record of 11 wins, six draws and 21 defeats from 38 matches.

Everton have only managed to sign three players in the current market, bringing in James Tarkowski and Dwight McNeil from Burnley, with the former available on a free transfer, while Ruben Vinagre has made the move to Goodison Park on loan from Sporting Lisbon.

Lampard will be desperate to get one over on his former club this weekend, and a positive result against the Blues would lead them nicely into matches against Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, Brentford and Leeds United before the end of the month.

Chelsea, meanwhile, managed to finish third in the Premier League last season despite the off-the-field issues regarding their ownership, so they will again play in the Champions League this term.

The Blues have managed to boost their squad with four players this summer, bringing in Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Carney Chukwuemeka and Gabriel Slonina, but they are still short of a centre-forward following Romelu Lukaku’s return to Inter Milan on loan.

Meanwhile, two key defenders in the shape of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen have left on free transfers this summer, and head coach Thomas Tuchel has not been pleased with the club’s pre-season.

The London giants will enter this match off the back of a 3-1 win over Udinese last Friday, but they lost to both Charlotte FC and Arsenal during their pre-season tour of the United States, with the Gunners beating them 4-0, which led to a host of criticism from Tuchel.

Chelsea will welcome Tottenham Hotspur in their second match of the season next weekend, so there is pressure on the team to start the campaign with a positive result, but it remains to be seen whether the capital outfit are entirely ready for the return of competitive action.