The English Premier League is BACK! The biggest league in the world returns for the 2023/24 season with Pep's City looking to win the trophy for a fourth time in a row. Can The Gunners fire back to win or will there be a Newcastle revolution playing a different 'toon'. Our football experts looks at three top matches from the opening weekend.

 

Burnley vs Manchester City (Friday 19:00 UTC)

The highly anticipated 2023/34 Premier League campaign kicks off this Friday. Pep Guardiola’s side make the trip to Turf Moor to take on newly promoted side Burnley for a 20.00 BST kick off. There’ll likely be a great reception from the away fans towards Burnley’s manager, Vincent Kompany. The former City centre back begins his premier league campaign against the side he captained for eight out of his eleven years at the club - going down as one of the greatest Premier League defenders. There’ll be no love lost here though, with City keen to continue their English football dominance and Burnley desperate to get some early points on the board.  

The sides last met in the 22/23 FA Cup Quarter Final, where an Erling Haaland hat trick as well as goals from Julian Alvarez (two) and England U21’s Cole Palmer separated the sides. The game eventually finished 6–0, showing the gulf between European supremacy and championship promotion level. The clarets will be hoping they provide more of a stern test to Guardiola’s side this time around, with home advantage to help. 

Both sides have bolstered their squad ahead of the new season. Euro U21 winning star James Trafford will be hoping to make his Burnley debut on Friday, as well as fellow summer signings Jordan Beyer, Dara O’Shea and Zeki Amdouni. Trafford spent his youth career at Manchester City, from 2015-2021, before spending three seasons on loan, first at Accrington Stanley followed by a two year spell at Bolton Wanderers. Burnley will have both Trafford and manager Kompany with links to the reigning champions. He signed for Burnley on the back of a heroic Euro U21 campaign for England, part of the defence that did not concede a goal throughout the whole tournament and saving a last minute penalty in the final to keep the score 1-0. 

City have added Mateo Kovacic and Josko Gvardiol to the squad, replacing Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan. Both will be available to start here, but it may come a bit too early for recent signing Gvardiol who will more likely start on the bench. 

Burnley endured a successful 5 year spell in the Premier league dating from the 15/16 season to the 21/22 season, including a record 7th placed finish in 17/18. The Clarets will be hoping to establish themselves as a regular in the premier league once again. History against Manchester City doesn’t look promising for Burnley here, conceding 25 times since last scoring against them. To put this into detail, they have faced City on seven occasions since last scoring against them in 2019 in a 4-1 defeat. 

Burnley face the toughest of tasks to open their 23/24 campaign here, and it’s hard to oppose this Man City side that completed the treble last season. City are available at odds of 1.297 to take the win here, or the attractive odds of 1.877 if backing the -1.5 handicap. 

 

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Chelsea vs Liverpool (Sunday 15:30 UTC)

Perhaps the most anticipated game of the opening weekend takes place on Sunday, as Chelsea host Liverpool at Stamford Bridge in a 16.30 BST kick off. These two Premier League heavyweights go head to head after disappointing seasons last year, especially for the side from London finishing a disappointing 12th. Newly appointed manager Mauricio Pochettino will be hoping to kick off his tenure as Chelsea boss in style, after a promising pre-season with some pleasing displays. 

The Chelsea boss will be aiming to guide his side back into the top four race and amongst the top sides. With this in mind, Pochettino has made a big overhaul to the squad that disappointed last season. Their summer arrivals include; Christopher Nkunku, Axel Disasi, Nicolas Jackson, Lesley Ugochukwu, Robert Sanchez and Angelo. Some of their departures include; Kai Havertz, Mason Mount, Kovacic, Koulibaly, Loftus Cheek and goalkeeper Eduoard Mendy. This huge overhaul doesn't sound over just yet, with heavy ongoing speculation around Moises Caicedo and Crystal Palace’s Michael Olise. 

Liverpool have had quite a few departures themselves, losing numerous midfielders and plenty of their leading figures, none more so than captain Jordan Henderson. It was public knowledge that Liverpool needed a complete midfield overhaul, failing to freshen up the midfield in recent years which has ultimately led to the side slowing down and falling behind the likes of Manchester City. Fabinho, James Milner and Jordan Henderson have all now departed Liverpool, with Milner heading south to Brighton whilst Henderson and Fabinho head to Saudi Arabia. 

Including Roberto Firmino, another player that has left to the Saudi league, the reds have lost a large number of their senior players that were heavily involved in Liverpool’s recent domestic and European success. Liverpool fans will have hoped to bring in more than what they have so far, with only two arrivals at the club this summer. World Cup star Alexis Macallister and Dominick Szoboszlai are the only two of their arrivals so far, causing concern for the fans. Although both have impressed during pre-season and will both play a huge part this season, Liverpool are crying out for a Fabinho replacement, with the hope that Southampton’s Lavia will fill the void in the coming days, after a fourth bid was made. 

Both sides have endured decent pre-seasons. Chelsea slightly the better, winning three out of their five fixtures, facing zero losses. Liverpool’s results show three wins, one loss and one draw in their five pre-season fixtures, with the loss coming against German giants Bayern Munich. Chelsea also competed in tougher fixtures, facing fellow Premier League sides Brighton and Newcastle, as well as the likes of Borussia Dortmund. 

Interestingly, the last four fixtures between the sides have resulted in a 0-0 stalemate. Although my prediction would be for both teams to score here, based on question marks over both defences as well as their attacking prowess. Both teams to score is available at 1.555. If you’re backing the win, Liverpool are slight favourites here at 2.420, with Chelsea available at 2.950. With a lot of question marks over both sides as to how they’ll integrate new signings, especially in Chelsea’s case, it looks set to be an exciting match up at the bridge. 

 

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Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest (Saturday 11:30 UTC)

Arsenal will hope to be challenging for the premier league once again this season, opening their campaign with a visit from Nottingham Forest. Without a trophy to show for it, Arsenal had a successful season last year, showing huge improvement and back challenging for titles. Manager Mikel Arteta has not become complacent on the back of this, striving to again improve by bringing in a few big names. The Gunners biggest summer investment, by some distance, is West Ham’s former captain, Declan Rice. 

Rice had been at the forefront of huge speculation all summer before committing to Arsenal on a long term contract. The £100 fee, which rises to £105m with realistic add-ons , makes Rice the most expensive British player ever, showing Arsenal’s drive to go one better and compete on all fronts. 

As well as Rice, the North London club have also signed Jurrien Timber, Kai Havertz and David Raya to provide competition to Aaron Ramsdale. Their business has been select but efficient this summer. With European football now factored into Arsenal’s season, there was a need for squad depth and adding further quality to the midfield with the departure of Granit Xhaka. 

Forest have also strengthened in the summer, with the additions of Anthony Elanga, Matt Turner and New Zealander Chris Wood. They’ve also kept their squad from last season, with no notable departures. 

Arsenal face a few injury concerns ahead of their season opener.Both Zinchenko and Elneny did not feature in pre-season, but reports are that Zinchenko could be nearing full fitness and a return to the matchday squad. Gabriel Jesus will be out for a couple of weeks after a minor knee injury. Forest have some injury concerns themselves. Omar Richards is nearing a return after a year out while Wayne Hennessey, Felipe and Moussa Niakhate are out. Similarly to Arsenal, their main concern revolves around their main striker, with Taiwo Awoniyi remaining doubtful due to an ankle injury. 

Confidence will be oozing around the Arsenal camp on the back of last season and their community shield win over Manchester City. Trossard levelled the scores deep in injury time, taking the game to penalties where Arsenal triumphed 4-1. 

Last time the pair met, Forest came out on top in a 1-0 victory. Although, I wouldn't take too much from this result. Arsenal had all but lost the league at this point, with two games in hand and a point ahead. The league had already been lost following a string of draws, so motivation had dipped to an all time low amongst the Arsenal camp who had already secured champions league football. Prior to this result, Arsenal came out convincing 5-0 winners in October. My prediction is the result will be similar this weekend, judging from Arsenal’s community shield performance and their summer arrivals. Arsenal are heavy favourites for this one, available at 1.189 with Forest at big odds of 15.110. 

 

Full list of Premier League fixtures - Matchday One

 

Friday 11th August

Burnley vs Manchester City

 

Saturday 12th August

Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest

Bournemouth vs West Ham United

Brighton vs Luton Town

Everton vs Fulham

Sheffield United vs Crystal Palace

Newcastle United vs Aston Villa

 

Sunday 13th August

Brentford vs Tottenham Hotspur

Chelsea vs Liverpool

 

Monday 14th August 

Manchester United v Wolves

 

**Odds are subject to change. Odds accurate as of 11:00 UTC Thursday 10th August**

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