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Oliver Glasner has introduced a 3-4-2-1 formation at Forest. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PAAfter a chaotic season under four different coaches, Forest fans will be hoping Oliver Glasner can bring some stabilityGuardian writers’ predicted position: 11th (NB: this is not necessarily Will Unwin’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)Oliver Glasner’s arrival has resulted, as one would expect, in a change in formation. The Austrian has introduced the 3-4-2-1 set-up that brought him success at Crystal Palace. It will take time for Nottingham Forest’s players to adapt to the new system but there have been positive signs in pre-season. Importantly, the club has three high-quality centre-backs to form the foundation of Glasner’s masterplan.Going through four head coaches in a season is never a good sign and the hope among Forest fans will be that Glasner provides the long-term stability they all crave. The team became engulfed in a relegation battle in the previous campaign as players jumped from one style to another at a moment’s notice. With Glasner at the helm things should be more straightforward, not that Forest make life easy for themselves. A lack of European football will no doubt help the squad. The talent available is also better than has been the case previously, and a more settled environment should be beneficial for Dan Ndoye and Dilane Bakwa who faced difficult first years in the Premier League.Forest are seeking to sign a new striker, with Chris Wood’s injury record and ageing body raising questions about the 34-year-old’s ability to lead the line for a full season. Liam Delap is of interest and feels like the ideal candidate if Forest can prise him away from Chelsea, albeit the 23-year-old will not come cheap.Evangelos Marinakis has launched legal action against Crystal Palace after some of their fans produced a derogatory banner about the Forest owner. That grabbed plenty of headlines, something the Greek shipping magnate is more than used to. Meanwhile, plans to expand the City Ground from 30,500 to 52,500 are awaiting planning approval from the local council, with next summer the most likely time for the project to start should it be given the green light. The process has taken a long time but when construction on this scale is involved, requiring the demolition of properties, the road is rarely smooth.Ticket prices were a sticking point for fans last season, especially in the Europa League. Forest had to drop prices after poor sales. Season tickets were frozen to soften the tension. Overall, Marinakis is generally popular thanks to Forest’s success in recent years but his hire and fire attitude when it comes to coaches leads to plenty of dissenting voices.It came as a surprise when Vítor Pereira was dismissed and replaced by Glasner. The Portuguese had done a good job in steadying the ship and the Austrian had recently left Palace, who have beef with Forest. Glasner is undeniably an upgrade on Pereira, however, and his style fits the personnel available to him in Nottingham. Glasner fell out with those above him at Palace over transfer dealings and will certainly need to have a better relationship with the City Ground hierarchy.Forest finished 16th in the league table and Opta’s expected points standings last season. That hardly represents the full story for the first team in Premier League history to appoint four permanent managers in one campaign. Not one of them left the role having overseen a positive expected goal difference in 2025-26. Can Glasner improve the team’s underlying performance? He is unlikely to last long at the City Ground if not.Gone are the days where Forest sign anyone and everyone. Ousmane Diomande is the only signing, at the time of writing, to have cost the club any money this summer, with £34m spent to secure the Ivorian defender from Sporting. He is hugely admired by Glasner and, aged 22, is a solid investment, someone who can slot in straight away but should also develop for years to come.James McAtee’s first season in Nottingham was underwhelming to say the least. He could not get into the team, blocked by Morgan Gibbs-White and never likely to oust him. Some expected McAtee to have left by now but he remains and could have accidentally become Elliot Anderson’s replacement in central midfield after Forest failed to acquire Lucas Bergvall. A gifted player with the ball at his feet, McAtee has the right attributes for the role when in possession but will need to be more aggressive and disciplined off the ball to thrive.Ola Aina is one of football’s more charismatic players and, without the prospect of being at the World Cup after Nigeria failed to qualify, he got to have some lovely time away from the pitch. Aina paintballed with Fikayo Tomori, went to the French Open and Wimbledon and made it to the pits at the British Grand Prix. He must surely be reinvigorated for the new season.

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Early Kick Off show on before Hull v Manchester UnitedMatch previews available free-to-air for the first timeTNT Sports will make the first 30 minutes of their live Premier League broadcasts available on YouTube this season starting with Manchester United’s visit to Hull on Saturday.The pre-Premier League show EKO – Early Kick Off – will be available free-to-air for the first time, as well as on TNT Sports and the streaming service HBO Max.Presented by Liam MacDevitt or Olivia Buzaglo, EKO will start at 11am and feature the early team news from the game, which is released 75 minutes before kick-off, and the pre-match thoughts of TNT’s main pundits such as Steven Gerrard and Joe Cole. The Saturday lunchtime live games kick off at 12.30pm live on TNT and HBO Max.In another departure for TNT, EKO will be broadcast before all of their live Premier League games this season rather than just before their Saturday lunchtime kick-offs, as was the case last season. As a result, TNT’s coverage of an 8pm Saturday kick-off will begin with an EKO programme starting at 6.30pm.The 30-minute show will have a magazine-type tone and feature discussion of wider issues rather than just the game itself, such as transfers and new players, in an attempt to broaden TNT’s match audience.“TNT’s coverage is evolving and this will help us reach more football fans earlier in the day,” Scott Young, an executive vice-president at the parent company, Warner Bros Discovery Europe, said.“We have a large number of loyal subscribers, but it’s also important to reach fans off-platform. I think everyone is really looking forward to the return of the Premier League, especially after the excitement generated by the World Cup.”

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Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Nicky Bandini and Jordan Jarrett-Bryan for the second of our Premier League preview podcastsRate, review, share on Apple Podcasts and join the conversation on email.On the podcast today: part two of our big Premier League preview (listen to part one here). we begin with Hull City, who have signed a lot of players and have a fascinating manager. But can anyone make the case for the Tigers beating the drop? Ipswich will be looking to avoid a similar fate, and have brought in Gary O’Neil after Kieran McKenna’s exit.Leeds were great for the second half of last season – can they extend that into this campaign? Can Liverpool push for the title again under Andoni Iraola? Manchester City expectations have slumped after a poor showing in the Community Shield, while Michael Carrick takes charge of his first full season at Manchester United.Plus: Newcastle have sold their best players and ditched Eddie Howe, Nottingham Forest have Oliver Glasner at the wheel, and Sunderland aim to keep moving forward. As for Tottenham, they surely couldn’t finish 17th for a third consecutive time, could they? All that and your questions answered.You can also find Football Weekly on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

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A Manchester City clearout is in the offing, which could aid Newcastle’s search for a new central midfielder to replace the departed Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimarães. Nico González could be packing his bags to head up to St James’ Park, having never quite proven himself at the Etihad Stadium. Attacking players Omar Marmoush and Savinho, meanwhile, are on their way to Tottenham, which should kickstart a busy end to the window at City.On the other side of Manchester, United are looking to sell off some of their younger players to Arsenal. The Gibraltar international James Scanlon, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Swindon, and Habeeb Ogunneye are set for moves to the Premier League champions. The Gunners are ramping up their recruitment of young players to strengthen quality across the club. On his way out of the Emirates Stadium is another youngster, with Ethan Nwaneri wanted by Fulham and Everton, while RB Leipzig could also come into the mix for a loan move. Gabriel Jesus has also been linked with an exit but the Brazilian wants to stick around at the Emirates.Ezri Konsa is on his way to Arsenal, so Unai Emery needs a replacement. One man on the radar is the Chelsea defender Tosin Adarabioyo, who is surplus to requirements, but Marseille may compete for his signature. It is hard to keep up with Aston Villa’s antics at the moment, so Ajax engaging them in talks over a potential move for Leon Bailey may have been missed by the less discerning rumour mongers. The Jamaica international has a year remaining on his deal at Villa Park.It may not seem like Everton are getting much done, but they are supposedly working on things in the background. In addition to Nwaneri, Como’s Assane Diao is a winger attracting their attention and a bid could be made for the Ivorian – but with a potential £60m price tag, whether it comes to anything is unlikely.Hectic Hull, as they may soon be known amid their plotting in the transfer market, are set to miss out Niccolo Fortini after his club, Fiorentina, agreed a deal with Torino. The blow may be softened if they can get a deal over the line for Nottingham Forest’s Dilane Bakwa. Crystal Palace cannot afford to sell any of their key players but Galatasaray have called up with an offer for Ismaïla Sarr, which was quickly rejected.

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Newcastle, Arsenal, Brentford, Everton, Leeds, Coventry, Aston Villa, Hull and Ipswich have all brought in exciting playersAnthony Gordon will be a difficult act to follow at Newcastle, but Touré could be a shrewd replacement. Blessed with electric pace, the 20-year-old is a bit more of an old-fashioned winger in that he predominantly plays from the left and is left-footed. As a result, he was more of a creator than a goalscorer for Hoffenheim last season.Of his 14 Bundesliga goal involvements last term, nine were assists, and Touré’s total of 44 chances created in open play was bettered by five players. Gordon laid on only 24 chances in open play in the Premier League last season. Touré is a high-volume crosser (his 115 in open play were the fourth most in the Bundesliga last season) and will be different to Gordon, but potentially a valuable source of danger.While hardly the most glamorous name in the Premier League, Leandro Trossard was a useful and dependable player for Arsenal. Replacing him is easier said than done. Tzolis has been given that task and he looks a good fit.For starters, he was a highly effective creator for Club Brugge last season, with his 135 chances created being 35 more than anyone else in the Belgian Pro League. Crucially, he produced the goods at set pieces – and we know how important they are for Mikel Arteta. Declan Rice was Arsenal’s most effective player from set pieces last season, creating 27 chances; Tzolis’s deliveries yielded 52 opportunities. That accounted for 38.5% of his total chances created. While Rice (42.9%) had a greater proportion from dead-ball situations, his total (63) was far lower than the Greek winger’s.Tzolis is unlikely to match the 40 goal involvements he recorded last season, though he made a strong first impression during the Community Shield win against Manchester City with two assists.There are plenty of French football experts who were very surprised to see Sangaré only end up at Brentford this summer. The fact the Mali international has just a single season’s experience in a top league may have counted against him, though Brentford look set to benefit from the hesitance of others.Sangaré proved himself to be an eye-catching all-round midfielder at Lens last season. Across Europe’s top five leagues, only Elliot Anderson (8.26) and Exequiel Palacios (8.04) averaged more possession regains per 90 (900+ minutes) than him (8.01). And when looking specifically at possession won in the middle third of the pitch, his 4.7 per 90 saw him rank second.Sangaré offered plenty on the ball as well. Only four Ligue 1 players tallied more secondary chances created (that’s the pass before the pass that creates a chance) than his 31. He uses the ball smartly and is a dependable presence in the buildup, both in terms of his distribution and ability to hold on to the ball under pressure.Hackney built a strong reputation during his four full seasons in the Championship with Middlesbrough after coming through the club’s academy. But, after Boro failed to earn promotion last season, it seemed highly unlikely the former England Under-21s international would be staying at the Riverside Stadium. Everton were the ones to make the move for a fee that could rise to £25m.Hackney is a deep-lying playmaker who is accurate in possession but also brings a degree of progressiveness with his passing – without being overly risky. At 33.5%, his proportion of open-play passes played forward is only a little over average among positional peers in the Championship last season, but at the same time his 52 secondary chances created were the most of everyone in the division. Similarly, his 4.86 expected assists (xA) saw him rank seventh. If the 24-year-old adjusts to the top flight, an England call-up may not be too far away.Coventry attracted a lot of praise (and envy) when they signed Yirenkyi from Nordsjælland this month. The 20-year-old Ghana international has been exciting people in analytics circles for a while thanks to his broad skill set. Nominally a central midfielder, Yirenkyi can feature as a No 6, a No 8 or even at right-back, and his range of talents suggests he could be a good fit for the Premier League.In the Danish Superliga last season, he was one of just six midfielders to average at least 1.0 open-play chances created (1.1), 1.5 tackles (2.0) and 6.0 possession regains (7.1) per 90. But of those six, his 81.1 touches per 90 were comfortably the most, and his 91.8% pass-completion rate was the best of all midfielders in the competition (900+ mins), highlighting how much of a central figure he was for his team. Yirenkyi rated above average across the board.The last time Ipswich were in the Premier League, in 2024-25, they put faith in a young centre-forward, Liam Delap. They’re doing so again this time around, having spent £24m on the Brazilian striker Emersonn from Toulouse.The 22-year-old is a bit of a gamble. He scored only six times in 28 league appearances last season. But he should still offer plenty. He’s quick, tall, technically sound and effective at running in behind and dropping deep to knit play together.He ranked eighth among centre-forwards in Ligue 1 last season for carries ending in a shot or chance created (17), and most of those above him played considerably more minutes. Watching his adjustment to the Premier League could be fascinating.Aston Villa lost Morgan Rogers and Youri Tielemans in the summer, so some extra attacking impetus in midfield was always going to be required. The hope is Manzambi will help ease those losses. The 20-year-old is a forward-thinking midfielder who is capable of bursting forward and evading opponents in tight spaces.At Freiburg last season, only three regular Bundesliga midfielders averaged more than his five progressive carries of at least 10 metres per 90. And he ranked 14th for dribble attempts (2.8) per 90, with many of those above him more like wingers. He then impressed at the World Cup, becoming the youngest player in at least 60 years to manage five goal involvements at a single tournament (three goals, two assists).Manzambi was subject to something of a transfer tug of war; Villa won and the prospect of him developing under Unai Emery is an exciting one.He did not make his Colorado Rapids debut until February, but Herrington was still named to the MLS All-Star squad after his first World Cup campaign with Australia. The 18-year-old’s rise has been rapid. He was linked with a host of elite clubs, but opted for Hull on the basis that he will play first-team football.The teenager is an elegant, ball-playing centre-back. Among defenders to play 400+ minutes in MLS this year, Herrington ranked sixth for touches per 90 (92.3), eighth for passing accuracy (93.8%), fourth for carries per 90 (24.4) and third for progressive carries of 10+ metres (5.4) per 90.Adapting to the physical aspects of the Premier League may require time, but his 71.2% aerial success rate in MLS was reasonably high, enough to rank 15th among the same group of defenders. If Herrington can adapt quickly, we could be watching one of the world’s next top centre-backs.Leeds made Muharemovic their second-most expensive signing (at the time) when they paid Sassuolo £34m this summer, and he feels like the kind of centre-back supporters will appreciate. The Bosnia and Herzegovina international has technical ability and is also a unit and strong competitor.He’s not afraid to be adventurous with his passing – his 191 long passes were the 11th most of all outfielders in Serie A last season, while he ranked joint-sixth for switches of play (12). He is a keen tackler although he does pick up his fair share of yellow cards, with seven in the league last season. Leeds fans will appreciate his committed nature and, at 23, there’s a lot of upside to his signing.

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A look at six of the best and worst of the new season’s strips gives us Pro Evo chic, throwbacks done right, and how – and how not – to use stripesThe Premier League season kicks off on Friday and league debutants such as Christos Tzolis and Victor Muñoz, along with masses of fans, will be pulling on their teams’ shiny new strips. There were some lovely efforts at the World Cup (not least by the co-hosts the USA), and others more tedious than a 0-0 draw. It’s a mixed bag once again.Manchester City have gone with an ombre design, which feels – apposite for a gradient fading of colour – exhausted as a look in 2026. In the most surprising but successful collaboration since Olivia Rodrigo and Robert Smith,Sunderland have teamed up with Elvis Presley, or his estate, anyway, for a pink away shirt that nods to the supporters’ longstanding unofficial anthem Can’t Help Falling in Love.Here’s a selection of the best, worst and most interesting (for reasons good and bad) that sportswear giants – and Oxen Sports – have in store for us this year.Chelsea’s new home kit may look like the sort of thing a team called London Blue would wear in one of the early editions of Pro Evo, but it is pretty neat. I cannot stress this enough: the lack of a corporate logo will always make a shirt look better (Sunderland fans also got to enjoy this for pre-season, but alas the Black Cats have a sponsor incoming).The Blues have rolled out a number of stars to preview their 2026-27 look, first among them Madonna, a longtime supporter often spotted at Stamford Bridge, which is why Cole Palmer and João Pedro made a surprise appearance in her recent video. The 90s polo‑shirt collar is a popular aesthetic this season. The home and away kits – in a sleek black – heavily feature Ted Drake’s famous lion emblem.As a side note, Madonna’s twin daughters play for Tottenham, which I mention only because Spurs have, once again, produced the world’s most insufferably dull kit, presumably designed by Kazimir Malevich.Surely the kit of the season. An entirely unsubtle homage to the 1989-91 home jersey (and as far as sponsors’ logos go, Candy’s was one of the least hideous), the home shirt is a blast of fun at a time when football – Infantino, VAR, you name it – is increasingly dispiriting. Then again, I am not sure even a top this jazzy can offset the hideousness of Jeff Bezos acquiring a stake in the club.The white away kit is also a handsome affair, proving that white strips do not have to be boring; again, commiserations to Spurs fans. While the home fit is giving disco, the away is a more demure meet-the-parents type, with a preppy v-shaped neck. I do still miss the old YNWA crest, though.The Hull accent is one of Timothée Chalamet’s favourites and the actor and keen football fan would no doubt be charmed by the promoted side’s new-but-old look. This kit feels like it belongs on a glorious swamp of a pitch in the mid-to-late 20th century, complete with dribbled juice stains from half-time oranges.The official reference point is the Tigers’ late 70s aesthetic: wide black and amber stripes and a white collar and trim, the shirt features the HCAFC logo for the first time in 47 years, invoking the spirit of Billy Bremner. It is definitely understated, given how many riotous bangers the club has had in the past (see the amazing tiger-striped 1992 shirt, among others).Away from the MKM Stadium, Hull will turn out in a much more meh monotone kit with amber accents, but still, sterling work in the main from the city’s homegrown sportswear brand, Oxen Sports.It is extremely low-hanging fruit to compare this shirt to a barcode, but, seriously, look at it. It’s a barcode. It’s also dizzying to the eye. I’m generally a fan of risk-taking kits – bring on the chaos – but this is, well … the PR blurb describes the pattern as “disrupted”.Given this design belongs only in the vicinity of a self-service checkout, it is truly an unexpected item in the playing area. Then Adidas chucked some pale blue stripes on to the shoulders just in case fans weren’t distressed enough.The away strip is an improvement; a refined navy, it has a nice alternative badge of the city’s titular castle and a magpie. Newcastle aren’t the only club that have done too much with their home strip: Macron has produced a striking sash design for Crystal Palace, but, in the words of Hannah Gadsby describing the Pride flag: bit busy.Among what is always extremely strong competition, Ipswich secure the trophy for the most eye-rolling kit “inspiration”. The motif on the round-necked, blue home shirt is, according to Umbro’s press release, a tribute to Portman Road’s floodlights. This is not the only floodlight-inspired design; Nike paid homage to VfL Bochum’s floodlights in 2020-21 – but at least their stadium’s massive pylons are a genuine symbol of the city. As it happens, the weaved pattern is lovely, but the diamonds recall those mood-indicating crystals above the heads of characters in The Sims (officially plumbobs) more than the stadium floodlights.The change kit is cream with thin red and black horizontal stripes and black side panels. Floodlights 100% snubbed.I am haunted by the Adidas stripes on the red home shirt being white, while the ones on the white shorts are black. This would be fine, except the designers have made the stripes so thick – they seem to spread larger each season, like a kid who can no longer be arsed to stay colouring inside the lines – that this looks like one half each of two separate kits; it’s 24 hours before laundry day at the Theatre of Dreams.The shirt itself is beautiful; the perfect shade of red, a retro collar not too dissimilar to Chelsea’s, but the black touches are not strong enough to cohere with the massive oil streaks on the shorts. The away kit, meanwhile, nods to the 80s, in suave cobalt blue with red touches and trefoil logo. A final positive: it looks like just the one kit.

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Guardian writers’ predicted position: 17th (NB: this is not necessarily Louise Taylor’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)As David Hopkinson, Newcastle’s chief executive, recently reflected: “This is a moment of change. Life is all about change but there are certain moments of punctuation and we are in one of those now”. With Eddie Howe having stepped down, applying a full stop to almost five largely successful years as manager, there is a new head coach in Matthias Jaissle. The 38-year-old German excelled during previous postings in Austria and Saudi Arabia but has never managed in England, let alone in the Premier League.Jaissle’s task is complicated by Newcastle, who finished a disappointing 12th last season, selling arguably their three best players – Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimarães – to Barcelona, Tottenham and Arsenal respectively this summer. Along the way the wage bill has been slashed and spending rules complied with as the sporting director, Ross Wilson, reduces the squad’s average age quite significantly. Four of the first five close-season signings were aged 20 or under. Small wonder Hopkinson keeps referring to “Newcastle 2.0”.Significantly, no one at the club is talking about Europe; the reality is that this season a top-10 finish would constitute a triumph. As Jaissle keeps reiterating, Newcastle have entered a “transitional” period. The way it pans out may well hinge on whether he can succeed where Howe failed and get the best out of last season’s twin attacking disappointments Yoane Wissa and Nick Woltemade. With Wissa excelling in pre-season, there is cause for cautious optimism. Bazoumana Touré, Aladji Bamba and Sean Steur, three of the new boys, also do not look entirely out of place.On paper Newcastle’s majority owners, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), are the wealthiest in world football. But the sport’s spending rules are based on the balance between squad costs and commercial revenue and Newcastle’s income is around half of that of some key rivals.They are now in a three-year “settlement agreement” with Uefa after breaching European cost control regulations and, in a bid to balance the books, have not merely sold Gordon, Tonali and Guimarães but implemented a policy of broadly signing players under 25 priced between £20m and £40m. “We were living beyond our means but at some point you have got to pay the credit card bill,” said Hopkinson. Meanwhile, the seemingly interminable wait for confirmation that a new training ground will be built near the airport at Woolsington and a decision as to whether to build a new stadium or redevelop St James’ Park endures.Opinions about PIF – they own 85% of the club while the Reuben family hold the remaining 15% – are varied. At one end of the spectrum lies the pressure group NUFC Fans against Sportswashing who, admirably, do not miss an opportunity to highlight Saudi Arabia’s atrocious human right record. The vast majority of supporters are united in disappointment that PIF officials have no direct contact with fans or reporters. Bonds with the fanbase weakened when the popular former minority owner Amanda Staveley was ousted in a 2024 boardroom power struggle. Moreover, many Tynesiders had hoped the takeover would bring significantly greater local and regional regeneration.Jaissle proved a serial trophy winner at RB Salzburg and Al-Ahli, winning two Asian Champions Leagues during his three year stint in Saudi Arabia. Hopkinson has described him as “a rock star”, while the man himself appears a high priest of pressing. Asked recently to describe his preferred style, Jaissle replied: “Front-footed, aggressive, vertical, high energy, intense and relentless.” Howe’s successor could easily pass as the centre-half he was until serious knee trouble ended his career in his mid-20s. Jaissle, who had played for Thomas Tuchel in Stuttgart’s youth teams and then Ralf Rangnick at Hoffenheim, immediately turned his attentions to coaching, beginning his new career as an assistant at Leipzig. Newcastle fans already delight in serenading him with choruses of “Oh Jaissle, I can boogie.”How are Newcastle going to create chances this season? It’s hard to imagine a Premier League side losing their leading four chance creators in one transfer window but Newcastle have allowed that to happen. The departures of Guimarães, Tonali, Gordon and Kieran Trippier have left quite the hole. New signing Bazoumana Touré needs to make a fast start.Newcastle now have a genuine sweeper-keeper in Lukas Hornicek, the 24-year-old Czech Republic international who has joined for £26m from Braga. Hornicek’s footwork is so good he alternated between keeping goal and playing as a striker until well into his teens. Allied to excellent shot-stopping abilities and competence in the face of crosses, that kicking ability attracted plenty of admirers as Hornicek impressed during the 2025 European Under-21 Championships. Hornicek has been dubbed the “new Petr Cech” in his homeland.Mason Miley, the young brother of 20-year-old midfielder Lewis, has impressed enormously during pre-season, shining during a narrow home defeat by Bayer Leverkusen. His preferred position is as a defensive central midfielder. Miley joined Newcastle’s academy at the age of nine and signed his first professional contract earlier this summer. “Mason’s a young lad with the attitude we need; he has the right heart and the right quality,” said Jaissle. Mason is the third Miley to have graduated from Newcastle’s academy. His eldest brother Jamie, 22, is another midfielder, currently playing for Hartlepool in the National League.Tino Livramento missed the final five weeks of last season with a thigh injury but recovered in time to be called up to Thomas Tuchel’s England squad for the World Cup and even travelled to the United States. Unfortunately for the right-back, he was back home before his country’s opening game against Croatia after sustaining a calf injury in training. Livramento has undergone “minor” surgery this summer and hopes to return to action in early autumn. Meanwhile, Lewis Hall was desperately disappointed not to receive a World Cup call-up from Tuchel. The left-back has been hotly pursued by Manchester United all summer.

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Tough start awaits for promoted trio, with Premier League matches against last season’s top three and European qualifiersCoventry signed off their previous Premier League campaign with a match against Bradford City, the one team to finish below them in 2000-01. They pick up again in the top flight away to Arsenal; last season’s champions, favourites to retain the crown and the No 1 ranked side in the world according to Opta.At least they will have played what should be the hardest fixture of their 38 first. Except that their next away trip takes them to the Etihad Stadium to face Manchester City.Coventry’s home game with fellow promoted side Hull, which falls between these daunting trips, will feel very welcome, even if both meetings last season ended in goalless draws. It will be just as vital to the visitors. Hull begin the season by hosting Manchester United, then welcome Aston Villa to the MKM Stadium in week three.Those sides are a step below Arsenal and City but they will be competing in the Champions League this season. While Hull’s opponents in weeks four and five are not in Europe, they are Chelsea and Newcastle. It makes for a tough opening five games before the first international break of the season.In light of them facing big clubs who underachieved in 2025-26, a look at wage bills may be a fairer way to assess the difficulty of opponents. It does not make the opening five fixtures appear any easier for the promoted sides, who all feature in the seven hardest sets by this measure.Opta’s average opponent rating gives Ipswich the easiest first five matches of the promoted sides. Yet unlike Coventry or Hull, their first three are all against clubs that finished in the top seven of the 2025-26 Premier League: Sunderland, Manchester United and Liverpool. However you choose to assess opposition strength, the start of the season looks ominous.Such matches are often portrayed as unimportant to top-flight new boys. That they are a free hit, an opportunity to collect unlikely points. If you lose, so what? It’s what everyone expected anyway. Beating your direct relegation rivals is what matters. Recent history suggests the harder games are more important than cliche dictates, even if we cannot be certain at this point which clubs will be in the European qualification places next May.Leeds took a very creditable 10 points from matches against the top seven last season. That was five fewer than Arsenal, albeit from two extra games. Seventh-placed Sunderland also did well, taking nine points from the sides that finished above them. Even Burnley, who were unable to retain their Premier League status, earned eight points in 14 clashes with the top seven.The six promoted sides from the preceding two seasons, all of whom were relegated, did not perform as well. Ipswich won six points from the leading seven sides in 2024-25, though Leicester and Southampton took one apiece. It was a similar story the season before, as Luton claimed five points while Sheffield United (two) and Burnley (one) took very little of note from the top teams. If you are keeping count, you will have noticed each trio collectively earned eight points, fewer than Leeds or Sunderland alone last season.Maybe this is irrelevant. Burnley’s eight points from the top seven counted for little when they took 14 from their other 24 matches. Wolves, while not promoted, had a nine-11 points split between the facing the top septet and the teams eighth or lower too. But starting badly increases pressure on a manager, no matter the level of expectation. The fixture computer has not treated Coventry, Hull or Ipswich kindly.

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USA striker missed no matches after sending-off‘Far too often now decisions are viewed as corrupt’Howard Webb was “really troubled” by the decision of Fifa’s disciplinary committee to suspend Folarin Balogun’s ban for a red card during the World Cup, warning of a growing belief in refereeing conspiracies among supporters. Webb, English football’s chief refereeing officer, was speaking before the new Premier League season, where, among a series of new measures, independent assessments of key refereeing decisions are to be made public for the first time.“I was really troubled by it,” Webb said of the reprieve for the USA striker Balogun, which followed a direct appeal from the US president, Donald Trump. “What do we know? We know for sure that a red card was shown. I understand why it was given. We know that there was pressure placed by a politician on to Fifa, because that was admitted. And we know that the suspension was taken away for that particular tournament and suspended through a process which seemingly didn’t exist before the tournament started.”Webb said the scandal would only reinforce a change that has already taken place, whereby spectators watch a referee make a mistake and see conspiracy rather than human error. “We live in a world now which is different to the one that I occupied as a referee,” he said. “Decisions were previously viewed as correct or incorrect, based on your judgment. Far too often now decisions are viewed as correct or corrupt by people who want to type all over social media. They try to draw inferences around decisions that they don’t agree with and draw a motivation behind that decision which is borne out of no facts, no evidence.”Webb’s feelings on the Balogun scandal were echoed by the chief executive of the Premier League, Richard Masters. “We should be talking about looking back on the World Cup and the football that was played, and Spain being obviously the best team and England’s agonising semi-final defeat,” Masters said. “We’re not. We’re talking about other issues. I think that’s a huge shame. The Balogun issue … is very difficult to comprehend really when you look at it.”English football’s refereeing body has announced a series of measures and targets for the new season, including a rebrand. Now known as Pro Ref, it has committed to publish each week the assessments of an independent key match incident (KMI) panel, which assesses the biggest decisions taken by Premier League referees. As reported by the Guardian, Pro Ref will also publish audio of conversations between referees and players during matches, and it will continue to use X to publish real-time information during games.Pro Ref has expanded the pool of specialist video assistant referees working at Stockley Park as it seeks to reduce the length of time taken on interventions – which averaged 41 seconds last season – and eliminate incidents where VARs intervene and should not. “I’d rather have missed interventions than over-interventions,” Webb said. “I’d rather VAR not get involved wrongly to rectify something that wasn’t wrong in the first place, because that’s a damaging effect on the game.” In a further attempt to improve the speed of decision-making, the protocol behind semi-automatic offside technology has also been streamlined.Webb said fans and players alike can also expect to see more penalties awarded for holding at set pieces. “More situations will be penalised, not only in August or September, but throughout the season,” Webb said. “[But] I’m not going to commit to say we’re going to go from here to penalising lots of contact. Contact is still part of the game, we still maintain a high threshold, but this time next year, all being well, we’ll be able to reflect on a season where more offences have been penalised.”

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Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United in action during a pre-season friendly match against Paris Saint-Germain. Photograph: Ash Donelon/Manchester United/Getty ImagesBruno Fernandes and Youri Tielemans will be key to Michael Carrick’s chances of success over a full season and of healing the rift between club and fansGuardian writers’ predicted position: 5th (NB: this is not necessarily Jamie Jackson’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)The information at the start of the close season was that Manchester United planned to trade for bargains rather than elite names and the major purchases so far this summer prove this to indeed be the case. Youri Tielemans is a 29-year-old who has been a professional for nearly half of his life and was bought, with no competition, for his £35m release clause from Aston Villa. The midfielder was followed by the £48m (+£2m) purchase of Andrey Santos, a 22-year-old with 11 league starts last season for Chelsea. The Brazilian states a preference for operating “deep, like a No 6” making him the direct replacement for his compatriot Casemiro, whose CV includes five Champions Leagues. United are also set to sign another midfielder in Carlos Baleba from Brighton for around £75m.Michael Carrick, going in to his first full season in charge, admits his squad needs more additions and a new left-back is on the radar. Lewis Hall is the prime target but Newcastle’s resistance to a sale means Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly had drawn interest. At the window’s commencement, Carrick wanted Elliot Anderson but this was unrealistic – he went to City for around £32m more than Tielemans’ and Santos’s combined fee. Confirmed as manager in May after guiding United to third, Carrick may rue Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s reluctance to invest the finances he generated by taking the club back into the Champions League and the 45-year-old may find himself engulfed in precisely what has plagued all of his predecessors in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era: a crisis of performances and results.Carrick also has to wrestle with the Marcus Rashford situation: the forward wants to leave, the club desires him off the wage bill, but can a suitor be found before 1 September? Oh and, Lisandro Martínez and Matthijs De Ligt, two frontline centre-backs, have only recently returned from injury.In early July United unveiled plans for their proposed new 100,000-seater stadium, located about 350 metres north-west of Old Trafford, insisting this is a “sanity, not vanity project”. Behind the catchy line, however, is a club in the red to the sum of £1.3bn. Omar Berrada, United’s chief executive, declared in March that £2bn was the working cost of the stadium, which is projected to be completed in 2035. This seems optimistic – try doubling it, maybe.Untrusting, unhappy, annoyed, betrayed, toxic, broken, unmendable, etcetera: choose your pejorative when it comes to describing how most Manchester United fans feel about the Glazers. This has been the case regarding the six siblings, who are United’s majority owners, since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club in May 2013. Relations between fans and Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s football department could also be rosier. Some are content due to last season’s third-place finish and the success of last summer’s buys – Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbuemo primarily. Others, though, are cheesed off about the current window’s business, the moving of season-ticket holders around the ground to free up seats for corporate packages, and the recent bid to eliminate touts that caused many genuine supporters to have to prove their innocence.Like Ole Gunnar Solskjær before him, Carrick performed superbly in a caretaker capacity. The task now facing him is out-performing his former United team-mate and friend in the role of permanent manager, the Norwegian’s first full season in charge having ended in third place. Carrick’s prospects will be improved if by 1 September a left-back has been recruited. Given Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham have splashed far more cash than United on strengthening this summer, Carrick would no doubt take third – or any Champions League berth – if it was offered to him, albeit he is unlikely to admit as much.After being a major part of Aston Villa’s Europa League glory in May, and then captaining Belgium to the World Cup quarter-finals during the summer, Tielemans has been recruited to add drive, quality and a streetwisen touch to United’s midfield. His career shows a record of making the difference when required – he struck a memorable volley against Freiburg in Istanbul and powered in a long-range winner to claim the FA Cup for Leicester in 2021. There is no doubt about it – the son of Flemish Brabant is a big-game footballer.Manchester United led the Premier League for shots last season, with 596. Much will depend upon Bruno Fernandes if they are to repeat this feat. He created at least 89 chances more than any other member of the squad and only fell six shy of taking the most shots. Fernandes turns 32 in early September; can he outrun age for another season?Shea Lacey, the quick-footed diminutive winger from Liverpool, made four appearances under three different managers last season. On 21 December, an 84th-minute debut in the 2-1 loss at Aston Villa under Ruben Amorim made him academy product No 256 to feature for United. Eighteen days later, entering again on 84 minutes in the 2-2 draw at Burnley, Lacey’s next cameo was for Darren Fletcher. Fast-forward four days and Lacey lasted only 27 minutes of United’s 2-1 defeat to Brighton in the FA Cup after being sent off late on, later apologising. The 19-year-old had to wait five months before making his next appearance for United, this time under Carrick, entering in the 62nd minute of the final-day 3-0 victory at Brighton. He is now very much part of the first-team squad and one to watch.When England needed to stymie Argentina’s second-half onslaught in last month’s World Cup semi-final, with Anthony Gordon having put them 1-0 up, Thomas Tuchel became passive. Off went Gordon and Declan Rice and on came Ezri Konza and Nico O’Reilly. England subsequently crumpled, going on to lose 2-1. If Tuchel had instead turned to Kobbie Mainoo, a ball-carrying midfielder who could retain possession and move England up the field, Argentina may well have been thwarted. As it turned out, Mainoo did not play a second of the tournament. “I was in contact with him quite a bit through the summer [as] I’ve been in that position myself and not played at a World Cup,” Carrick said.

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Enzo Maresca has big boots to fill. Photograph: Cody Froggatt/PAWith the departures of Pep Guardiola and Rodri it looks like the end of an era at City. Will Enzo Maresca be able to sustain their position as a domestic and continental superpower?Guardian writers’ predicted position: 2nd (NB: this is not necessarily Jamie Jackson’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)Enzo Maresca was already in herculean task mode by signing on as the man charged with continuing the dynasty built by Pep Guardiola at Manchester City before Rodri decided to leave the club and join Barcelona. The 30-year-old may be headed for a second Ballon d’Or after his displays in Spain’s triumphant World Cup campaign, so the loss of a midfielder capable of moulding games domestically and in the Champions League represents a sizeable blow for Maresca.There are further negatives too, with John Stones, Nathan Aké and Bernardo Silva also no longer at City. On the positive side, Elliot Anderson has joined for £116m from Nottingham Forest having impressed for England at the World Cup. City’s new manager also has Erling Haaland, who will be favourite to claim a fourth Premier League Golden Boot in five seasons. Less certain is how Phil Foden will perform despite being boosted by a bumper new contract. Can the boy from Stockport dovetail with Rayan Cherki and once more pull the strings for his boyhood side?City are a best-in-class organisation, who can be used as an exemplar of how to pursue excellence on and off the field. This, of course, would change were they found guilty over the 130 charges brought against them for alleged breaches of Premier League rules. It has been more than three years since the charges were announced, with City continuing to deny any wrongdoing. The new Pep Guardiola Stand, opened for the great man’s final home game last season, means 61,000 fans can now witness Haaland and co go to work, the Etihad Stadium’s capacity having previously stood at 53,400.Sheikh Mansour is a hero to the City faithful for a glittering period of ownership that has elevated their team to a domestic and continental superpower. Listening to fans, the club have also frozen ticket prices for a third consecutive season. Meanwhile in the Pep Guardiola Stand, 4,000 new flexi season tickets – a pay-as-you-go scheme – have sold out, half of which are for junior fans, with City introducing £10 seats for those who live in the five wards around the ground.Is Maresca courageous for following The Man or naive for believing he can? Over to the 46-year-old, who has zero doubt the City job is no chalice laced with poison. “It’s fantastic, nice and exciting, and for me, a privilege,” he said. “First of all, the most important thing has been that Khaldoon [al-Mubarak, the chair], Hugo [Viana, the director of football] and Ferran [Soriano, the chief executive] all speak the same language in terms of this is a club that has to win games, titles and has to compete, but we also talk about how we can continue to make this club better, season after season.” Maresca’s CV shows the Championship crown with Leicester, and the Conference League and Club World Cup glory with Chelsea. How he would love to add the Premier League title to that roll of honour at the first time of asking.Rodri’s departure offers Anderson an opportunity to run City’s midfield. Can he do so? Maresca and Viana obviously believe this or £116m would not have been splurged on the lad from Whitley Bay who could not nail down a starting berth for Newcastle in five years as a senior professional there. At the World Cup there were flashes of a schemer who can spray passes long range – Rodri-style – as well as the shorter, metronomic stuff. What’s for sure is that Anderson has a career-defining opportunity in front of him.Manchester City conceded more league goals from set pieces last season than they had in the previous two campaigns combined. They were costly at times too: the winning goals in their losses at Aston Villa and Newcastle both came from corners, for instance. Maresca’s Chelsea conceded from a set play every three league games so his record there was a shade worse than City’s in 2025-26. He has work to do.Vitor Reis was signed in January 2025 and made four appearances that season. The defender’s debut was also forgettable as, then 19, he was hooked at half-time with City trailing 1-0 at Leyton Orient in the FA Cup fourth round. The Brazilian played all of the 3-1 victory in the following round, and was fielded in the 89th-minute of the 2-0 league victory at Leicester in April before his sole other City appearance: a full outing in the 2-0 Club World Cup win over Wydad Casablanca that June. Last season’s loan at City’s sister club Girona ended in relegation, but Reis is said to have impressed.The departed Rodri made real the ultimate fantasy of all players by captaining his country to the World Cup and being so vital to that glory that he was named player of the tournament. Cherki fared less well, making six substitute appearances and one start for a France side that fell, to Spain, in the semi-finals. France’s attacking ranks may overflow with quality, but for a player with magic in both boots, that seemed odd.

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The 19-year-old US youth international has turned heads in MLS this year, and is on the cusp of a USMNT breakthroughFor much of the past year, the story of American starlet Zavier Gozo has been one of realizing potential – even in failure. Speaking with the Guardian the day after he and Real Salt Lake teammate Diego Luna learned they wouldn’t be on Mauricio Pochettino’s squad for this summer’s World Cup, the 19-year-old Gozo admitted the rejection made him realize how close he’d gotten to earning a spot.“I thought I would be less disappointed than I was,” Gozo said in May. “Obviously, it wasn’t like I was supposed to go. I feel like I was disappointed, but I also think it just gave me so much more motivation to be able to make the first team, whenever that is.”If it works out well, Gozo’s move to Crystal Palace could see that happen sooner than many would have anticipated a year ago. The Premier League club finalized the transfer of Gozo from Real Salt Lake on Tuesday in a five-year deal. The agreement is reportedly worth around $15m (£11m).The move follows one of the most rapid ascents of any American men’s prospect in recent memory.Gozo joined the Real Salt Lake academy in 2021 at age 14, debuting with their second team, Real Monarchs, a year later. His MLS debut came in 2023, when he was still just 16. Over time, Gozo emerged as an option at right wing-back offering precocious confidence on the ball, capping his first full season with RSL with four goals and three assists in 1,810 minutes.This season, Gozo has been given increased license to stay upfield. His technique in close quarters has been especially impressive, with deft touches and passes helping RSL get into dangerous areas. His end product has also been on greater display, with six goals and five assists in 1,417 minutes thus far.His ability to set up his own shot as well as create dangerous looks for his teammates helps him stand out. Gozo has made 67 progressive carries upfield, per Futi, a category led by Lionel Messi, Denis Bouanga, Evander and Anders Dreyer – four members of last year’s MLS Best XI.The question for any young player of Gozo’s caliber is how best to position themselves for international consideration. On the one hand, he had already established himself as a regular starter in MLS. On the other, strong performances in MLS – as in any league – provide no guarantee of landing on a national team, as Gozo’s teammate Luna learned the hard way by being among Pochettino’s toughest omissions.As a result, Gozo felt he was nearing the ideal window for making a move across the Atlantic.“I feel like I’m ready to go,” Gozo added without hesitation. “Whether that happens or not, I don’t know, but I think this is a unique situation I have. I’m blessed to be in a situation where I have such a good club to be at, but I also think, you know … What’s next in my career? I don’t know.”The son of an American mother and an Ivorian father, Gozo also earned his first US youth international callup in 2022, beginning with the U-15s. He has become a regular with the youth national teams.With Pochettino opting to stick with the USMNT through the 2030 World Cup, Gozo figures to be in contention with the players who made the squad for this summer’s tournament for a place in the US’s plans over the next four years. Training at Palace every day with US mainstay Chris Richards will surely keep him in Pochettino’s sights, to say nothing of any Premier League minutes he’s able to get under new manager Pierre Sage.