Graham Potter’s men finished a very respectable 9 th last season, establishing themselves as a Premier League mainstay and putting Potter amongst the names who will be perennially linked with bigger jobs. But keeping Ivan Toney is huge – he scored 12 times last season, matching or bettering that will go a long way to keeping The Bees in the Premier League for another season. The loss of Christian Eriksen is a huge blow and they’ve not been overly active in the window, adding young talent rather than trying to replace the quality and experience he added. They overcame a dreadful turn of the year to finish really strongly, winning seven of their last 11, and that’s the sort of form they need to kickstart a season that begins at the King Power Stadium on Sunday and then a visit from Manchester Utd a week later. A 13 th placed finish was incredible for a side punching massively above their weight, but expectations have been levelled out now heading into this season. It’s hard to believe it’s a year on since that night against Arsenal to open up the 2021/22 season. At least Mark Travers could have a very busy season – if he can build on last season’s Championship heroics then he might be given a lifeline to stay in the top tier. They’re favourites to go straight back down and it’s not difficult to see why. Brentford showed last season that a Championship squad with little turnover can hold its own, while the likes of Sheffield United are another good example before they became undone. It’s a bold strategy to rest on loyalty to his promotion squad, but spending heavily hasn’t been an overly successful plan either. Rebounding back into the Premier League, Scott Parker’s side have gone under the radar compared to their promotion colleagues Nottingham Forest and Fulham, opening the cheque book for the first time this week with the arrival of Marcus Tavernier from Middlesbrough. They’ve invested heavily in the squad, but still need to see improvement from some performers, especially in attack. The big question mark heading into the new season rests with Gerrard though and if he can elevate Villa even further.

An improvement on that is imperative though, and they’ve made moves to platform from that with the arrivals of Diego Carlos, Philippe Coutinho on a permanent switch and the very interesting addition of Boubacar Kamara, who should add a whole pile of quality to their holding midfield role.Īs well as that, the captaincy has pivoted from Tyrone Mings to John McGinn. Steven Gerrard’s men teetered out towards the end of last season, winning just two of their final 11 league games to finish a respectable, but equally disappointing 14 th in his debut season at Villa Park.

Football manager 2021 guide