From The Horse's Mouth - Mark Van Deventer

The Goal Guru is back with some pre- season musings ahead of MatchWeek 1.

The opening game pits Arsenal against Coventry at 21h00 on Friday evening, 21st August 2026.

Once the season has settled into shape, suggested perms and predictions will be made each week, as done with some success for the 2025/26 fixtures.

Hull City has reached the lofty heights of the Premier League three times previously. Only once have they managed to extend their stay into a second season. They are assessed with a high probability of going straight back down as they were fortunate (based on underlying metrics) to even finish in the top half of the Championship. The Tigers must somehow now cope with way stronger rivals - a tall order.

Ipswich Town now have Gary O Neill as their manager. He has battled to make much of an impact previously with Bournemouth and Wolves and they also seem fated to struggle. The signing of Celtic’s Daizen Maeda is a ray of light for the Tractor Boys.

The gap in quality between the EPL and Championship has widened and Coventry City could find it hard to extend their stay at the top level. Frank Lampard oversees the Sky Blues who return to the EPL after 25 years of playing down.

They were the best side in the Championship last year, but considered opinion pegs this Coventry side as not being anywhere near as good as the Leeds, Leicester or Burnley teams who were promoted.

Fulham are a perennially consistent, mid table team that have punched above their weight in the Premier League. They now have a new manager with the excellent Marco Silva (gone to Benfica) replaced by former Real Madrid caretaker-boss, Alvaro Arbeloa, who didn’t exactly inspire whilst in charge there.

They still have a very good squad of players, but the ambiguous feeling is they could finish anywhere between sixth and 16th, depending on how things pan out under their new manager.

Crystal Palace, a well- run club, has been on a roll winning the FA Cup in 2025 and the Conference League a few months ago. They will attempt to extend this successful run of form but must do so without Oliver Glassner’s wise counsel.

In comes highly touted, Pierre Sage from Lens, winning manager of the Coupe de France.

Leeds will try avoiding the dreaded “second season syndrome” whereby, after doing well upon promotion, bomb out the next. 

Dominic Calvert Lewin, recruit Harry Wilson and the excellent James Trafford (goalkeeper) are key players.

They could be one of the dark horses as they won’t get caught up with the demands of European football. Plus, they impressed with their resilience towards the end of last season and have since signed highly regarded players.

Daniel Farke is one of only eight managers still around at the same club in the EPL, so there is some continuity at the “Whites.”

Expect them to trouble some of the glamour teams, especially when playing at home base.

Newcastle is an unknown quantity having sold, for big money, Tonali, Gordon and Guimaraes. Their manager Eddie Howe also left during a tumultuous off-season.

This could go either way yet, with the time and resources to rebuild, Mathias Jaissle, who won plenty with Salzburg and Al Ahli may bring in a bright new dawn at Newcastle. Not that they battled prior, as two Champions League campaigns and a 2025 Caraboa Cup trophy testifies.

Brentford remains an organized, effective, counter attacking side. They have a clever soccer business model and are such a well-run club they tend to stay constant when other sides are wobbling.

Mamadou Sangare is a potential asset as a fine midfielder sourced from the French League. Jaidon Anthony, bought from relegated Burnley, could relish better opportunities in an upwardly mobile transfer.

Sunderland outstripped expectations, and indeed most conventional performance metrics to finish in the top ten last season. It confounded many “data nerds” and regression will surely kick in, especially as the Black Caps must fulfill European fixtures as well. 

They have kept their side pretty much as is but may need to dip into the January transfer market if languishing near the bottom of the table by mid-season, as some sceptics anticipate.

Nottingham Forest have one of the highest paid managers in the League, Oliver Glasner, who worked miracles at Crystal Palace. They now boast a very good squad and can put a disjointed and dismal last season far behind them. 

Another plus - they don’t have to cope with the additional burden of European schedules. They have a talented, deep squad that should respond to Oliver Glassner’s preferred style of playing.

The Tricky Trees came seventh two season back with a less gifted squad. With the back in form, Morgan Gibbs White proving a menace for opposition, don’t be surprised if they rattle a few cages and finish much higher this time around.

Brighton could be an enigma. Whilst not shirking their EPL commitments, Fabian Hurzeler side may prioritise the Conference League and try bag a spot in the Europa League the following season. Certain pundits reckon they could be a bottom half side for that reason. 

But the Seagulls remain capable of surprising higher ranked opposition.

Their record signing, Buskovic is a strong defender who loves a duel. He combines that physicality with great technical skills and is composed on the ball. He is an exciting player to watch.

Bournemouth finished sixth last season. That means they will have to balance European football with their league aspirations, something they have never had to do previously. The reason for harping on about this is, on average, “smaller'' clubs that must juggle games in Europe with the already tough EPL schedule, drop five positions on the log. 

Much has been made of the departure of renowned leader, Iraola but in replacement Marco Rose, they have a solid manager.

Everton (the Toffees) seem most likely to inhabit mid-table. They have a solid defensive set up and with slight improvement in attack could finish even higher. 

Tyrique George, Thierno Barry, the amazing, Iliman Ndiaye (if they somehow can keep him) and Brennan Johnson are key players to track.

What to make of Aston Villa? Out go Rogers, Tielemans and Digne. In come Swiss World Cup eye-catcher Johan Manzambi and ex Wolves player, Joao Gomes.

The Goal Guru repeatedly wrote about how Villa dramatically outperformed their metrics last season, eventually coming fourth rather than 13th which is what their expected points tally suggested.

Let’s wait and see before passing judgement on Unai Emery’s much changed team.

Liverpool is also difficult to assess. According to Jake Ogathorpe, a sharp analyst for Sporting Life, there are exploitable flaws in the squad composition. And new manager Iraola must now manage an ageing top team rather than youthful, spirited underdogs. 

He must also compete across multiple competitions and faces the burdensome expectation that winning a trophy is a must.

Iraola’s pressing and positional structures are complex to learn and physically demanding to carry out. Sides he’s managed before tend to take time to absorb his principles so Osgathorpe predicts that Liverpool will start the season slowly and pressure could build.

Tottenham Hotspur fortuitously managed to avoid relegation under inspirational, Roberto de Zerbi’s intervention, eventually sneaking through in 17th spot. And he has since splashed out big loot on new signings to provide a firm foundation to what is an overhauled, upskilled squad. 

As an aside - former manager Postecoglou may have been a dealt a bad hand as he was given little spending power despite coming fifth in his first season and winning the Europa League second up.

A new look, well capitalised Spurs will be a totally different proposition, particularly as they have no European distractions.

Spurs w