PL PREVIEW: PART FOUR

With the new Premier League season now upon us, the prospect of Sunderland facing the big teams as well as some new clubs is becoming more and more exciting. For those who like a long read, Gabriel Naile has done a deep-dive into every single team we'll play in 25/26. This is the fourth and final part of his series.

DIRTY MAGS:

THE WINDOW SO FAR

A complete disaster. Let's leave it at that. It's great to see.

LAST SEASON

Without Europe to focus on this time, Newcastle had stuck to what worked in the 22/23 season and went back to winning ways. A fifth place finish is enough to send them back into Europe next season, and may see the same slip-ups occur. However, a notable moment came in March when the club lifted their first domestic trophy in almost 70 years, beating the overwhelming favourites Liverpool. Alexander Isak had a brilliant season in the league, scoring 23 and assisting 6. Now, the task is keeping him!

THE MANAGER

Since his arrival in 2021 from Bournemouth, Eddie Howe has revitalised the Toon into a side once battling to stay up into one now fighting for a place in Europe. Able to get through best out of players such as Joelinton and Bruno Guimares, Howe has proven that he is able to go toe-to-toe with clubs as historic as AC Milan, Dortmund and PSG. His 8-year time at Bournemouth was equally as loved by fans as he guided them to the Premier League yet again.

SUMMARY AND PREDICTION

Given that the 23/24 season was a less than stellar finish down to the short hindrance European nights, this may be the case again. As much as I would like to say the Mags could finish in the bottom three, this unfortunately isn’t 2016 anymore. So, I’ll begrudgingly say they’ll finish somewhere near Europe. They won’t get it because they’ll be too focused on it this season. The Tyne-Wear Derby is back and will be played first at home on the 13th of December and at St. James’ on March 21st.

SPURS:

THE WINDOW SO FAR

After qualifying for the Champions League there has been a massive financial boost for the club. With this they have brought in only one player being Mohamed Kudus from West Ham after his plea to join the club was creating awful amounts of controversy between the clubs. Additionally, the North London club wanted Morgan Gibbs-White from Forest but he ended up signing a new contract.

LAST SEASON

Overall, the 24/25 season was mores that of failure than success. 17th place in the league, 65 goals conceded and a plague of injuries going into the new year, things looked destined to be a disaster. But the Europa League remained the one hope they clung to. The Lilywhites knew that things weren’t going to get better in the Prem and so they put all their eggs into the European basket. Thankfully, it paid off brilliantly in the club’s first major trophy in 17 years. Now that the moment fades away, fans must now think of the season upcoming.

THE MANAGER

Losing the trophy-winning Ange Postecoglou to the sack in June after two seasons, the club turned to Thomas Frank, Brentford’s genius coach who gave them the status of a solid Premier League side. He arrives in the midst of strange times for Tottenham - the thoughts of being either anxious or happy after the highs and lows of last season hang heavy. Frank aims to get the club back on track, similar to the status of pushing for Europe that they were capable of doing so consistently just a few years prior.

SUMMARY AND PREDICTION

If Frank is able to steer the club back to winning ways, I believe that some time soon this will be the case. Some form of rethink must be done, hence the appointment of Frank. I believe that this will be the first step towards a new Tottenham side, one hopeful for future glory. I predict the club to finish 7th, with aims of going higher on their horizon.

WEST HAM:

THE WINDOW SO FAR

West Ham have signed some interesting players but I don't think it's enough. At the start of July there were six players released with regulars such as Vladimir Coufal and Aaron Cresswell alongside Mohamed Kudus a week later. In return only centre-back Jean-Clair Todibo (on loan, now permanent) and left-back Malick Diouf have arrived.

LAST SEASON

With the, quite frankly, managerial mess the Irons were in last season, it should come as no surprise that the club finished as low as 14th. Julen Lopetegui’s appointment was quickly hated by fans as their poor runs of form stretched on. Then came Graham Potter, another one who was quickly cast out by fans with the club winning just one of their opening games in Potter’s first month at the wheel. Fans began to wonder why Moyes was sacked in the first place, even after giving them a European trophy.

THE MANAGER

Since his appointment in January, fans were quick to write Potter off as just another mediocre coach who would struggle to help the club in a proper way. Fans already knew what he was (or wasn’t) capable of during his tenures at Brighton and Chelsea, and quickly understood why he was waved goodbye so quickly. Managing just five wins out of 19 games, it is safe to say that he will last equally as long with the Hammers as he did with his other English ventures if things do not pick up going into 25/26.

SUMMARY AND PREDICTION

Being the pessimist (or realist) that I am, I say that West Ham will struggle to find the right formula quick enough, and will be too little done too late. I predict a relegation having lost some of their best players and the struggle to find a stable boss who can keep them afloat long. We play them today and I reckon we'll win with the crowd behind us...

WOLVES:

THE WINDOW SO FAR

The standout event for Wolves this window has been the loss of their star striker Matheus Cunha who was a key player in their fight against relegation. His £72M departure to Man United has raised concerns as to combating this. The club have currently responded by securing loanee Jorgen Strand Larsen on a permanent £27M deal as he also impressed in the strike partnership. Amongst the many players released are Nelson Semedo and Pablo Sarabia, two more key players in the defiant side of 24/25. The club must now respond with equal fight in them to stay up.

LAST SEASON

Placing 16th and barely avoiding relegation was definitely not on the cards for fans this season. The summer appointment of former Bournemouth coach Gary O’Neil had sparked questions as to why. Their questions were proven when the club’s form tanked and placed them dead last in the table for a while. He got the sack just before Christmas and Vitor Pereira was put in his place. While allowing for safety in the Prem, this has also raised questions as to how the side will soon cope.

THE MANAGER

A big Portuguese name who has quickly became liked by the fans, Vitor Pereira has been around for a while in the managerial world with his first job being with Santa Clara in 2008. He then got his big break with Porto in 2011 before then having a multitude of spells in Turkey, China, Brazil and Saudi Arabia. Wolves was his first big level job in a while, and fans were wondering if he would succeed. He came through the door in December and carried out his task of keeping Wolves up very well.

SUMMARY AND PREDICTION

While I do believe Pereira will do his job, I do also believe it will be done very late with relegation looming at the club again. The days of Wolves qualifying for the Europa League is long gone, I predict a 17th placed finish and a need to rebuild in the future. The Mackems play Wolves at home on October 18th and away on the second of May.