Football Community Shield Premier League

Has any club done enough to stop Liverpool? Can Arsenal, Manchester City or Chelsea challenge for Premier League title this season?

Ahead of the new season getting underway, beginning with the Community Shield live on TNT Sports and discovery+, we take a look at some of the business done by the top clubs in the Premier League. Have any of Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur or Manchester United done enough to catch Liverpool? Or will Arne Slot’s champions end up repeating?

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The new season of Premier League football is just a week away, and this weekend we have the traditional starter before the main course, with the Community Shield live on TNT Sports and discovery+.

Premier League champions Liverpool will face off against FA Cup winners Crystal Palace and all eyes will be on Arne Slot’s side and their wave of new signings.

It is still yet to be confirmed whether Newcastle United superstar Alexander Isak will be part of that set-up, but the business Liverpool have done already has been widely lauded.

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Said business has led many to wonder whether The Reds are a foregone conclusion to win the title once more.

After all this is a team that won the Premier League by 10 points last season, the highest tally for four seasons.

It is often a fool’s errand to hand the title to a club before a ball has even been kicked in anger, but it is worth us examining the business done by the other contenders and seeing just how far they have closed the gap.

First, though, Liverpool.

The champions: Rich get richer?

Let’s start with the one they all want to catch. After a quiet off-season in Slot’s first summer in charge, Liverpool got busy this year.

Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong have both come in from Bayer Leverkusen. Milos Kerez has arrived from Bournemouth and the Bundesliga spending spree continued with the signing of Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt.

They also have Giorgi Mamardashvili after he spent last season back with former club Valencia.

Luis Diaz, Jarrell Quansah, Caoimhin Kelleher, Tyler Morton and Trent Alexander-Arnold have all departed. The club also tragically lost Diogo Jota, who died in a car accident earlier in the summer.

Wirtz has been one of the best young players in the world for the past few seasons, and it had been assumed he would go to Bayern Munich or follow his former manager Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid.

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It is also worth stressing just what he can now bring as a goalscorer, too. In the last two seasons under Alonso, Wirtz scored 34 goals across all competitions - in three and a bit seasons before that, he scored 23. It’s been a massive development for him.

And that is important because it is vital that Liverpool find more goals. Last season, across all competitions, only three players got into double-digits.

One of them (Diaz) is gone and while Mohamed Salah continues to be one of the best goalscoring wingers in Premier League history, he cannot be relied on forever.

That is where Wirtz and Ekitike come in. How the Frenchman develops is going to be fascinating to watch but you can understand why the club have signed him.

Put simply, the best have got a lot better. But what about the rest?

The chasing pair: Good, but good enough?

Next up, we have Arsenal and Manchester City. One a multiple former champion and one a consistent threat with three consecutive second-place finishes.

Both have done some extremely encouraging things. Arsenal adding Viktor Gyokeres finally gives them a truly elite No. 9.

City have beefed up their midfield with Tijjani Reijnders. Rayan Cherki is another fascinating signing for City, but just how will Pep Guardiola use him?

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It is clear that both these teams have become stronger - arguing otherwise is foolish - but are they strong enough?

City still have a pretty big hole at right-back that could be filled by Tino Livramento, but also what happens if either Omar Marmoush or Erling Haaland get hurt? Do City have enough goals?

It is a similar story with Arsenal. This is the best squad they have had under Mikel Arteta, of that there is no doubt. But it would be nice to see another goalscoring option on the left-wing.

That could be Noni Madueke, but he has always been more of a right-sided player in his career. Similar to City, can they find goals from enough sources should they suffer a serious injury?

Chelsea: Young Blues ready yet or not?

After the way in which they dismantled UEFA Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain in the final of the FIFA Club World Cup many wondered whether Enzo Maresca’s side were now ready to take another big step, particularly with the way new signing Joao Pedro looked over in the US.

However, the briefings coming out of the club have very much been about taking things slow, and still aiming for the top four.

There is also the added factor of the toll that Club World Cup run will take on the players physically, something that is in play for City as well. The club have already lost Levi Colwill to an ACL injury upon their return to pre-season training.

There is then the fact that this young Chelsea squad is having to readjust to life in the Champions League, a big step up from the UEFA Conference League last season, where Maresca was often able to rotate his entire starting line-up.

Chelsea clearly are on the right path, but challenging this season feels as if it is one year too early.

The recovering chasing pack: Right direction, wrong time

We are not going to speak about Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest or Brighton & Hove Albion here, even though the Magpies are in the Champions League. There just has not been enough business (or indeed sometimes any business) that really makes it seem like that gap to Liverpool could be closed.

We are, however, going to focus on Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United.

The UEFA Europa League winners have been a bit quiet. On top of making the loans of Mathys Tel and Kevin Danso permanent, they have signed Mohammed Kudus from West Ham United and brought Joao Palhinha back to England on another loan.

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Club legend Heung-min Son has departed to LAFC. Spurs are banking a lot on internal improvement under new manager Thomas Frank but it feels as if they are at least a year away from contending again.

What about the team they beat in the final of the Europa League, Manchester United? They have been busy; Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha are both in already and Benjamin Sesko is set to follow suit.

It is a really encouraging start, and now we should get a chance to properly evaluate Ruben Amorim, but like Tottenham, it feels as if they are probably another window away, at least.

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So what have we learned? All five of Arsenal, Man City, Chelsea, Tottenham and Man Utd have improved this summer and are noticeably better than the season just gone.

However, the problem for all of them is that Liverpool have got even better, too. At best, the chasing pack have maintained the gap. At worst, it has widened. Remember there is a 10-point gap from last season to make up.

There is still time in the transfer window for someone else to make one or two massive moves, but again, the problem is that someone could well be Liverpool if they do sign Isak.

Advantage Reds, for now.

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