Premier League kicks off as Man City and Arsenal look like top contenders; Sweden stun Japan at World Cup

Hello and happy Friday! The weekend is upon us and what a weekend it is as some of the world's biggest leagues resume. We're about to see the first knockings in La Liga and Ligue 1 and the beginning of the superstar era in Saudi Arabia but as ever it will be the Premier League that dominates the discourse after a summer of spending and scheming. I'm James Benge, here to bring you the latest from Europe's domestic leagues, the World Cup and more.

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�� Footy fix

All times U.S./Eastern

Friday, Aug. 11
���� Coppa Italia: Genoa vs. Modena, 3 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+
�������������� EPL: Burnley vs. Man City, 3 p.m. ➡️ USA
���� La Liga: Sevilla vs. Valencia, 4 p.m. ➡️ ESPN+
���� Leagues Cup: Inter Miami vs. Charlotte FC, 8:30 p.m. ➡️ AppleTV+

Saturday, Aug. 12
�� World Cup: Australia vs. France, 3 a.m. ➡️ Fox
�� World Cup: England vs. Colombia, 6:30 a.m. ➡️ Fox
�������������� EPL: Arsenal vs. Nottingham Forest, 7:30 a.m. ➡️ Peacock
�������������� EPL: Newcastle vs. Aston Villa, 12:30 p.m. ➡️ NBC
���� DFL Supercup: Bayern Munich vs. RB Leipzig, 2:45 p.m. ➡️ ESPN+
���� Ligue 1: PSG vs. Lorient, 3 p.m. ➡️ beIN Sports
���� Brasileirão: Botafogo vs. Internacional, 8 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+

Sunday, Aug. 13
�������������� Premiership: Aberdeen vs. Celtic, 7 a.m. ➡️ CBS Sports Network
�������������� EPL: Chelsea vs. Liverpool, 11:30 a.m. ➡️ Peacock
���� Brasileirão: Gremio vs. Fluminense, 5 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+
���� La Liga: Getafe vs. Barcelona, 3:30 p.m. ➡️ ESPN+
���� Brasileirão: Flamengo vs. São Paulo, 5:30 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+

⚽  The Forward Line

The return of the Premier League

It's been just 60 days since Manchester City reached footballing immortality, hoisting the Champions League trophy and completing the treble. Now they are back in action, one of their greatest ever players ready to welcome them to Turf Moor as Vincent Kompany's Burnley kick off the 2023-24 Premier League season against Manchester City in a battle of the champions from last season. Anything less than a solid win for Pep Guardiola's side would be a stunning way for the new campaign to begin. Yet again, City are heavy favorites to win the title and rightly so. But as I note in my 10 questions ahead of the new season, this iteration of the champions feels far from complete:

• Benge:"The squad might not be where it was at the end of last season but the club have the best coaching staff, an elite recruitment department and as much money as they deem necessary. Gaps can be plugged at a moment's notice. But for now at least, this does look like a team that could do with a bit of freshening up. Others might believe there is an opening."

City's nearest rivals look like Arsenal, who have dropped £200 million to improve last season's second-place squad, obliterating their transfer record to bring in Declan Rice while picking up Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber. Despite the takeover talk murmuring in the background, Manchester United's summer has been serene by the standards of Old Trafford, a cauldron of unnecessary drama, and now that they have their first post-Sir Alex Ferguson top-tier coach in Erik ten Hag, they can aspire to better things this season.

Below those three? Well, between the moment we hit send on this newsletter and the time you open your emails, the entire timbre of the Premier League could change. At the time of writing, Liverpool have agreed a British record £110 million deal with Brighton for Moises Caicedo, who would complete a radical midfield rebuild for Jurgen Klopp's side. That is unless Chelsea manage to ram their way back into a deal that had appeared to be theirs for the making. If they don't get Caicedo, expect the Blues to pivot to Romeo Lavia, the Southampton midfielder who for so long had been bound for, you guessed it, Anfield. So of course, it's Chelsea vs. Liverpool on Sunday. We haven't even mentioned Tyler Adams, set to join a Chelsea team that only have two senior central midfielders with scarcely 48 hours to go until their season begins.

You thought that was all the transfer drama? Think again! Harry Kane is off to Germany to complete his €100 million transfer to Bayern Munich, leaving Tottenham as their record goalscorer. Medical details were shared between the two clubs on Friday and he will undergo further checks before signing a deal with the Bundesliga champions ... probably. The England captain spent much of Thursday mulling whether he actually wanted to leave England. This is the Premier League -- don't rule out a dramatic change of heart.

All this turbulence rather serves to distract from the product on the pitch, which should be extremely intriguing this weekend. Watch out for the clash at Stamford Bridge between two of the league's great powers, U.S. men's national team goalkeeper Matt Turner returning to the Emirates Stadium a few days after leaving Arsenal for Nottingham Forest, and a match between two teams shorn of their transformative forwards as Brentford take on Tottenham. It's going to be a cracking weekend.

��  Midfield Link Play

Another shock at the World Cup

The champions continue to fall by the wayside Down Under. With the quarterfinals halfway to completion, Japan are out, Sweden following up their shootout triumph over the USWNT by beating the new tournament favorites 2-1 at Eden Park. It wouldn't be a Sweden match at this tournament if it didn't deliver a little bit of goal line drama, Aoba Fujino bending a free kick into the crossbar, the ball clattering down onto the head of goalkeeper Zecira Musovic, then the post, then the goal line, all without crossing the line. 

Having beaten the Netherlands, Spain find themselves as the new tournament favorites but they made heavy weather of their first semifinal berth, as Pardeep Cattry notes:

• Cattry:"For all of Spain's passing flair and shot creation, the team struggled to notch meaningful chances at times. Spain had 28 shots but only five on target, which points to a potentially worrying habit ahead of the semifinals. The team had an eerily similar performance against Japan, when they had 76% possession but just two shots on target out of 10, posted an expected goals tally of just 0.7 and ultimately lost 4-0."

The four teams on the other side of the bracket will be rubbing their hands together with glee. Hosts Australia will be hoping to cause an upset against France while the pressure might just be building on England, who at the peak of their powers might just be the best team left in the field. Sarina Wiegman's side will need to show that they can reach those levels if they are to overcome Colombia.

Now for some more headlines from the busy world of soccer.

�� The latest on the future of Kane, who is expected to join Bayern Munich.
�� The Morning Footy crew offer their predictions for Europe, NWSL and MLS.
�� The crew breaks down the Spain vs. Netherlands clash at the World Cup.
�� Premier League predictions! Here are Man United,Chelsea,Liverpool,Man City and Arsenal.
�� Chuck Booth assesses Burnley, Sheffield United and Luton Town, the promoted EPL teams. 
�� Jonathan Johnson explains why Premier League matches are going to run long. 
�� Can't wait to see Lionel Messi in MLS action? Tough, you're going to have to.
�� Cattry looks at the two-game ban handed to England forward Lauren James.
�� In Soccer We Trust .

• Premier League
  �� THE PICK: Relegation treble -- Luton Town, Sheffield United and Wolverhampton Wanderers (+1200) -- Rarely have two newly-promoted teams seemed so ill-prepared for the Premier League. In defense of Luton Town, no one could have imagined that they'd have found themselves here and it is perhaps the shrewdest move they could make to use the top-flight riches to invest in their facilities and their squad. Meanwhile Sheffield United, riven by ownership turbulence, have lost two of their best players in Iliman Ndiaye and Sander Berge, not replacing them with anyone particularly outstanding. With Wolves having also lost talent and not replaced well, the likely bottom three in the Premier League seems as cut and dry as it could with a whole season left to play.
• Ligue 1: PSG vs. Lorient, Saturday, 3 p.m.
  �� THE PICK: PSG to win and three or more goals scored (-138) -- Another summer of turbulence at the Parc des Princes ends with the Parisians still the strongest team in Ligue 1 by a fair distance. They should show that against Lorient, who still might fancy themselves to nick a goal against a team who looked shaky in their preseason games.