Premier League preview: 10 questions facing Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and more

The Premier League is back and we have questions! Ten of them, to be precise. The league gets underway on Friday when reigning champions Manchester City visit Burnley and the slight is highlighted by Sunday's big clash between Liverpool and Chelsea. 

Here are the 10 questions before action begins:

1. Can IFAB's ball-in-play initiative change the game?

The new season hasn't even begun and already eyes are wandering to the clock. How much football is too much football? We might be about to find out. All bar two games in last week's EFL openers ran over 100 minutes as part of the International Football Association Board's directive (IFAB) to quell time-wasting and add on the exact time taken for celebrations, substitutions and other stoppages in play.

Already the likes of Raphael Varane and Kevin De Bruyne have registered their displeasure over this new regime but it is here to stay, according to refereeing chief Howard Webb. 

"This was born out of a desire to create a fairer game, whereby the loss of time was accounted for in a more accurate way," he said. "We've seen a declining trend in effective playing time and the Ifab are determined to rectify that.

"We have to change mindsets. We will stick to this. We are not going to ease off. We are not going to start ignoring behaviors in October or November. This will be here for good." 

Having said that, IFAB and PGMOL, who run English refereeing, hope that there will only be a few weeks of elongated added time before teams conclude that time wasting simply won't work.

But will this new approach really curb teams who use the clock as a 12th man? Perhaps somewhat – holding on for dear life gets tougher by the minute and there will be plenty more of them – but prevaricating over goal kicks or throw-ins was never just about time. There will still be teams who will conclude that 108 minutes of persnickety football favors them much more than less time played at a greater pace. What really might make it work is not just yellows. A red or two given out entirely for time wasting could have a chilling effect on the league's most cynical sides and perhaps ensure that fans can get home at a reasonable time.

2. Does Guardiola have enough variety?

It has been a curious summer since Manchester City summited the peak of European football, outgoing business headlined by the surprise exit of Ilkay Gundogan giving Pep Guardiola's squad something of an incomplete feel as it readies itself to defend the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League. The simplest answer to every question over City might just be that there will be more business between now and the end of August, plugging some of the gaps that emerge.

Still, even the possible new additions such as Lucas Paqueta leave one wondering about how City will look in 2023-24. If the Brazilian does arrive - and West Ham seem determined to hold onto him after losing Declan Rice this summer - he would fill the squad role left by Riyad Mahrez and would offer very Cityish qualities, a purveyor of the pausa who could slowly take apart an opposition defense (and who does not press with particular intensity). Those are all the facets Guardiola has come to cherish during his time in England … and he already has loads of players who offer them.

The same is true in defense, where the quartet of center backs making up the backline is evidently here to stay, £88 million spent on Josko Gvardiol to function as the left back who shuffles into the back three when John Stones or someone else steps into midfield. That tactical tweak propelled City to the promised land last season, it's no wonder Guardiola is sticking with it. One does wonder, however, if this team could adapt if opposition find the weak spots (perhaps by beating City in the possession game) or if injuries strike. With Joao Cancelo free to leave, this is a squad that looks extremely light on orthodox full backs even now that Kyle Walker is staying put. Plan A is so great that there is nothing to make you think City are anything other than prohibitive favorites.

Even with a somewhat samey group of players, Guardiola is constructing different looks, drifting back towards something more like the 4-4-2 he used in 2021-22 for last week's Community Shield. 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.

3. Will Arteta utilize his depth?

Arsenal have responded to their failed title push last season with big spending. With the possible exception of Kai Havertz, whose ceiling is worth a punt even if the £60 million price seemed far too high, it is hard to question the quality of any of their new additions. Most valuably of all the likes of Jurrien Timber and David Raya will give Mikel Arteta real quality off the bench. One of the most significant questions so far in his three and a half years in management, though, is whether the Spaniard can exploit that.

Take, for instance, Emile Smith Rowe. His 2020-21 season might have been something of an outlier reflection of the player he was but there is a young midfielder of real talent in him, one who could have had a positive impact on the second half of the season, when he returned from injury to record personal bests in training. Yet because Arteta did not blood him in the winter and early spring, there never seemed to be an occasion on the biggest days where it felt like it was the right moment to chuck Smith Rowe on in pursuit of a winner. A double figures scorer the previous season got just 163 top-flight minutes in 2022-23. Arteta's bench, meanwhile, was littered with similar players. Fabio Vieira, Eddie Nketiah, Kieran Tierney: they never seemed sharp enough to make an impact. In total, only 13 players logged over 900 Premier League minutes for the Gunners.

Run down their squad for this season and you could make a case for anywhere up to 20 players meriting that amount of game time. If Arteta uses his depth effectively then Arsenal should be a more unpredictable and possibly effective force, a team that can tailor their approach to their opposition while always attacking with fresh legs. In theory, it makes for quite the force. The manager will need to prove he can make that vision a reality.

4. Where do Manchester United's goals come from?

Erik ten Hag's first season in English football was as near to an unqualified success as it is possible for any Manchester United manager to have when they haven't won the Premier League. His handling of the Cristiano Ronaldo affair stamped authority on a difficult dressing room, deep runs in the cup competitions while locking down a top-four spot pointed to a coach who can cope with the competitive environment of the Premier League. If United are to take a leap this season, however, they're going to need to put the ball in the net on more than 58 occasions, 12 fewer than Tottenham and 30 behind Arsenal. When the Gunners and Liverpool took their leaps towards title contention it was off the back of vastly improved goal output. There is no sign this United squad is going to do that. They underperformed an expected goal (xG) return of 67.7 by a fair margin but there is a lot more needed in attack than a better run of form in front of goal. 

Can they find it? When Rasmus Hojlund recovers from a back injury he might prove himself to be a scorer, might being the operative word for a player with only a handful of Serie A starts to his name. Getting in on the Mason Mount reclamation project looks like a shrewd move by Ten Hag, the best version of him at Chelsea would add double figures to United's goal output. Sensible shot selection from Antony would help too. The decisive factor might be which Marcus Rashford United they get - is he the 0.48xG per 90 minutes forward of last season or the one who scarcely hit half that number in the two years previous? Elite output from him will be required if United are to get the goal tally of potential champions.

5. Can Robertson thrive in the new Liverpool?

The tactical reshuffle of last season is here to stay at Anfield, at least on the basis of preseason. Full backs that once stretched the seams of opposition defenses are now stepping infield. For Trent Alexander-Arnold, the net impact will likely remain positive, he can be guilty of exposing the channel between Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate but he should be an extremely impressive playmaker behind a front five which looks intriguing indeed, particularly if Dominik Szoboszlai drifts into wide spaces that allow Mohamed Salah back into the more central areas that he often vacated last season.

The major question underlying Liverpool's system switch is whether Andrew Robertson can invert to be the third center back. When the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal do that they use players such as Nathan Ake and Ben White. They don't just have the physical attributes of center backs. They often are center backs who have drifted wide. Robertson has spent the last few years playing more like a winger than a defender, can a 5-foot-10 full back offer the physicality and nous to keep Liverpool secure? Expect to see a storm of long balls into the space he is tasked with defending during the early weeks of the season. Liverpool have rarely had obvious weak points going into a new campaign. This one is sure to be tested.

6. Is Jackson the striker Chelsea have needed?

You have to go back to the thunderous divorce between Diego Costa and Antonio Conte in 2016-17 to find the last time a Chelsea striker beat 20 goals in all competitions. Since the Spain international departed, there have been a succession of big-money signings, academy graduates and veterans -- none have ever looked like the answer for the long term. One would assume that a £32 million pick-up (chump change for a club with the Blues' spending habits) with only 12 top-flight goals to his name wouldn't be much of a salve either. However, the preseason return on Nicolas Jackson looks rather encouraging.

The Senegal international showed the strength and link play to suggest he could function well as a target man but he can also dart smartly across the field, interlinking with the wide men to provide chances like the one he laid on for Mykhailo Mudryk. A critique of his time at Villarreal might be the low volume of shots, averaging a little over two per 90 minutes. In an ideal world, fellow new signing Christopher Nkunku would deliver the sort of output that might mean Jackson functions as more of a 15-goal-a-season facilitator. However with the Frenchman sidelined for three to four months, someone is going to have to score in bulk if Mauricio Pochettino is going to hit the ground running. Can Jackson be that man?

7. Where have all the good vibes gone at West Ham?

In their last football match, West Ham United won a European trophy. Admittedly the Europa Conference League is no Super Bowl (it's much, much better) but it is staggering that the east London club have slipped into such rancor in the hazy afterglow of that famous night in Prague. The positivity of that night was a fleeting moment in a grueling season and it is now dissipated clearly.

Head coach David Moyes and director of football Tim Steiden are at loggerheads over recruitment, which had scarcely progressed heading into the final week of preseason. The problem with selling Declan Rice to Arsenal in such public, protracted fashion is that everyone knows the Hammers are £105 million better off, they aren't picking up any of their targets on the cheap and might need more of them if Manchester City manage to extract Lucas Paqueta from the London Stadium.

What West Ham are getting with their Rice bonanza are the sort of experienced Premier League heads that Moyes relishes. Harry Maguire, James Ward-Prowse and perhaps Scott McTominay could serve their club perfectly well for three years but do nothing to raise the ceiling. The Hammers should be fine this season. They might not be fun though. 

8. What is the ceiling at Aston Villa?

Glastonbury Festival, weeks of newspaper front pages given over to coverage of the weather, unrelenting praise for the ambition Aston Villa have shown in the transfer market: these are the purest markers of the Great British summer. And like Elton John on the Pyramid Stage, the 1982 European champions have delivered hit after hit after hit.

One of the Premier League's most admired midfielders arrived on a free in Youri Tielemans, followed by Spain international Pau Torres. Villa even managed to hold off a sustained push by Saudi Arabian giants Al-Nassr to get Moussa Diaby, who had a hand in 57 Bundesliga goals over the last three seasons, into the club. Each and every one of their new additions is a statement of intent. Intent to do what though?

Perhaps a deep run in the Europa Conference League and one of the domestic cups would suffice, particularly if it came alongside a solid Premier League finish. Can Unai Emery deliver more than that, however? It seems instructive that most betting markets have them around ninth in the league; this is a team that has put daylight between them and lower mid-table but looks just as far from the Champions League places as they are the relegation zone. At great expense, Villa might just have spent themselves to nowhere in particular. 

9. Have Bournemouth conducted a shrewd sacking?

It would have been all too easy for the powers that be at Bournemouth to conclude that because the club weren't relegated last season, Gary O'Neill had done a fine job and deserved another crack at the Premier League. That would have been foolish, however. The worst team in the top flight didn't get relegated last season, if they had delivered the same underlying metrics (including the league's worst xG difference) in 2023-24 they may well have been for the drop this time around.

Instead, the Cherries appointed a coach in Andoni Iraola whose three years at Real Valladolid point to a philosophy that can allow lower table talent to punch above its weight. The Basque has also been furnished with players who suit his high-pressing system, Justin Kluivert an intriguing gamble on talent who should fit well with two shining stars recruited in the January window, Dango Ouattara and the excellent Hamed Traore. Bournemouth's is a young squad that will have to learn on the fly but given the club hierarchy have proven they understand what the problem is, it is plausible that they've worked out how to solve it too.

10. Why is everything a mess at Molineux?

O'Neill didn't manage to take Bournemouth down to the Championship but he'll get another opportunity with Wolverhampton Wanderers after Julen Lopetegui walked out of the club on the eve of the season, the Spaniard unimpressed by a summer where Ruben Neves and Nathan Collins have headlined over £80 million in sales. Meanwhile, the bulk of the £53 million spent going on the obligation written into the loan agreement with Atletico Madrid for Matheus Cunha, scorer of two Premier League goals, last January.

There are still a few talented players for O'Neill to work with, particularly a midfield that will see Matheus Nunes take command, but the disinterest of ownership over recent years has long since filtered through onto the pitch. After seasons of steady setbacks, this could be the year that everything falls apart.