Premier League Shorts

If the spectacle served up by Liverpool and Man City at the Community Shield this past weekend is any indication of what could be on offer in the Premier League this season, then I’d have to say that fans could be in for a really exciting season.

For all the talent at their disposal on Saturday, defending champions Manchester City didn’t quite look up to the pace as they huffed and puffed at times against a Liverpool team that were well into their rhythm after what could be described as a successful pre-season.

Goals from Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and enterprising new signing Darwin Nunez ensured that the Reds drew first blood but while the result didn’t exactly flatter Liverpool, hedging your bets against them to lift the title could be foolhardy but then again, neither should you be betting against Manchester City on the basis of that loss.

Both sides have done some really solid business in the summer despite losing some key players. For City, no longer will they have the steady influence of captain Fernandinho who has left for Brazil. They have also lost the services of Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Raheem Sterling but they have mitigated these losses by recruiting wisely. Kalvin Phillips has come in from Leeds United and so has the mercurial Erling Haaland and the fantastic young striker Julian Alvarez from Argentina’s River Plate.

Liverpool on the other hand, haven’t had as much upheaval and while losing Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich may have raised a few eyebrows in certain quarters, bringing in Darwin Nunez from Benifica looks like a masterstroke. The Uruguayan showed exactly why he is so highly rated by settling down so quickly and already scoring goals for his new side.

Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspurs, Arsenal and Manchester United are still recruiting and will definitely add to their squads before the transfer window comes to a close on the 2nd of September but nothing they’ve done so far gives the impression that they’ll be more of a challenge this season to City and Liverpool than they were in the previous one.

Abiye Opuamah

Abiye Opuamah is an editor and a massive football enthusiast who also dabbles now and again in writing flash fiction pieces, playing chess against the machine and almost always roots for the underdog. He lives in Johannesburg.