Gary Lemke is back ahead of the start of the 23/24 Premier League campaign! Find out who Gary thinks will finish top of the pops this season as well as a few little morsels to help guide your betting decisions on the opening matchday!
Kompany’s homecoming and a tough start for Burnley
The Premier League bursts into action with its first round of matches for the 2023/24 season this weekend. There’s a Friday night kick-off, with promoted Burnley hosting champions, and Europe’s finest, Manchester City.
One can imagine that many Burnley fans will be pulling half days on Friday, getting the pints in ahead of the 8pm kick-off. The bad news for Burnley is that City were held goalless over 100 minutes in last week’s Community Shield, so they’re likely to get on the scoresheet here.
A quick glance at the previous four Friday night matches to start the season: Crystal Palace 0-2 Arsenal, Brentford 2-0 Arsenal, Liverpool 4-1 Norwich City, Man United 2-1 Leicester. This of suggests the 0-0 is out the window and there’ll be a minimum two goals in the game.
* Ed’s note: Keep an eye out for former Orlando Pirates forward Lyle Foster who could make his Premier League debut on Friday.
IT IS TIME!!!
— Prince Sobayeni Sports (@PrinceSobayeni1) August 11, 2023
The 2023/24 English Premier League season officially starts today with Lyle Foster's Burnley hosting champions Manchester City at Turf Moor
Foster is expected to at least get some minutes up front for Burnley who will be looking to kick-off the campaign positively pic.twitter.com/QP5P7YwaTI
Big pressure on Jackson to perform for Chelsea
Chelsea have been crying out for a top goalscorer for several seasons and there have been some major flops in front of goal. Last season was a horrid one; they finished 12th and scored 38 goals in 38 games, conceding 47.
They sold Kai Havertz to Arsenal and brought in Christopher Nkunku. He looked good on the pre-season tour to the USA, but then suffered an MCL knee injury and is out for four months.
So, the spotlight turns to the relatively unknown Nicholas Jackson to bulge the net consistently. Many feel that the Senegalese forward possesses Didier Drogba-like qualities – and the Ivorian was a club legend and one of the Premier League greats.
It seems as though the Chelsea bosses might agree. When they (finally) announced their shirt numbers for this season, Jackson was given No15. It’s the same number Drogba first wore at Chelsea until he changed to No11. No pressure then.
NICHOLAS JACKSON is a STEAL😳🔥 pic.twitter.com/4f0IvkeOO1
— Chiukwujioke_Proudly Anioma (@chiukwujioke) August 3, 2023
Plenty of records within reach for Haaland
Speaking of strikers. Erling Haaland found the net 36 times from 35 EPL games for Manchester City last season. That was more than Wolves 13th) and Everton (17th) managed the entire season.
The reality is that should Haaland hit another 30+ goals this season – he’s odds-on in the betting to do so – City would already be halfway to the title again. But there are still records he can break.
For instance, no striker has had more shots on target in a game than Tottenham’s Emmanuel Adebayor (9) against West Brom in 2011/12. No striker has had more shots on target than Thierry Henry for Arsenal (93) in 2003/04. Haaland doesn’t feature in either of those lists’ top 10. So there’s plenty of motivation for him.
An Erling Haaland smile in the Community Shield preseason game can only mean one thing.
— Ryan (@bernardooooV3) August 7, 2023
Goals. And lots of them. pic.twitter.com/FhVmysR6mo
Let the sack race begin!
Who will win the annual sack race? If you said Julen Lopetegui you’d be holding a busted ticket. Because the Wolves manager lost his job less than a week before their opener against Man United.
So, the slate is still clean and there are 20 Premier League managers starting out this season with hope in their hearts. The thing is, the stakes are at an all-time high and winning is everything.
Last season 16 managers were sacked. The previous “record” was 10. Generally speaking, club owners first pull the trigger quite quickly if there’s a poor start. I don’t expect any of the promoted clubs to be the first to sack their manager, so for me, it could be Fulham’s Marco Silva or Bournemouth’s newly-appointed Andoni Iraola.
“I think the manager will walk out” 🗣️@Carra23 called it! Julen Lopetegui has left Wolves after just nine months 🐺
— The Overlap (@WeAreTheOverlap) August 8, 2023
Watch here 👉 https://t.co/BaEtw5Wr4x pic.twitter.com/rXsfj4ammP
How Gary has them finishing
OK, deep breaths. Here are my selections ahead of the Premier League season. Of course, one can be wildly wrong, but see how yours combines with mine.
- Manchester City
- Arsenal
- Manchester United
- Newcastle
- Liverpool
- Tottenham
- Chelsea
- Aston Villa
- Brighton
- West Ham
- Brentford
- Wolves
- Burnley|
- Crystal Palace
- Bournemouth
- Everton
- Nottm Forest
- Fulham
- Sheffield United
- Luton Town
