Division One Preview

[Nocky]

We are a week away from the start of the season and most of the business is done so now is an opportunity for us to have a look through the division and see where we are compared to last year. As a reminder, this is what the league table looked like at the end of season 23@

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Pl   Team                      P    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
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1    Bournemouth              22   13   5   4    42   17   25    44
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2    Arsenal                  22   13   5   4    31   16   15    44
3    Aston_Villa              22   13   4   5    32   16   16    43
4    Liverpool                22   12   5   5    42   32   10    41
5    Everton                  22   11   5   6    49   28   21    38
6    Manchester_City          22    8   5   9    27   28   -1    29
7    Brighton                 22    8   4  10    25   23    2    28
8    Brentford                22    7   6   9    25   34   -9    27
9    Derby_County             22    5   7  10    23   27   -4    22
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10   Chelsea                  22    5   4  13    21   54  -33    19
11   Manchester_United        22    5   3  14    23   42  -19    18
12   Leicester_City           22    3   5  14    15   38  -23    14

It was Bournemouth who won an incredibly tight title race seeing off Aston Villa and Arsenal on the final day with Liverpool not far back in 4th and Everton completing the top five. These had quite a gap to Man city, Brighton and Brentford who were neither in danger of challenging at the top nor in the relegation battle. Derby County were the big survivors with a dramatic win at villa on the final day keeping them up with Chelsea, Man Utd and Leicester all making the drop. They are replaced for season 24 by West Ham, Wolves and Leeds

So, will it be a similar story or will surprises be sprung. We'll have a look at each squad, manager and how they stack up and try to predict where we think the honours and the relegation will be heading this season...

[Nocky]

Arsenal

Last Season: 2nd
Key Signings: J_D_Dalmasso, M_Simakan, M_Cuisance, A_Gordon
Star Man: K_Mainoo

Comments:
A busy summer for Arsenal with lots of ins and outs but a lot of them being the same players going round and round. What they have done is added quality in every position with Argentinian Dalmasso being a big step up in the GK department and Simikan an extra 23r in defence. Cuisance adds a very special all round ability to that midfield and likewise Gordon has huge potential on all fronts in attack. The loss of auction signing Fernandez to Bournemouth as part of the Cuisance deal has only emphasised the importance placed on star man Kobee Mainoo in the centre of the park.

They missed out on the title simply on goal difference as they secured a dramatic final day win at Liverpool only for Bournemouth to do the same at Everton and pip the Gunners. With the extra quality added surely they are fit for another title challenge

In the dugout: Jamal Claxton
A very experienced manager who is only fairly recently returned to football after a long break. A very savvy dealer in the transfer market and a man who can get the best out of his players on matchdays as last season proved. He loves his triple rated midfielders and dual rated defence and attack and the squad is looking very much how he would want it now. He will be frustrated to have come so close last time around and will be very keen to go one better this season

Prediction: 4th

It seems harsh but we're predicting a very tight run race again this season and, whilst the Gunners have improved, so have Bournemouth, Villa and Liverpool and we just feel at this stage that those squads have more quality. Expect Arsenal to run it really close but there's potential the squad just won't be able to get over the line in the key games.

[Nocky]

Aston Villa

Last Season: 3rd
Key Signings: Ruben_Dias, E_Fernandez, Gerson
Star Man: C_Leemans / M_Cunha

Comments:
As ever a load of ins and outs at Villa over an off season as they have tried to do what they can to improve the squad. And that is something that has been achieved through the arrival of Dias, Fernandez and Gerson. The midfield is definitely better placed than it was last time around to compete with the big boys. The concern will be that the improvements were needed in midfield but have also come in what was an already miserly defence with the attack - that was very low scoring last season - weakened if anything. Questions will remain to be asked if they can find the goals to see of Liverpool, Bournemouth and Arsenal.

They came third last season and should have won the league with it in their hands going into the final day. It's a tough league but they will be in the mix once again

In the dugout: Alex Nock
A long standing member of FMFA and a manager that has won trophies wherever he has gone in ESMS he will be very irritated to end last year with nothing. On his day capable of beating anyone but also prone to lapses of concentration and over confidence that sees his sides turned over more regularly than they should be. A very active member of the transfer market and another one to build a squad full of secondary stats you can always tell one of this manager's teams when you look at the squad and he's done a good job to get improvements in this year to keep up the challenge.

Prediction: 3rd

We're going for the same as last year. Expect the Villa to be in the mix again and to be pushing all the way but we also expect a tight contest and those slip ups that the team are prone to (like Derby at home) are just probably going to be enough, once again, for them to just fall short