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Bring out the jerseys and the supporter scarfs, 'cause the Premier League is back!
While it seems only yesterday that we saw Manchester City hold out Liverpool to retain the title, the Reds now pull up the curtains on another rollicking season in English top-flight by hosting the newly promoted Norwich City at Anfield.
Like in the summers gone by, the clubs have been busy making new additions to the team. And as they finalised their squads today, with the end of the transfer market, let's look into our crystal balls and make a few predictions for the new season:
#5 Leicester City to finish as the best team outside 'top six'
The Foxes have inconspicuously assembled an excellent squad this summer. They signed Belgium's talented midfielder Youri Tielemans permanently for a club-record fee of £40 million, after roping in Ayoze Perez from Newcastle United, another versatile player.
Now throw in the quality of Jamie Vardy, James Maddison, Kasper Schmeichel and Ben Chilwell et al. That makes Leicester City a well-stocked and balanced squad, capable of upsetting the applecart to finish within the top six, or at least, in seventh as the 'best of the rest'.
The fantastic pre-season the club has had further bolsters hope. The Foxes were unbeaten all summer, winning five of their six friendly games, including one over Serie A side Atalanta in the last warm-up.
Harry Maguire's departure is perhaps the only sore note of an otherwise pristine summer, but that shouldn't prove to be disastrous given the quality the side now boasts.
Brendan Rodgers has every reason to be optimistic ahead of his first full season with Leicester City. He showed promise towards the tail end of last season when the former Celtic boss took over and is now armed with all the necessary tools to deliver on that promise.
Watch out for this team.
#4 At least one of the promoted teams to be relegated
Premier League's history suggests not all of Aston Villa, Norwich City and Sheffield United will retain top-flight status, as only three of the 27 seasons have witnessed all the promoted sides avoiding relegation. So the omens are really bad.
The Claret and Blue seem to be privy to this, which might explain the barely-believable outlay of £133.74 million they've made in newer acquisitions. That's also a statement of intent from the club, that they're determined to stay in the league beyond this season.
Which brings us to the next promoted pair: Norwich City have spent far little in this summer's transfer window, whereas Sheffield United are the bookmakers' favourite relegation contenders at 4/6.
Neither of the news boys seem to have the squad to survive the rough and tumble of the Premier League, though some of the existing sides can do them a favour.
Newcastle United are also touted to go down this season, with the departures of Ayoze Perez and Salomon Rondon depriving the club of quality attacking outlet upfront.
Summer signing Joelinton is left with big boots to fill, but the 22-year old is an untested quantity in the Premier League.
Brighton and Hove Albion, who managed to escape the drop by the skin of it's teeth last season, as well as Burnley are the other relegation candidates of the bookies.
Yet, there's a nagging feeling that one or more promoted sides of this season won't survive.
#3 Harry Kane to win the Golden Boot
The Golden Boot has become the raison d'etre for Harry Kane, who's going to launch another deadly assault at its claim this season.
The Tottenham Hotspur hitman was blighted by injuries last season, missing 17 games in all competitions, 11 of which were in the Premier League. This limited his goal-scoring returns to only 17, Kane's lowest since the 2014/15 campaign.
Imagine how much he could've raised those figures had he been able to maintain a clean bill of health, especially when you consider that the top-scoring triumvirate of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netted only five more than him.
In the 2019/20 season, Kane will be coming after what he believes is rightfully his. The 26-year old has already won it on two previous occasions, and narrowly missed out on a third one in the 2017/18 season.
He averages a staggering goal-to-game ratio of 0.7 in the league for Spurs, and 0.8 if you consider only the last three seasons.
At full pelt, he's managed at least 25 goals in every season from 2015 to 2018, and could've easily emulated the same last season if it wasn't for the unfortunate injuries.
Salah, Aguero and Aubameyang are once again among the favourites for the prize, but history suggests Kane's the name.
#2 Liverpool to struggle this season
As much as I hate to say it, but the Reds are staring at a tough season ahead. The pressure of emulating the historic feat of 97-points is just too much, and it's nearly impossible to repeat the trick for a second consecutive season.
Liverpool had to push themselves to the absolute limit last time, straining every sinew to accumulate those points. Now the chickens might be on their way home to roost: the weariness resulting from such an arduous endeavor might kick in, causing a dramatic loss of form.
Also, several members of the first-team were very active during the summer too: Salah and Mane participated in the AFCON Cup 2019, with the latter even going all the way to the finals. Roberto Firmino and Alisson Becker were an instrumental part of Brazil's triumphant Copa America campaign, whereas Virgil Van Dijk and Giorginio Wijnaldum played in the UEFA Nations League for the Netherlands.
So fatigue is a serious concern for Jurgen Klopp heading into the new season, who might already be apprehensive of his side's chances after an unsatisfactory pre-season, which yielded only three wins from seven.
The reigning European champions remain a swashbuckling side. They might as well win another piece of silverware next summer. But not the Premier League. It appears to be a bridge too far right now.
#1 Manchester City to do the Premier League 'three-peat'
Now you might raise the same argument as produced in the previous slide: that Manchester City, like Liverpool, might be exhausted after two back-to-back seasons at their rip-roaring best. But the difference here is that, the Skyblues are better acquainted to replicate it another season.
Okay, perhaps not another 100 points or 98 points. Heck, City may not even finish more than 95 points this season. Nevertheless, they have enough in the tank to lift the Premier League title once more.
In Pep Guardiola, they also have a manager who knows a bean or two about winning three consecutive league titles, having done so with Barcelona and Bayern Munich before.
The Premier League is obviously a much different kettle of fish than LaLiga and Bundesliga, but the Spaniard has developed a knack of winning the league even when his team isn't performing up to the mark. And this is a City team which won't, such is the quality in there.
Add the new signings of Joao Cancelo and Rodri to the already fantastic team, and you have all the recipe to script yet more history.
Crosstown rivals Manchester United are the only side in the Premier League era to win the league for three successive years. Looks like the unique distinction is now under threat.
