It’s not long now until the 2017/18 Premier League season kicks off and newcomers Brighton & Hove Albion, Newcastle United and Huddersfield Town will all have a fight for survival. In a close-season which is looking likely that all records will be broken, we take a look at the clubs who are most likely to be involved in the battle to avoid relegation.
Out of the three promoted clubs, Huddersfield Town, who finished fifth in the Championship, look to have the most to do in the summer. They were the only top six Championship side who finished the season with a negative goal difference, and unless there is a dramatic improvement in a defence which conceded 58 goals over the course of the season they will find life in the Premier League hard going. to put that into perspective, Wigan Town, who were relegated from the Championship, conceded one goal less.
They have been busy in the transfer market with eight new arrivals, but the lack of defenders arriving is concerning. Out of the eight signed so far, only Daniel Williams and Aaron Mooy could be considered defensively minded.
Brighton were impressive in the Championship for long spells last season, finishing runners-up to Newcastle. They’ve only managed two additions so far, goalkeeper Matthew Ryan and German midfielder Pascal Grob and have been linked with Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Celtic midfielder Stuart Armstrong. One would think there will be a few new arrivals in time for their opening match against Manchester City.
Championship winners Newcastle, who won the division by a single point, will be keen to remain in the Premier League. Out of the three promoted clubs, Newcastle have, by far, the most experience in the top flight. With a change in ownership looking likely to go ahead in the coming weeks, they will be keen to re-establish themselves as a Premier League club. So far, only one addition has been made to their playing squad, Eibar midfielder Florian Lejeine, with four leaving due to expired contracts. It’s been rumoured that they are keen to land England goalkeeper Joe Hart and have joined the race to land Burnley striker Andre Gray.
With the transfer window remaning open unitl the end of August, there is still plenty of time for the new boys in the Premeir League to strengthen and only time will tell if they have done enough during the close season to ensure their squads can compete at the top level in British football.
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