EPL 2015-16 Preview: 11 Things to Keep An Eye On This Year

The 2015-16 English Premier League season begins Saturday with a high-profile game between Manchester United and Tottenham (7:45 a.m., NBCSN). Let’s take a quick look at 11 storylines, questions and other notes about the league heading into the year …

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1. Arsenal is all in.

Arsène Wenger’s team struck the first blow of the 2015-16 English soccer season, beating Chelsea 1-0 on Sunday in the Community Shield. Normally, this result warrants as much attention as a Week 2 NFL preseason game, but Arsenal beating Chelsea is somewhat of a big deal, specifically if the Gunners lost we’d have already seen “typical Arsenal” stories begin to circulate. Arsenal also did so without last year’s talisman, Alexis Sanchez, who is resting up following the Copa America.

Most pundits expect Arsenal, now with Petr Cech wearing No. 33 in goal, to contend for its first league title since 2004. There shouldn’t be any excuses. The Gunners schedule to start the season is: vs. West Ham; at Crystal Palace; vs. Liverpool; at Newcastle United vs. Stoke City and then a trip to Stamford Bridge on Sept. 19. Arsenal also doesn’t have to fret about the Champions League playoffs, so there’s no excuse to dig itself into an early hole.

Arsenal’s fortunes remain tied to Wenger’s continued faith in Francis Coquelin as his top defensive midfield option.

2. Jose Mourinho is still a jerk.

Mourinho and Wenger snubbed each other following the Community Shield and the Special One tossed his runner-up medal into the crowd. The English press eats up this stuff from Mourinho, so don’t expect it to change. Although it’s growing tiresome, this is also a smart play from Mourinho since it takes the focus off his team whenever something doesn’t go Chelsea’s way. Whenever Chelsea struggled en route to the title last year, Mourinho shielded his team from any heat and usually turned it into a conspiracy by the referees.

Mourinho may need to play these games if Diego Costa isn’t 100 percent by the start of the season, with questions about whether Loïc Remy or Falcao can function as the team’s lone striker in Costa’s absence.

Mind games and all that crap make headlines and get people talking, but Chelsea’s chances of repeating as champs come down to whether or not the mostly unchanged side can stay on the field as much it did last season. The Blues’ first choice lineup is still the best equipped to win the long, contentious English league season, but if something happens to Eden Hazard, John Terry, Cesc Fabregas, Nemanja Matic, Costa or they’re not quite as sharp it opens up the title chase considerably.

Then again, Mourinho’s mind games will be credited if Falcao returns to the form he showed at Porto and Atletico Madrid earlier this decade…

3. Manchester United might be back …

The Red Devils are dead. Long live the Red Devils.

Manchester United’s lean period lasted all of one year under David Moyes. In his first season, Louis van Gaal guided United back into the Top Four. Is a run at Chelsea, City and Arsenal in store for Year 2?

In Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin, van Gaal solidified his midfield and creating lots of options. Questions remain on the status of keeper David De Gea, as he’s been dropped ahead of Saturday’s opener with Tottenham as rumors with Real Madrid persist, but the United season is likely going to come down to the performance of Wayne Rooney, now the team’s only first-choice striker. Rooney turns 30 on Oct. 29. United might not need the 27 league goals he scored back in 2011-12, but it’ll need an improvement on last year’s 12-goal tally.

Adding Pedro from Barcelona for the departed Angel Di Maria would fit van Gaal’s 4-3-3 system, should the move come to fruition in the next three weeks.

4. Will there be a title chase come May 2016?

Yes. Chelsea ran away from the rest of the league in September and didn’t lose its first league match until mid-December at Newcastle and went into the new year with 14 wins, four draws and a loss. The title race was a moot point in 2015. Can an unchanged squad do that again? Seems doubtful, saying nothing of the improvements at the top end of the table.

Arsenal is poised to contend from the start. Unless Manchester City completely loses faith in Manuel Pellegrini — the club handed him a contract extension on Friday — and the Pep Guardiola rumors become overwhelming the club has too much talent not to mount a challenge. If it all clicks, United have the look of a team that could win, but that’s a big if.

5. Harry Kane: one-year wonder or England’s next great striker?

Obviously the Tottenham striker can only be one or the other. That’s how sports arguments work these days. If he doesn’t match last season’s 31 goal total (21 in the league) he’s the next Andy Carroll. If he improves on that haul he’s the next Alan Shearer.

Suppose Kane turns out to be somewhere in the middle and becomes a consistent, reliable scorer for parts of two decades? That’s not such a bad development, is it?

I suppose we could either a) make sweeping assumptions about a 22-year-old professional soccer player or b) watch what happens on the field. The latter is more appealing to me.

6. Will EPL officiating improve in 2015-16?

Doubt it.

7. How important is Sergio Agüero to Manchester City?

Pretty damn important. Despite finishing second, 2014-15 was mostly forgettable for City with down performances from many club stalwarts, except Agüero who finished with 26 goals in the league. City signed Wilfried Bony in January and Raheem Sterling in the summer, meaning both Stevan Jovetic and Edin Dzeko were moved to clubs in Italy.

Agüero could miss a little time to start the season after the Copa America in June. City paid in the neighborhood of $35 million for Bony, so he’ll need to recapture his excellent Swansea form since Dzeko — despite a down year a season ago — finished with double-digit goal tallies three times for City, helping bridge the gaps when Agüero was sidelined. City’s defense isn’t quite what it once was when it won its first league title, so counting on winning 1-0 each week isn’t an option for Pellegrini.

If Agüero and Sterling play off each other at the top of the City attack, it creates a potentially lethal option for opponents to deal with on the counter attack.

8. Will the EPL take head injuries seriously?

Unless someone in a position of power within the Premier League reads soccer Twitter and the collective teeth gnashing made from American viewers whenever a player takes a knock to the head during a match, it will likely be more of the same, unfortunately. Since teams are only allowed three subs per game, managers are always going to be loathe to take a player off or wait enough time for proper concussion protocol. Perhaps it would be wise for managers to realize that a misdiagnosis of a head injury ends up having a longer lasting effect than if a team plays it smart from the start.

9. Which dumb storylines will carry us through?

Impossible to say, but rest assured they will happen. If anyone can create a mountain from a molehill, it’s the English soccer media. Note to any players reading this: do not go out in public or allow your friends to use recording devices if you step within 100 yards of a tobacco product.

10. Can anyone else make a run at the Top Four?

The usual candidates the last half-decade have been Tottenham and Everton. The Toffees are in transition and questions will continue to hover over Roberto Martinez, especially if and when John Stones bolts for Chelsea or Manchester United.

Tottenham? Well Spurs pissed off the Soccer Gods long ago and appear stuck in Europa League purgatory until the sun burns out. Tottenham looks like its defense is in order … depending on Jan Vertonghen’s form or where Eric Dier lines up or if Mauricio Pochettino shows faith Federico Fazio … or … you get the point. Christian Eriksen and Nacer Chadli, like Kane, will be counted on to replicate last year’s production for Spurs to sustain a challenge at the top.

The Europa League plays into other teams trying to creep up the table. Southampton, seventh last season, lost Nathaniel Clyne, Toby Alderweireld and Morgan Schneiderlin, but made prudent replacement moves in Cedric Soares, Steven Caulker and Jordy Clasie. Advancing into the Europa League group stage is more of a burden than a boon long-term as it pertains to the league table. Without the extra Thursday games, the Saints could reasonably push for fifth or sixth.

West Ham is drawing plaudits for signing Dmitri Payet from Marseille but Enner Valencia hurt himself in the Europa League qualifiers and could be out 12 weeks. Swansea remain a smart team financially and adding Andre Ayew on a free transfer is another prudent move for the Welsh club. The Swans chances for a run up the table come down to whether or not Bafétimbi Gomis, Eder or whomever else the club tries at striker can consistently score as Bony did in the early part of last season.

Crystal Palace is a club pointed in the right direction and no longer comes up among the relegation candidates thanks to the presence of Alan Pardew and ambitious signings like Yohan Cabaye and taking on Chelsea’s Patrick Bamford on loan. How well they gel with mainstays like Yannick Bolaise bears watching. Palace could follow the Stoke City model: consolidate each season and aim to finish between ninth and 14th and keep collecting the EPL television revenue checks.

11. And, finally, what about Liverpool?

The pressure is on Brendan Rodgers from the start following another summer with a high-profile departure (Raheem Sterling) replaced by numerous reinforcements (Christian Benteke, Roberto Firmino, Clyne, Danny Ings, Joe Gomez, etc). Last season the Reds finished with 52 league goals and allowed 48. The goals scored total will improve with Benteke and a healthy Daniel Sturridge. Can Rodgers fix the defense and find a partnership that works between Martin Skrtel, Dejan Lovren and Mamadou Sakho?

There are too many moving pieces to figure Liverpool can mount a title challenge, so the Reds shot at the Top Four is contingent on someone else struggling. Would Rodgers focusing on winning a Cup or the Europa League satisfy Liverpool fans? Maaaaybe?

Although he’ll be mention roughly 100 times during every Liverpool game until, probably, February Steven Gerrard leaving the club for the Los Angeles Galaxy won’t be a huge on-field impact. Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Lucas Leiva and Emre Can provide more for Liverpool in 2015 than the club legend could.

Random Predictions:

Top Seven

1. Arsenal
2. Chelsea
3. Manchester United
4. Manchester City
5. Liverpool
6. Tottenham
7. Southampton

Bottom Three:

18. Aston Villa
19. Watford
20. Norwich City

Top Scorers:

1. Wayne Rooney
2. Sergio Agüero
3. Christian Benteke

First Manager Fired

Tim Sherwood, Aston Villa

Player of the Year

Alexis Sanchez, Arsenal

[Photos via Getty]