• Maresca’s choice of players will be made on Saturday morning while City will line up their reliable and tested players.
• Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says his team play with more aggression and determination this season to secure a title.
Image: XINHUA
Chelsea kick off their season this weekend with a tough match against Manchester City and many people, even inside the club, recognise that — if the Blues have a bad start to the season — coach Enzo Maresca will come under intense pressure.
This could make him the first Premier League managerial casualty.
With so many players signed this summer, Maresca will do well to remember everyone’s name! Cole Palmer will be their main man now that cult hero, Conor Gallagher, is being pushed out.
Julian Alvarez has departed but Savinho has arrived and will be used extensively.
Kevin De Bruyne is fit as is Phil Foden, Rodri, Mateo Kovacic, Erling Haaland and Ederson.
They will all play a part. Pep Guardiola is meticulous in his preparations before a big match and this week’s training has been intense with videos being shown in the training room, detailing all of Chelsea’s strengths and weaknesses.
Maresca’s choice of players will be made on Saturday morning while City will line up their reliable and tested players.
Arsenal v Wolves
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says his team play with more aggression and determination this season to secure a title.
However, their opening game against Wolves hinges on the condition of four senior players: Fabio Viera is doubtful but Jurrien Timber is hopeful of playing.
Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney are out. New signing Riccardo Calafiori is ready to start but at the time of writing this column, Arteta was considering starting the more aggressive Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Bukayo Saka returned from the Euros as an automatic starter and a player Arteta rarely drops or substitutes. It remains to be seen if he is fully fit or, possibly, tired from playing non-stop.
Gabriel Jesus has been on fire in pre-season games and Arteta has to decide if he plays him or sticks with Kai Havertz up front.
The two can play together but Arteta opts for one at a time. Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice Thomas Partey are fit, giving Arteta options.
Wolves have lost their best player in Pedro Neto but Gary O’Neil is pleased with his centre-back, Yerson Mosquera’s, improvement. Two have been training one-to-one.
Mosquera struggled with controlling the ball at his feet in pre-season hence O’Neil’s attention to detail. Containing Havertz, Odegaard and Saka will be a challenge.
Pre-season injuries were kept to a minimum and Matheus Cunha, Hee-Chan Hwang and Daniel Podence can all feature.
O’Neill felt the team were flat in losing to Spanish side Rayo Vallecano in their final pre-season match but suggested extensive travel around the USA had left many players tired and insisted they will be fully fit to face the Gunners.
Leicester v Tottenham
Spur’s coach Ange Postecoglou is likely to give striker Dominic Solanke his first game time against Leicester on Saturday.
The coach is confident he can get a win at the King Power stadium but admits Leicester, under new coach Steve Cooper, is unknown and could pose problems.
New and exciting signings Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall could make their debuts but Richarlison and Fraser Foster are still out.
Club captain Heung-min Son has spoken about 26-year-old Solanke and said he can have a huge impact on the team.
Sonny always does well against Leicester — 10 goals in 18 games. Postecoglou hinted he is only interested in bringing in a right back, to replace Emerson Royal, who has moved to AC Milan.
His main ambition for the season is to close the gap between them and Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool.
Leicester’s evergreen Fox, Jamie Vardy, will hope to play but he was nursing a knock earlier this week as were Conor Coady and Patson Daka.
Ipswich Town v Liverpool
There is a degree of frustration amongst the Liverpool fans with no new players arriving and coach Arne Slot saying he can continue the Red’s success with the same squad.
Failing to secure Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi means Liverpool are the only club in Europe’s top five leagues yet to make a signing.
Many believe the first game against unfancied Ipswich will not be an indication of how this season will go since they foresee the Tractor Boys back in the Championship next year. This should be an easy win for Liverpool.
It has to be admitted that Liverpool have better and more experienced players than Ipswich. However, Town coach Kieran McKenna must not be underestimated.
Having learnt his trade at Tottenham and under Jose Mourinho at Manchester United, he will be ready for this match. Ipswich have aerial power with many players over 6ft.
Omari Hutchison is their danger man and midfielder Sam Morsey is solid in commanding the defence.
Mo Salah, Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez will severely test the Ipswich defensive backline with new signing Ben Johnson at full-back.