The English Premier League (EPL) is arguably the mother of all football leagues worldwide. The league enjoys more than 2 billion viewers yearly.
This entails why the best football coaches and players endeavour to test their craft in the league at some point in their careers. EPL features lots of thrilling encounters and talking points for pundits and fans every week.
As the league gets underway, fans and analysts are wondering who will win the 2024/2025 English Premier League.
Would Manchester City repeat their impressive form of the last few seasons to defend the league title? Have Arsenal learnt enough lessons from their narrow miss of the last two seasons?
Is Arne Slot of Liverpool experienced enough to stage a title challenge in his first season as a manager in the EPL? Would Unai Emery and Aston Villa pull a Leichester City-esque shocker to Win the league?
These and so many other questions bugle the minds of fans and supporters of EPL clubs.
Who are the 2024/2025 English Premier League Title Challengers?
As the season unfolds, the EPL title challengers are separated from the rest. This season is expected to toll the path of previous seasons with familiar teams going for the title.
Factors expected to play crucial roles in determining which team emerges as the winner of the title include the depth of competing teams, injuries, and a few other factors.
Based on previous seasons, Manchester City, Arsenal, and Liverpool are the likely title challengers for the 2024/2025 English Premier League.
Manchester City
Manchester City are the defending champions of the EPL and the team to beat in the title race for the 2024/2025 EPL campaign. The team has enjoyed lots of success in recent years.
Pep Guardiola’s City has won the EPL four times in a roll in the previous campaigns, setting an unprecedented record as the first Club to achieve such an elusive feat.
City stuck their neck out and high last season to finish a few points above the ever-resilient Arsenal who have proven to be worthy title challengers in the last two seasons.
Pep Guardiola’s side recruited impressively in the Summer transfer window to send a strong message to fellow title contenders. City’s dealings in the transfer window reflect a club that of a club that wants more titles.
The EPL champions welcomed the arrival of club icon Ilkay Gundongan who departed the club a year earlier to ply his trade in Spain with Barcelona. The addition is an advantage to the club for several reasons.
Firstly, Gundongan knows Manchester City’s style of play and requires little or no time adapting to the system. He also brings his wealth of experience needed in the big games.
Secondly, he can act as a leader in midfield in the event that the star player Kelvin Debruyne sustains an injury. KDB has suffered recurrent injuries and rarely goes a full season without missing out on games because of injuries.
Gundogan would surely act as a worthy and experienced creative midfielder in the event of a KDB injury. This makes his re-addition to the team a very impressive one.
Also, Manchester City recruited Sylvinho from Girona and the Brazilian is proving to be an exciting addition. Gifted with pace and trickery, Sylvinho would be a handful to EPL defenders this season.
The Brazilian would face stiff competition for a regular starting berth from wingers such as Doku, Jack Grealish and club icon Bernado Sylva. But there are 38 matches to be played and he is certain to have game time to help his team.
Pep Guardiola and Manchester City were impressive in the summer transfer window with their addition but what’s more impressive is their ability to retain star players.
Also read: Why Manchester City Might not win The EPL this Season
Retaining star players like KDB, Erling Haaland, Bernado Sylva and the experienced goalkeeper Ederson was a masterstroke by the club.
Ederson had wanted to depart the club for a more lucrative offer to Saudi Arabia but the club ensured any transfer for star players never saw the light of the day.
City is the favorite to lift the Premier League Title at the end of the campaign but faces stiff competition from Arsenal, a team that has finished as runners-up in the last two seasons.
Arsenal Football Club
Having finished in second place in the last two seasons, Arsenal would be going all out this season to win the league title. The club is prepositioned to give City a run for their money this season.
Mikel Arteta’s side missed out narrowly on the league title last season. But they fought till the last day of the league campaign where they surrendered to the eventual winner, City.
Arteta and his team would certainly learn a lot from last season and hope to improve on their campaign this season. To achieve their aim of winning the elusive EPL title, Arsenal added a couple of exciting talents to their ranks.
During the summer transfer window, Arsenal recruited Timber from Ajax. The young left-back has proven to be a great addition to the team, having given a good account of himself whenever selected to play.
The former Ajax left-back has surprised many to become a regular starter for the left-back position given the presence of Calafiori who arrived at the club amid a colourful funfair and celebrations.
The addition of two solid left-backs has proven productive for the Gunners so far this season given the nightmare they endured last season for the position.
Arsenal also brought in the experienced England international, Raheem Sterling from Chelsea. Sterling is expected to come in handy for the gunners given his wealth of experience.
Sterling would need little or no time to adapt to his new club having worked with Mikel Arteta in the past while at City. With these additions, Arsenal would be hoping to win the league title which they last won over two decades ago.
Liverpool FC
Liverpool FC is undoubtedly one of the contenders for the EPL title. The team is still in the process of rebuilding a formidable team having experienced the departures of many star players.
Towards the end of last season, Jurgen Klopp announced that he would step down as the coach of Liverpool much to the dismay of club faithful who have become too accustomed to the charismatic manager.
His departure signaled the end of a golden era of the English premier league side which enjoyed lots of domestic and international success.
The club brought in Arne Slot to herald the rebuilding of the team. Arne Slot and star players Mohammed Salah and Virgil Vandyk are at the forefront of rebuilding the Anfield side.
The team have begun the league campaign on a bright note, winning their opening match and doing so in style. Liverpool have shown that they boast the credentials and squad depth to give City a run for their money this season.
Aston Villa
Aston Villa showed guts and steel last season to finish top four and force their way to feature in the Champions League. A competition they’ve won in the past but haven’t but have not featured in for many years.
All credit goes to their Spanish gaffer Unai Emery who has shown that he belongs in the class of the top European coaches. Their extraordinary performance last season has raised lots of eyebrow this season.
Unai Emery and his men cannot be written off from the title challenge. As the season unfolds, we shall learn if Villa can improve on their performance last season and stage a shocker and challenge the favourites for the league title.
Chelsea
Chelsea finished outside the top four last season and failed to make it to European football this season. The club is in the process of rebuilding. They brought ina new manager Enzo Maresca to oversee the rebuilding process.
They also brought in lots of players to help restore the club to its glory days. The coach and new players are expected to take time to get accustomed to the league and as such, they are not expected to mount a serious title challenge this season.
Manchester United
Talk about a team that has fallen off grace and Manchester United would pop up. Since the departure of the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson, the club has failed to win the English Premier League.
They have brought a handful of coaches since the departure of SAF but has enjoyed only little success. The team disappointed last season and the coach Erik Ten Hag almost lost his job but for the success of the FA Cup.
Manchester United have begun the league campaign in an unconvincing note and as such cannot be considered a title contenders. The club brought in some young talents like Yoro, Delights and Zirkee.
These new addition all came from different league and would need time to get used to the physical demands of the EPL. Manchester United are certainly not to be considered as title challengers this season