The wait is finally over. Today is the day (well, technically yesterday was). Premier League football is back and Aston Villa will travel down to the capital to take on West Ham United in the evening kick-off.
Can Aston Villa qualify for the Champions League again? Will they progress to the knock-out stages in Europe? Manchester City won their fourth title in a row last season, can they make history and make it five or will Arsenal finally get their hands on the Premier League title?
Clubs like Liverpool and Chelsea have new managers, how will they fare? Will any of the three promoted clubs cause any major shocks this campaign or will all three be playing Championship football again next season?
Ahead of the season, those who work on AVillaFan.Com will make their predictions ahead of the new campaign:
Champions
Elliot: Arsenal
Jason: Manchester City
Nick: Manchester City
Stuart: Manchester City
Tee: Manchester City
Manchester City are the first club to win the title in four successive seasons, with Chelsea and Liverpool doing it on three occasions. Last year’s title was their 10th in their history. Arsenal last won the Premier League in the 2003-04 season and have been City’s closest rivals over the past two campaigns.
Who else will finish in the top four?
Elliot: Manchester City, Aston Villa, Manchester United
Jason: Arsenal, Liverpool, Newcastle United
Nick: Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea
Stuart: Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham
Tee: Arsenal, Manchester United, West Ham United
Last season was the first time Aston Villa qualified for the Champions League since they won the competition in the 1981-82 season. Manchester United have failed to finish in the top four twice in the last three seasons, before that they only failed four times in the last thirty seasons.
Who will be relegated?
Elliot: Southampton, Leicester, Wolverhampton Wanderers
Jason: Wolverhampton Wanderers, Ipswich, Leicester
Nick: Southampton, Ipswich, Leicester
Stuart: Ipswich, Southampton, Leicester
Tee: Southampton, Ipswich, Leicester
Only four times in Premier League history has all four promoted sides avoided relegation the following season. The last time came in the 2021-22 season when Fulham, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest all avoided the drop. Wolves have been in the Premier League since 2018 and they have failed to finish below 14th since their return.
Who will be the first Premier League manager to be sacked?
Elliot: Russell Martin
Jason: Gary O’Neill
Nick: Nuno Espírito Santo
Stuart: Nuno Espírito Santo
Tee: Russell Martin
Nuno Espírito Santo is Nottingham Forest’s seventh manager in five years, taking control when Steve Cooper was sacked in December 2023. On average, over the last 10 years, there have been 11 managerial changes in the Premier League throughout the season, with just 4 coming in the 2020-21 season and a staggering high of 26 in the 2022-23 campaign.
Where will Aston Villa finish this season?
Elliot: 3rd
Jason: 6th
Nick: 7th
Stuart: 5th
Tee: 5th
A fifth-place finish could still mean Champions League qualification depending on the European Co-Efficient results come the end of the season. Aston Villa’s fourth-place finish last season was their highest finish in the Premier League since the 1994-95 season.
And finally, how much will a pint of beer cost at Villa Park this season?
Elliot: £7.25
Jason: £6.85
Nick: £6.70
Stuart: £7.60
Tee: £7.00
