The 2023-24 Premier League season is over: Manchester City won a record fourth consecutive title, Jürgen Klopp left the scene as Liverpool manager and Manchester United recorded their worst result in the Premier League.
Arsenal almost won the league, Tottenham fans angered manager Ange Postecoglou for wanting Spurs to lose to City, and Aston Villa surprised everyone by qualifying for the Champions League.
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But before attention turns to a summer of international football with Euro 2024 and the Copa América, it's time to look ahead to the 2024-25 Premier League season. Yes, it's a little early (the dust is still settling on the campaign that just ended), but what better time to predict what will happen next term than with the last one still fresh in mind?
So here's ESPN's “Too Early Look” at the upcoming season.
Manchester City has five in a row
Manchester City have won six of the last seven Premier League titles (Liverpool broke that sequence in 2019-20) and have become the first team in English football history to win four consecutive league crowns.
If they beat Manchester United in the FA Cup final on Saturday (9:55 a.m. ET, live stream on ESPN+), City will create more history by becoming the first club to achieve consecutive league and cup doubles. Pep Guardiola has swept the record books since he took over as coach in July 2016 and it is difficult to predict anything but more success next season.
Can City make it five games in a row? Well, they have the strongest team, the most complete squad, the best coach and financial resources incomparable to their rivals, so they will begin next season as big favorites to emerge as champions again.
Arsenal will likely be their closest rivals again, having finished runners-up for two consecutive seasons, but Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea are in a state of flux due to change of management or uncertainty in that department. So, barring an unexpected turn of events, City will win the league again.
But City can also be relegated
An unexpected turn of events, you said? Well, here's a huge cloud hanging over City in the form of 115 charges of financial irregularity levied by the Premier League, charges which City deny.
Since the Premier League issued the statement of objections in February 2023, covering the period between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons, the football world has been waiting for City's case to be heard and is expected to begin in autumn. The final resolution is likely to come three or four months later.
No one knows how it will turn out, but both Everton and Nottingham Forest suffered point deductions during the 2023-24 season (Everton eight points, Forest four points) for violating Premier League financial regulations, and their irregularities were limited to single charges (two single charges over two seasons in the case of Everton) of violating the Profit and Sustainability Rules.
All options are on the table for the Premier League should City be found guilty of some or all of the charges, so sanctions could range from fines to point deductions or even expulsion from the league itself.
So City have a great year ahead of them. We should know their fate well before the end of next season and if they lose the case, relegation by points deduction could become a shocking reality.
Slot tries to prove that Dutch coaches can succeed in England
Nobody has a bigger challenge in the Premier League next season than Arne Slot. The new Liverpool manager not only has to achieve success on the field, but must also somehow fill the void left by Klopp at Anfield.
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How Slot can use Ten Hag's struggles to adapt to the Premier League
Mario Melchiot shares his advice for Arne Slot ahead of his first Premier League season as Liverpool manager.
Slot comes to Liverpool with a reputation for producing interesting teams that exceed his financial budget, as he did in Holland with AZ Alkmaar and Feyenoord, but the Premier League is a much more difficult environment than the Eredivisie and Dutch coaches have struggled to succeed. in English football.
Louis van Gaal, Frank de Boer, Ruud Gullit and Ronald Koeman have come and gone without challenging for a league title, while Erik ten Hag is fighting for survival at Manchester United after two years in the job at Old Trafford.
Spanish, Italian, German and Portuguese managers have all won the Premier League, so can Slot buck the trend with Liverpool?
To achieve this, he must quickly convince top players such as Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk that he can build on Klopp's legacy and also take on rivals such as Guardiola and Arsenal's Mikel Arteta. Slot has the personality to pull it off, but he needs to get off to a good start.
Man United continues its spiral of chaos
It's been 11 years and counting since Manchester United last won the Premier League, and they haven't even challenged for the title in that time. But with the football side of the club now controlled by minority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS group, changes behind the scenes point to a brighter future at Old Trafford.
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Evaluating Man United's worst historical result in the Premier League
The ESPN FC Live team rates a Premier League season to forget for Manchester United, who finish a long way from a Champions League spot in eighth.
However, the reality is that regardless of whether Ten Hag continues as manager, the reform needed to make United competitive again will take more than one transfer window to complete.
United have so many issues to address in the squad that it will be a painstaking process and next season will be another year of disappointment.
The rebuild has to start somewhere and is likely to start this summer, but United have a mediocre squad and, at the moment, a mediocre manager, so don't expect them to challenge for a top four finish.
Watch out for these young stars
The 2024-25 season promises to be a breakthrough year for some of the Premier League's brightest young players.
Adam Wharton has been a revelation for Crystal Palace since arriving at Selhurst Park in an £18million transfer from Blackburn in January, and the 20-year-old midfielder will only build on his progress next season. Liverpool's Jarell Quansah, 21, has shown enough in recent months to suggest that he may earn a role as Van Dijk's defensive partner.
Oscar Bobb is another player to watch at Manchester City, where the 20-year-old attacking midfielder is slowly establishing himself in Guardiola's team. Bobb could become a more regular player next season.
And after some impressive performances for Newcastle United early last season, 18-year-old Lewis Miley can become a first-team regular for Eddie Howe's St James' Park side, despite his young age.
Arsenal knocks on the door again
Arsenal have finished runners-up for two consecutive seasons, but they don't have the appearance of being “almost a team.”
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Why Arsenal are in a great position to dominate English football in the future
Dalen Cuff believes Arsenal are in a perfect position to dominate the Premier League thanks to the progress Mikel Arteta's side have made over the last three years.
This Arteta-led Arsenal team is developing rapidly and could have a third charm in the league next season, depending on their summer signing.
But it looks like Arsenal will once again be City's most likely rivals, and the anguish of being so close this time will make the difference next season.
The last two years have looked like an exciting ride for the young Gunners team, but there is now a feeling that they are developing a tougher lead through disappointment and that could lead to a greater focus on winning next year.
So no more cameras or selfies on the field next season, just the determination to improve. They can do it, but they have to do it from day one.
Chelsea goes to Chelsea
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Who will be the next Chelsea manager?
The “ESPN FC” team analyzes the names that could replace Mauricio Pochettino as Chelsea coach next season.
How can you predict next year for Chelsea when those responsible seem averse to sticking to a long-term plan?
The Stamford Bridge team is now looking for its fifth manager since the Todd Boehly/Clearlake Capital consortium bought the club in May 2022, after parting ways with Mauricio Pochettino at the end of the season, despite the former Tottenham manager guiding the team to sixth place and European qualification.
So with so much upheaval over the past two years, it seems inevitable that next season we'll see more of the same. It will be chaos instead of calm as another new coach tries to succeed with a talented, but too inexperienced team.
Chelsea want a coach who moves at the pace of the owners, but the best coaches are those who challenge their bosses when they need to and command the respect of their players for being strong enough to do so.
Right now, what's best for the team is incompatible with what's best for the owners, so just when Chelsea seemed to be doing well under Pochettino, another season of drama is in store next year.
