After months of suspense and great expectations, English Premier League season begins today with last season’s league champions, Liverpool trying Bournemouth for size.
Arsenal, the league’s runner up, will meet Manchester United on Saturday, while Newcastle will travel to Aston Villa.
The Gunners have finished second for the past three seasons and were lacking a clinical finisher to take that final step towards being champions.
The club has however bought Viktor Gyokeres to beef up its attack. Arsenal were linked with a move to Benjamin Sesko for over a year before deciding on Gyokeres as the man to fire them to a first Premier League title since 2004 for a fee that could rise to £66 million ($89 million).
Gyokeres netted a remarkable 97 times in 102 games during two years at Sporting Lisbon, much of which came under the orders of United boss Ruben Amorim.
Sesko has however, gone to Manchester, and together with Gyokeres, will be making their debut appearance in their respective clubs tomorrow at Old Trafford.
Both Arsenal and United desperately need a fast start and the battle between the two new No 9s will go a long way to deciding the outcome.
Gyokeres scores first Arsenal goal in Athletic Club win.
United endured their worst season since being relegated in 1974 during Amorim’s first year in charge.
The Red Devils finished 15th in the Premier League and failed to qualify for Europe after losing the Europa League final.
Below is fixtures for this weekend:
Friday
Liverpool v Bournemouth
Saturday
Aston Villa v Newcastle
Brighton v Fulham
Sunderland v West Ham
Tottenham v Burnley
Wolves v Man City
Sunday
Chelsea v Crystal Palace
Nottingham Forest v Brentford
Man United v Arsenal
Monday
Leeds v Everton
