Predicting Premier League ‘Big Six’ Starting 11s for First Match of 2024/25

As the 2024/25 Premier League season draws nearer, all eyes are on the opening weekend and the much-anticipated lineups of the ‘Big Six’ teams – Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Tottenham.

With the transfer window closing soon and pre-season form still fresh, predicting the starting 11 for these powerhouse clubs is a tantalizing puzzle for fans and analysts alike. Tactical shifts, recent transfers, and pre-season performances make it exceptionally difficult to foresee how teams will shape up, especially with new signings potentially on the way in. But, with rumours flying around and with warm-up games in full flow, everyone is starting to get an idea about how each team will be set up.

For clubs like Man City and Liverpool – for differing reasons – their starting XIs will almost certainly tell the story of rinse and repeat. However, for clubs like Chelsea and Man United, who both struggled last season, squad overhauls mean their lineups will look completely different, making any predictions extremely difficult.

Arsenal

Riccardo Calafiori could be joined by another signing

Arsenal thought they found the key to Premier League glory last summer when they signed Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber. But with Man City beating them in a second successive two-horse race, Mikel Arteta has once again dipped his toes back into the transfer market this summer with the ultimate aim of winning the Gunners a first league trophy in 20 years.

Riccardo Calafiori comes into the side off the back of an impressive EURO 2024 campaign, which will see him slot straight into the left-back role ahead of Oleksandr Zinchenko. Meanwhile, Mikel Merino – who scored the dramatic extra-time winner for Spain to send them into the European Championship quarter-final ahead of Germany – will more than likely be given the nod in midfield over the likes of Fabio Vieira and Jorginho if he signs.

This means that, for now at least, Kai Havertz is expected to keep his place in attack. A lot has been said about the German since moving to England in 2020, but he is finally starting to show glimmers of his days at Bayer Leverkusen. And after having notched his best goals and assists tally in the Premier League last season, there’s no reason he can’t be trusted to lead the line.

Chelsea

A much-changed line-up for Enzo Maresca

Chelsea’s financial feast has hardly done anything to steady the post-Roman Abramovich era. Under Todd Boehly, the Blues have spent more than anyone else since the new American ownership came in, and this trend has continued as they look to spend big again ahead of the 2024/25 adventure.

Tosin Adarabioyo and former Leicester City midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall are already through the doors and expected to go straight into the starting lineup when the Blues face Manchester City on the opening weekend, especially as the former was signed to replace the outgoing Thiago Silva and the latter will be well-versed in his manager’s playing style as Enzo Maresca also joins from the Foxes.

Meanwhile, it looks increasingly likely that Victor Osimhen will make the switch to west London sooner rather than later after it was confirmed that Napoli and Chelsea were in talks over a season-long loan. This would see the Blues boast a formidable forward line of Cole Palmer and Christopher Nkunku just behind last year’s African Player of the Year. Elsewhere, Malo Gusto will retain his starting spot thanks to Reece James’ suspension, although he will do well to keep it once the Englishman returns.

Liverpool

No new faces for the Reds

Liverpool are the only club in the Premier League to have not yet made a signing this summer at the time of writing, and as Arne Slot gets to grips with the players already at his disposal, it’s not yet clear whether any first-team improvements will be made. Of course, what makes this harder is the fact the club does their business in silence, with the new manager recently telling the club website: “The first aim is to work with these players” and “We are waiting for the right players.”

However, one change that could be made is the reintroduction of Stefan Bajcetic into the starting XI. Before his injury curtailed his 2023/24 campaign, he impressed Jurgen Klopp and there’s no reason he can’t do that again this summer, especially with Wataru Endo’s future in doubt.

It’s difficult to predict any other changes, even though there was speculation that Slot would be given a war chest that would see new and crucial signings made. Instead, now that the season is nearly upon us, the only other switch could see Cody Gakpo move to the left-wing position with Darwin Nunez played in the centre-forward role after the former impressed from that berth at EURO 2024.

Related

Arne Slot Must Learn From Jurgen Klopp’s Huge Cody Gakpo Error

Cody Gakpo has been electric at Euro 2024 but Jurgen Klopp failed to get the best out of the Dutchman during the pair’s time together at Liverpool.

Manchester City

Guardiola not looking to rock the boat

Whereas Liverpool are expected to stay low-key in the transfer market because of their reluctant policies, Pep Guardiola’s side’s lack of new first-team arrivals will be a case of deciding against fixing something that isn’t broken. Man City have won the last four Premier League titles and with no key departures this summer, there isn’t much reason to mess with success.

The only potential change that might crop up at a later date is the like-for-like swap from Ederson to Stefan Ortega as the current first-choice Brazilian eyes a move to the rich retirement home of the Saudi Pro League. Meanwhile, the back-four looks set in stone as Josko Gvardiol finally answered the left-back question for his club, while Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne, and Foden make up one of the best midfield trios in the league’s history.

In attack, there can’t be too many qualms with Jeremy Doku, the two-time Golden Boot winner Erling Haaland, and Bernardo Silva. Nonetheless, Jack Grealish, Julian Alvarez, and new acquisition Savinho make up a golden trio of fresh attacking impetus from the bench.

Manchester United

Leny Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee come straight in if fit

Despite signing a new contract at the club just a month back, Erik ten Hag only narrowly avoided the sack last season when he won Manchester United their record-extending 13th FA Cup. As a result, the jury is still out, so the Red Devils will need to start the 2024/25 campaign in fine fettle if the Dutchman wishes to keep his job.

Now isn’t the time to experiment for Ten Hag, who will likely bring in Leny Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee from the start as they replace Jonny Evans and the hit-and-miss Marcus Rashford. Both of these recent signings arrived at Old Trafford with great expectations, and their boss will be hoping they can hit the ground running.

There remains a question mark over Yoro and Rasmus Hojlund after they both picked up injuries in United’s pre-season friendly against Arsenal. But if they are fit, they will almost certainly start, handing the former a position next to Lisandro Martinez, who will no doubt feel like a new signing after a lot of his 2023/24 term was marred by injury issues.

Related

Ranking Every Premier League Manager by How Likely They Are to be Sacked

The 20 managers at every Premier League club by how likely they are to be sacked next.

Tottenham

Ange Postecoglou’s side welcomes one change

After Tottenham made the £41m signing of Archie Gray from Leeds United, it’s hard to picture a situation where an arrival of that magnitude at a club that’s been so tightfisted in recent years doesn’t start. However, as far as the rest of the lineup goes, the 18-year-old can do his homework and look at last season’s blueprint for clues as to who he should expect to team-up with.

This is because Tottenham have notoriously kept their lineup fairly unchanged from season to season, and after also securing the services of future talents in the shape of Lucas Bergvall and unknown quantity Min-hyeok Yang, it appears as though Ange Postecoglou’s recruitment team are focussing their efforts on building for the future.

Perhaps this isn’t a bad idea, either, as the Australian-Greek manager has a healthy track record when it comes to improving players, and this could yet also see the likes of Micky van de Ven and Destiny Udogie improve even more next term, with Pape Matar Sarr expected to start alongside Gray behind an attacking setup consisting of Brennan Johnson, Richarlison, Son Heung-min, and James Maddison.