The X-factor for every Premier League team

How can Arsenal climb above Manchester City and win the league? Havertz could hold the key. David Raya, William Saliba, and the newly-acquired Riccardo Calafiori should shut most attacks down. Bukayo Saka will be the star up front. Havertz came over from Chelsea, but at first Mikel Arteta wasn’t quite sure how to use him. And yet, he still tallied 13 goals and seven assists. If Arteta and Havertz are on the same page for 38 games, the German’s nebulous attacking play might bring the Gunners a title.

Amadou Onana was the big addition this offseason, but he’s a defensive-minded midfielder. The shock move, though, is Moussa Diaby giving up on England (and his career?) by taking Saudi money after one season with Villa. The dude is only 25! Douglas Luiz is also now with Juventus. Bailey, an attacking winger, had 10 goals and nine assists last season. He may be the only secondary scoring Villa has behind Ollie Watkins, and will be necessary to attain another top-four finish.

Quietly, Zabarnyi made 37 starts at centre back for Bournemouth last season. He will turn 22 in September. The Ukrainian could be a staple for this club for years to come, or possibly a highly-sought transfer option in the near future. Bournemouth will look to be solidly middle-of-the-table once again. Dominic Solanke will do the scoring. Can Zabarnyi play his role in preventing goals once again?

To paraphrase American basketball coach Rick Pitino, David Raya isn’t walking through that door. Raya’s move to Arsenal is now inked long term. Brentford finished 16th in the table last season, but was 11th in goals (with the two teams ahead of them only scoring a single goal more). That was with Ivan Toney missing half the season. Flekken made 37 starts for Brentford last season, allowing 63 goals. If he can play a bit better, there will be no threat of relegation.

Pascal Gross wanted out. Pascal Gross is gone. He had been a metronome in the midfield for Brighton as it rose from newly promoted to staple of the top half of the table. A youth movement is in the works. Hell, the new manager Fabian Hurzeler is only 31 himself. Gross picked up 11 assists last season. Mitoma had four, but in only 19 games before a back injury ended his campaign in February. The Japanese international is not a like-for-like sub, but somebody has to do the playmaking, or Brighton might be relegation fodder for the first time in a while.

One of the many (many) recent additions by Chelsea’s brain trust, due to injury Nkunku didn’t play a ton last season. When he was on the pitch, though, you saw why Chelsea sought him. He’s the club’s answer to Jeremy Doku, a dynamic dribbler who can take almost anybody on one-on-one. Last season, Nkunku only played in 11 games, nine as a sub. His health and availability could prove crucial to Chelsea finishing in the top four.

Watching the Olympics, it was hard not to think, “Crystal Palace is going to miss Michel Olise.” Oh, it will. Jean-Philippe Mateta will be the target man offensively, and Ebrechi Eze is still there, but could somebody step up? We’re intrigued about another young, French attacking midfielder. Ahamada turned 22 in March, and he made 20 substitute appearances for Palace last season. He didn’t deliver like a “super sub,” but somebody will “need to step up to replace Olise. Being able to promote from within would be big.

Everton avoided relegation because it only allowed 51 goals, fourth fewest in the Premier League. It finished with a minus-11 goal differential because, well, it scored the second-fewest goals. Calvert-Lewin was tied for the team lead with seven goals, but for the club’s top forward, that won’t cut it. He needs to be better and get back to double-digit goals. Otherwise, Everton isn’t going anywhere.

Cairney is 33. He has a lot of miles on his legs. He’s already Fulham’s captain. And yet, he may have to shoulder a larger load in the 2024-25 season. We think Fulham could end up as relegation fodder. Joao Palhinha is gone. The defensive midfielder was vital for Fulham. Cairney is the only midfielder Fulham has with the size and physical presence of his departed teammate. Last year, 20 of his 34 appearances were as a sub. That may not be viable this season.

Look, we fully expect Ipswich to go back down. This team lacks the offensive skill to score, or the defensive stoutness to park the bus week in and week out and hope to eke out the 17th spot in the table. If Ipswich avoids relegation, it will be because its goalkeeper stood on its head. Muric, who just arrived from Burnley, is likely the guy. Yes, that would be the Burnley that was swiftly relegated last season. Hey, we didn’t say Muric would stand on his head. Just that it would be necessary.

Leicester lost manager Enzo Maresca to Chelsea, and the only player he brought along with him was central midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Winks, Leicester’s number eight, is no stranger to the Premier League. He played for Spurs for years, but last season was his first with Leicester. Winks made 45 appearances in the Championship, and now he gets to show Leicester (and Tottenham) fans he belongs starting in a Premier League midfield.

Nunez is an absolute trip. Nobody so good at football has ever earned so much ire and anger from his team’s fans. Also, nobody so good has earned so much justified ire as the Uruguayan. He generates so much attack for Liverpool and can finish clinically. He also looks like an absolute doofus more than 99 percent of high-level footballers. Could he just, like, be chill for one season? If he can, the dude is going to score 20 goals.

As per usual, the vibes are immaculate at Man City. Pep’s squad has won another title and is still packed with talent. Finding an X-factor proves tricky as such. However, at this point it does seem like City has to pencil in Kevin de Bruyne to miss at least 10 Premier League games. That means somebody like Nunes might need to step up as a central midfielder. The 25-year-old made 19 appearances last season, 10 as a sub. He had two assists and four shots on target, but notably drew 23 fouls. That’s intriguing.

Manchester United was lucky to finish eighth in the table last season, and that doesn’t cut it at this club. Sancho getting along with Erik ten Hag — and ten Hag getting along with Sancho — may be vital. Everybody was hyped when the English winger made the move from Borussia Dortmund to United, and then it just didn’t take. So much so, Sancho’s services were loaned out to Dortmund last year. He’s still only 24, but Sancho needs to take to the Premier League this time. Otherwise he, and ten Hag, will both be gone.

United used a lot of its newly-found money to pay a ton of money to bring Tonali over from AC Milan. That was in July of 2023. In October, he was handed a lengthy suspension for gambling. He’s eligible to return to the club in late August. How quickly does Tonali find his form? If he’s the guy Newcastle brought over from Milan by, say, the start of October, that will be huge.

Forest barely avoided relegation last season. It got 14 goals from thirty-something Kiwi Chris Wood, who scored 14 goals while putting 24 shots on target. That screams “unsustainable.” Taiwo Awoniyi was second with six goals. While that was in only 20 games, he put all of 10 shots on target. We see 22-year-old Swedish forward Elanga as the future of this attack, and he may need to be the present as well. He had five goals on 21 shots on net last year, but also added nine assists. If there is any dynamism in this offense, Elanga will drive it.

We are skeptical about Southampton staying up, but we don’t want to simply go with the club’s number-one goalie. So, instead, we will go with defensive staple Bednarek. The Polish centre back was starting for Southampton for much of its last run in the Premier League, and he played in 42 games in the Championship last season. At 28, he has made 220 appearances for Southampton. The heart of this defense is Bednarek.

How does Spurs get over the hump and back to the Champions League? Having Werner tap into his former self to provide secondary scoring behind Son Heung-Min should do the trick. Werner was a star at RB Leipzig, so much so he earned a big-money move to Chelsea. He couldn’t find his footing there and went back to Leipzig, but got loaned to Spurs late last season. Everybody was happy enough that Werner’s loan was extended through this season. Players of a certain style often struggle in the move from the Bundesliga to the Premier League, but if Werner can even get to 10 goals, that could prove big.

Kilman is both West Ham’s biggest new addition and its X-factor. The Hammers were lucky to be a mid-table team last season, given that they were a defensive sieve. Three teams allowed more goals than West Ham. All three were relegated. The club didn’t change it up in net, but it dropped £40 million on a transfer fee to bring in a 27-year-old centre back from Wolves. Kilman will be charged with shoring up this defense. If he doesn’t, it will be in trouble.

Thiago Alcantara. Naby Keita. Pedro Neto. These are three supremely-talented footballers done in by the fact it feels like their bodies simply can’t stand up to the rigors of being a professional athlete. Neto had 11 assists for Wolves last season. That was in only 20 games. Throw in other competitions and he played in 24 games last season — and 19 the season before that — and 13 the season before that. The 24-year-old isn’t going to play 38 Premier League games. He probably won’t even play 30. What if he can play in 30 games, though? Well, Wolves could find itself vying for a spot in the Europa League.