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ESPN.com writer- Ryan O'Hanlon is a staff writer for ESPN.com. He's also the author of "Net Gains: Inside the Beautiful Game's Analytics Revolution."
Can you believe it's back already? No? Well, we can't either. Despite what was technically the first normal offseason for the Premier League since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the summer has flown by and the 2023-24 season kicks off Friday with Vincent Kompany's Burnley hosting his former club and the defending treble winners, Manchester City.
A lot has happened this summer -- and plenty more is likely to happen with the summer transfer window stretching on until the end of August. So, if you, too, feel like the new Premier League season just snuck up on you out of nowhere, do not fret. Bill Connelly and Ryan O'Hanlon have you covered. They've teamed up to preview all 20 teams and get you ready for the start of the new campaign. They both predicted the finishing positions of every club, 1 through 20, and then combined their numbers to create the master predicted finishing order you'll see listed below.
(Note: All transfer values come from the site Transfermarkt.)
1. Manchester City
- Last season's finish: first place (89 points, plus-61 goal differential)
- Key ins: CB Josko Gvardiol (RB Leipzig, €90 million), CM Mateo Kovacic (Chelsea, €29.1m)
- Key outs: RW Riyad Mahrez (Al-Ahli, €35m), CM Ilkay Gundogan (Barcelona, free transfer)
Key stat
City enjoyed 64.9% possession in Premier League play in 2022-23. Their average over Pep Guardiola's first six seasons in Manchester: 66.8%. A lot was written about how Guardiola showed a willingness to sit back and counter at times to better utilize Erling Haaland's skill set, but this was still the most patient, possession-heavy team in Europe.