Keith Andrews has been dealt an awful hand.

I feel a bit sorry for him, it’s hard to imagine a tougher start to your first ever role as a first team manager. Mbeumo has packed his bags and fled to United, Wissa is refusing to train and looks set for a Newcastle move, and Thomas Frank has finally got the big move his consistency deserves.

Brentford are one of the most impressive clubs of the recent Premier League era, consistently punching above their weight and utilising a data led approach which has managed to keep them in the top flight for the last five seasons. However, the Premier League is unforgiving, and losing your top two goalscorers and highly rated manager at the same time is a recipe for disaster.

To put these losses into context, Wissa and Mbeumo combined for 39 Premier League goals last season - 59% of Brentford’s total goals during the 24/25 season. If we include their assists, this number jumps to the pair contributing 75% of Brentford's goals. This is a ridiculously large number of goals to replace, should Wissa follow Mbeumo out the door (which looks likely). Brentford also overachieved their total xG by six goals last season, a common trait during Frank’s time at the Bees, which will be tough to replicate. 

The signings of Jordan Henderson and Caoimhin Kelleher do add some experience to the squad, but they don’t address the issue of Brentford missing around 50 goals.

It should be noted that Keith Andrews has been given this job on merit, he was a massive part of Brentford’s success under Thomas Frank as a member of the backroom staff, and is part of Brentford’s approach to promote from within instead of chasing big names. But, this is his first ever role as a head coach.

We’d be looking for one of the promoted sides to break the recent trend and stay up, I’m backing Leeds to be the side that finally manages to stay up after being promoted and I think that Brentford will be the side to take their spot as part of the relegated trio.

Bournemouth are a side that I loved watching last season.

Their intensity alone was addicting and it was all orchestrated by Andoni Iraola. As long as Bournemouth keep him in the dugout, I believe that their savvy recruitment can account for the losses they have suffered this summer in Dean Huijsen and Milos Kerkez.

Bournemouth’s approach is to swarm the opposition, especially at home, to give them no time to think and then turn their indecision into shooting opportunities. This approach is reflected in their underlying numbers - Bournemouth averaged 18.1 tackles per game, as well as 13.8 fouls committed per game in the PL last season. 58% of their tackles were in the middle or attacking third of the pitch and no side committed more fouls than Bournemouth in the English top flight last season.

Only Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea averaged more shots on target per game across the 38 game season than Bournemouth (5.05), which shows how effective this aggressive approach can be.

As well as having a style which is suited to the aggressive nature of the Premier League, Bournemouth are a side that have progressed over the last few seasons:

22/23 - 15th (39 points) 

23/24 - 12th (48 points) 

24/25 - 9th (56 points) 

The Cherries have an advantage on the sides around them as they won’t be competing in Europe next season, which will help them in maintaining their energy levels against the likes of Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle and Aston Villa, who would all expect to be fighting for a top half finish at the very least.

Thomas Frank has finally got his big move.

It’s long overdue, I never quite understood why some fans would go into mini meltdowns when his name was linked with their club. He is a fantastic coach and I think he can get the most out of this Tottenham side, with a spending approach that looks to be more relaxed than we’ve seen in the past from Daniel Levy. 

Mohammed Kudus has been their statement signing of the window so far, but Tottenham have been building in advance for a few seasons and now have a really promising young core which Frank can nurture. The likes of Archie Gray, Luka Vuskovic, Lucas Bergvall, Mikey Moore and Mathys Tel are all players with high ceilings that Tottenham can build around. 

Tottenham are in the Champions League this season, which may scupper their chances of getting right up to the top spots in the Premier League, but after such a disastrous league campaign last term, you get the feeling that the focus for the Lilywhites is to improve on their domestic position.

Thomas Frank is the perfect man to deliver this, he will bring a lot of calm and organisation to Tottenham, especially to the backline which was far too open last season. The most important trait of Thomas Frank is that he is constantly looking to develop and evolve how his side plays, which is reflected in his time at Brentford.

Two top half finishes in the four seasons that Brentford have been in the Premier League is a ridiculously impressive achievement for a side that had no prior Premier League experience before their promotion in the 2020/21 season.

Enzo Maresca is building something special at Chelsea and I think his squad is in a position now to challenge Arsenal as the top London club in the Premier League.

I’m not completely convinced by Arsenal’s transfer business in this window. Madueke is a decent player, but is far from the finished article, Norgaard makes sense from a squad depth perspective but isn’t a needle mover and the signing of Gyokeres looks a little strange now that Alexander Isak is available - you get the feeling that Isak would have been a much better fit stylistically for Mikel Arteta, if Arsenal had been a little more patient. I’m not convinced that this window, at this point, will close the 10 point gap to Liverpool from last season, or do too much to separate Arsenal from the likes of Chelsea and Man City. 

Chelsea only finished five points behind Arsenal in the 24/25 season, Arsenal did take their foot off the gas in the league towards the end of the campaign, but Chelsea will feel as though this gap can be closed with the additions they have added in the window. Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro, Jarrell Hato and Liam Delap are set to be joined by Xavi Simons, who has been heavily linked to the Blues. Now that Chelsea have a settled squad and manager, these signings should adapt to the side quicker than in previous seasons - as we saw with Joao Pedro at the Club World Cup. 

The underlying numbers from last season also paint a positive picture for Chelsea in this mini battle. Chelsea only scored five goals fewer than Arsenal last season (69-64) and actually had a better defensive record than the Gunners across the final 10 games of the season, ending with just two clean sheets fewer than Arsenal (13-11).

Chelsea outperformed Arsenal during the 24/25 season when it came to xG (69.2-60.2), shots on target per game (5.7-4.8) and big chances missed (83-70). The metrics paint a story of Chelsea being better than Arsenal in attacking areas of the pitch, with the point gap existing between the two sides due to Chelsea’s breakdown in the middle of the season and defensive vulnerabilities - both areas that Chelsea should be better at this time around.

Someone has to prop up the rest of the sides in the Premier League and despite their flurry of signings in the transfer window, I still think Sunderland are quite a way short of being able to stay up in the Premier League.

Firstly, the trends for sides promoted through the playoffs does not paint a positive picture for Sunderland. Of the last 10 sides to reach the Premier League via the playoffs, only four have managed to stay up the following season (Huddersfield, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Brentford). Even the sides that managed to stay up found it very difficult, Aston Villa survived by just one point in the 2019/20 season, whilst Huddersfield only avoided the drop by four points and were sent back down the following season. 

The Premier League is more competitive than ever, with the clearest evidence for that being that none of the promoted sides across the last three seasons have managed to stay up. The playoff final may be the most lucrative game in football but that money alone isn’t enough to keep a side up - the sides that have managed to establish long term Premier League stays (Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Brentford) have all had clear projects and while the influx of signings may look positive on paper, Ipswich did the same thing last season and were still miles off the pace.

Sunderland will have to learn on the job while bedding in new signings in a league that is unforgiving.

The Black Cats actually have quite a fortunate start to the season in terms of the opponents they will face, but this is little consolation in a league like the Premier League in which every game can be such a challenge, especially for a promoted side with little experience of competing at this level. 

Granit Xhaka is certainly a strong signing, but the gap between the promoted sides and the established sides is bigger than ever, making it difficult to see how Sunderland match the incredibly high quality of the other Premier League sides.

Evanilson is a player that really impressed me last season, and I think Bournemouth will have another strong year - which gives him an opportunity to build on his 10 Premier League goals last term. Notably, none of these goals came from the penalty spot. 

Evanilson is very energetic, which perfectly suits Bournemouth’s aggressive style of play. His shot volume really stands out, he had 73 shots across his 31 Premier League appearances last season (2.81 per 90) and was only beaten to top scorer for the Cherries by Justin Kluivert and Antonie Semenyo. Half of Kluivert’s goals came from the penalty spot and Semenyo played as a striker at times last season, so these tallies for other Bournemouth players aren’t too off putting. 

Bournemouth registered an xG of 65 last season but came away with 58 goals, so they slightly underachieved when looking at the quality of chances that came their way. I expect Bournemouth to improve on that goal tally this season with Evanilson at the heart of any goalscoring success.

Thierno Barry is a player I think is well worth keeping an eye on next season. He has all the traits to be a successful Premier League striker and Everton may just be the best place for him to adapt to the league without too much pressure. 

Barry netted 11 goals in La Liga for Villarreal last season as they qualified for the Champions League. There is a strong possibility that he manages to record a similar tally, if not higher, in the Premier League. His strength and physicality are suited perfectly to the English top flight, these traits are certainly a lot more valuable in the Premier League when compared with La Liga. 

Everton adopt a pretty direct approach under David Moyes, which could further aid Barry in registering a respectable goal tally in his first season in the Premier League. No side played more accurate long balls per game during the 24/25 Premier League season than Everton (26.6).

Jorgen Strand Larsen scored 14 goals in the Premier League during the 24/25 season which is a respectable tally for his first full season in the English top flight, playing for a side that was battling at the bottom for large parts of the campaign. 

He will be even more important to Wolves this season with the departure of Mathues Cunha to Man United. Cunha was Wolves’ top scorer last season with 15 PL goals, Strand Larsen is the obvious player to take up this mantle. 

Strand Larsen is suited to the Premier League with his strength and aerial ability. His first season in the top flight confirms that he can be a regular threat at this level, he finished just outside the top 10 goalscorers in the PL last season. He should also take up penalty responsibilities now that Cunha has left the club.