Chelsea have enjoyed an excellent summer having been crowned Club World Cup Champions after their victory over PSG in the final of the competition. While this is a step in the right direction for this young Chelsea side, it could also cause problems in the early stages of the season. 

Chelsea have only played two pre-season friendlies in the build-up to the season starting, which means they may start a bit sluggish and fatigued compared to other sides who have had more time to get up to the physical level that the Premier League demands.

Chelsea did win both of those friendlies against AC Milan and Bayer Leverkusen in pretty convincing fashion, with standout performances from new signings Estevao, Liam Delap, Joao Pedro and Jamie Gittens.

Manchester United avoided defeat in their three pre-season games as part of the PL Summer Series in America alongside the likes of West Ham, Bournemouth and Everton.

Ruben Amorim’s side ran out 2-1 winners against West Ham before firing four goals past Bournemouth in their most convincing victory of pre-season. They established a 2-0 lead against Everton in the final game of the Summer Series, but were pegged back to a 2-2 draw by the Toffees which gives us some insight into the problems that are still facing United.

We can expect the Red Devils to offer a more potent threat in the final third this season with the additions of Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, but their defensive structure is still pretty vulnerable. This indicates that we could see a lot of goals in games involving United this season, especially in the early stages of the season. 

Aston Villa have played eight games during pre-season, which is the joint-most of any Premier League side. We can expect Aston Villa to be one of the fittest sides in the Premier League in the early weeks of the season, as their intense pre-season will have prepared them for.

They won three of those games against St Louis, Roma and Villarreal, with the latter two sides competing in European competition during the upcoming season, which makes them good tests for Villa ahead of their participation in the Europa League next season.

Emiliano Buendia, Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers have been the standout performers for Aston Villa during pre-season, with Buendia in particular catching the eye, having not started a Premier League game last season due to injury before spending the second half of the season on loan at Bayer Leverkusen.

Wolves have failed to win any of their four pre-season friendlies in the build-up to the Premier League season, with Vitor Pereira's side welcoming Manchester City on the opening weekend.

Their 1-1 draw against Stoke back in July can be forgiven, seeing as it was their first pre-season game, but three losses against Lens, Girona and Celta Vigo may start to ring some alarm bells in the minds of Wolves fans, especially seeing as they were almost dragged into a relegation scrap last season.

Wolves did manage to score in three of those friendlies, which offers a small dose of optimism, but it also mirrors the issues that Wolves had last season. The Wanderers scored 54 goals last season (1.42 per game), but conceded 69 (1.81 per game) - only the three relegated sides conceded more goals than Wolves last season, and their pre-season performances suggest we should see a continuation of a decent attacking system, but a defensive setup which is far too porous. 

Regis Le Bris will be under no illusions of the task that currently lies ahead of him this season, but he will have expected a bit more from his side in pre-season. 

Sunderland have only won two of their eight pre-season games. One of those victories came right at the start of the pre-season campaign against South Shields before Sunderland finally managed to register a second victory over Augsburg (1-0).

They lost to sides like Sporting, Real Betis and Rayo Vallecano in this run, which can be forgiven as those sides will be competing in Europe next season - but defeats to Hull and Hearts raise more eyebrows.

The most worrying part of Sunderland’s pre-season campaign is that they fell to a 3-0 defeat against Rayo Vallecano, just six days before the first game of the season.

There has been plenty of noise around Newcastle in the transfer window which appears to have hindered their pre-season preparations. From missing out on a flurry of key targets, to Alexander Isak demanding his release from the club, it’s been far from the ideal preparation period for the Magpies.

Newcastle have not won a game in pre-season. They started their off-season preparations against Celtic where they fell to a 4-0 defeat against a side, in fairness, that was much further along in their pre-season development than Newcastle. However, further losses against Arsenal, the K-League All Stars and Atletico Madrid would suggest that Newcastle may make a slow start to the season.

Their other two pre-season games ended in draws against Tottenham and Espanyol, with neither performance inspiring any sort of confidence that Newcastle can pick up where they left off last season. Newcastle are unlikely to be able to pick up any real momentum until the transfer window is over and the noise around Alexander Isak, in particular, quietens down.

Bruno Fernandes has been in fine form during Manchester United’s pre-season campaign in netting three goals and providing an assist across United’s three games in the PL Summer Series, a pre-season tournament which they won, having played against Bournemouth, Everton and West Ham. 

Fernandes has played three different roles during pre-season, each of which offers different angles to keep an eye on for him in the upcoming Premier League season:

Manchester United v West Ham - Fernandes played as a number 10 alongside Matheus Cunha and just behind Rasmus Hojlund. He scored two goals in the game and was on penalties for United. 

Manchester United v Bournemouth - Fernandes featured in a midfield duo alongside Casemiro. He didn’t register a goal contribution, but was key in the build-up phase for United. He should be watched for fouls and tackles when he lines up in this role. 

Manchester United v Everton - Fernandes featured as a number 10 but behind a front two of Bryan Mbeumo and Cunha. He looked his most effective in this role across the PL Summer Series games. He registered a goal and an assist in the game, as well as picking up a yellow card.

Fernandes’ versatility is a real strength to Ruben Amorim’s system. The United boss has also shown us this pre-season that he isn’t afraid to slightly alter his system, especially in the final third, as we saw in the final PL Summer Series game, as Mbeumo partnered Cunha in the striker roles.

Jean-Philippe Mateta shows no sign of slowing down following his 17 goals across all competitions for the Eagles last season. 14 of those goals came in the Premier League, which is a more than respectable tally for a mid table striker who had netted 16 league goals the season prior. 

Mateta has found the back of the net against Crawley and Augsburg in pre-season for Crystal Palace, with the French forward striking twice against the German side. Mateta followed up those strong performances with a goal against Liverpool from the penalty spot in the Community Shield, as Palace beat Liverpool on penalties. 

Palace’s system is perfectly suited to a player like Mateta, and this season should see the 28-year-old eclipse double digits for goals for the third consecutive season. The support and speed of Eberechi Eze and Ismaila Sarr perfectly complement Mateta’s physicality, which is another angle to keep an eye on in this upcoming season. 

Palace look to be quite direct and fire long balls up to Mateta, who can win fouls with his superior strength to help Palace climb up the pitch. This was evident in the Community Shield as Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk struggled to deal with Mateta when he held the ball up, leading to the striker winning two fouls in the clash.

Brighton have developed a reputation for unearthing high potential players and then selling them on at large profits, and Maxim De Cuyper could be the latest player on this conveyor belt. The left back was signed from Club Brugge following a stellar campaign in which he registered eight goal contributions and was one of the most impressive full backs in the league. 

He’s started both of Brighton’s pre-season games against Southampton and Wolfsburg, which would suggest that Fabian Hurzeler plans to use him as his starting left back following the departure of Pervis Estupinan, who has moved on to AC Milan. De Cuyper scored against Wolfsburg as Brighton ran out 2-1 winners in their most recent friendly, displaying some of the attacking prowess we can expect to see from De Cuyper this season - he would be an excellent left wing back, which could be the role he eventually settles into. 

De Cuyper had 91 touches in the opposition box last season, which is a really strong record for a full back. He also registered an xA of 11.9, which was the highest of any full back in the Belgian top-flight last season. This xA only returned five assists, so we can expect these numbers to rise even further now that he will have a greater quality of player around him. 

These xA numbers are supported by the 90 chances he created (2.63 per 90) and 91 successful crosses he managed (2.66 per 90) last season. These numbers would be superb for a winger, let alone a full back, which indicates that Brighton have picked up one of the best modern full backs around who will certainly attract interest from the elite sides around Europe in the coming seasons.