The English Premier League (EPL) season kicking off on Friday night when Manchester United face Fulham.  Al Jazeera Sport looks at some possible contenders for the title with the biggest question being – can anyone stop Manchester City?

Pep Guardiola’s side became the first team to lift the English top flight on four consecutive occasions in May and that came off the back of winning five trophies in 2023.

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In something of a surprise move, Julien Alvarez elected to leave the Cityzens for Atletico Madrid in the summer, having won two Premier League titles and the Champions League in his two years with the club.

The 24-year-old striker was very much regarded as the future for City but their willingness to allow the Argentinian to move on speaks to the depth and confidence Guardiola and City have to keep elevating the squad to even more ambitious heights.

The move came after Manchester City signed Brazilian forward Savinho from French side Troyes. The 20-year-old spent last season on loan at Girona in Spain where he helped the relative minnows to third in the Spanish league, LaLiga.

City’s Premier League title defence begins on Sunday with a trip to big-spending Chelsea, who make our list as one of two outsiders to win the league, but let’s start with the two teams that came closest to stopping City’s already record run.

Arsenal (last season – 2nd)

New Arsenal signing Riccardo Calafiori, left, is the only major arrival at the Emirates as Mikel Arteta attempts to find a way to close last season’s two-point gap on Manchester City [David Rogers/Getty Images]

For the vast majority of the last Premier League season, Arsenal were the team to beat but finished second to City for the second successive season.

Mikel Arteta’s side played with a verve and a swagger in the 2023/24 season that had Guardiola sitting up to take full notice of his former protege and his charges.

The challenge now for the Gunners is to go one better. They spent good chunks of last season on top of the ladder – but failed to match City’s record in final two months of the season, agonisingly conceding the title to their northern rivals in the final week.

Two points was a unbearably close call for an Arsenal side looking to end a 20-year wait to win the league once more, but it will offer them hope that a few slip-ups last year can be overcome.

The signing of Italy defender Riccardo Calafiori from Bologna is the sole addition made by Arteta to the squad before their season opener against Wolves on August 17, but the 22-year-old’s arrival is expected to greatly enhance a squad that was already boasting the league’s best defence last year.

Liverpool (last season – 3rd)

Liverpool’s new manager Arne Slot has already endeared himself to the fans with a 3-0 win against Manchester United in the preseason tour of the USA but has a big job in replacing the much loved Jurgen Klopp at Anfield [Jason Cairnduff/Reuters]

In the early stages of the season, it appeared as though Liverpool would give Jurgen Klopp the perfect send-off in his final season as manager of the club.

As it transpired, the confirmation of the German’s departure seemed to send the Anfield club into a nosedive.

The Reds won 12 of their opening 15 games last season but faded badly, finishing with only four wins in their final 10 games.

The English Football League Cup was secured with a 1-0 win against Chelsea in March and, at that stage, a quadruple was on the cards for Klopp.

The form of the team in the handover to new manager Arne Slot is the talk of the Premier League.

His predecessor ended a 30-year wait to be crowned English champions and secured a fifth European crown. It is going to be an incredibly tough act to follow for the Dutchman, who joined from Feynoord, and winning the league at his first attempt might be too great a hope for even the most optimistic Liverpool fan.

Manchester United (last season – 8th)

Erik ten Hag will attempt to become only the second Manchester United manager, after Sir Alex Ferguson, to win trophies in three consecutive seasons when he leads the club into his third campaign in charge [Alex Pantling/Getty Images]

Manchester United can never be ruled out of a revival – it’s the mark of the club that rebuilt from the tragedy of the Munich air disaster in 1958.

The failure to win a Premier League title since Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure in 2013 hangs ever more heavily over the club, especially given the rise of their crosstown rivals, Manchester City.

The takeover of footballing operations by Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS group was set to mark the dawn of a new era at Old Trafford, and it likely will, but how long will it take is the question – as is how long the current manager Erik ten Hag will be given to take the club forward.

The Dutchman won the EFL Cup two seasons ago and finished the last campaign by beating City in the FA Cup final – a feat that likely saved his job.

The end-of-season review by the INEOS operation took some time and, despite May’s cup win, ten Hag had to wait until the start of July to be reassured his job was safe, for now, with the announcement of a contract extension.

It left little time for business in the summer transfer window.

Joshua Zirkzee arrived from Bologna in mid-July in the hope the 23-year-old Netherlands striker could bolster the depleted attacking options, while the lack of numbers in defence were painfully apparent for United last season.

The expected arrivals of Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui from Bayern Munich should bolster the back line but the timing smacks of the inconsistent planning that plagued United’s transfer strategies since Ferguson’s departure.

The glimpses of the United of old have been there throughout ten Hag’s tenure, but the Dutchman will surely need a flying start if his team are to challenge – if not, last season’s incessant rumours about his future will rise to the surface once more.

Chelsea (last season 6th)

Keeping the league’s largest squad happy is likely to be Enzo Maresca’s biggest challenge at Chelsea [Eddie Keogh/Getty Images]

Another season, another change of manager for Chelsea.

Mauricio Pochettino appeared harangued throughout his one year in charge at Stamford Bridge and spent much of the time highlighting a squad that was heavily reliant on youth.

The Argentinian’s departure came as little surprise and now the new manager Enzo Maresca, despite heavy backing, appears to face the same problem.

Eleven new players have been signed by the Blues, which marks the third consecutive transfer window that the club have outdone their rivals in terms of the number of signings and the total value of the business done.

Of the new arrivals, though, the average age is below 21. Nonetheless, nearly $300m has been spent so the expectation will, as ever, be sky high.

Maresca is entering into only his fifth season as a manager, having previously had spells with Parma and Leicester City, and the greatest challenge the Italian is likely to face is keeping a squad of more than 50 senior players. Only 25 can be submitted to the Premier League before the new season.

Throughout the new season, you can keep up to date on all the latest football news, as well as live text commentary of select matches, via the Al Jazeera Sport football page.