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This time last year, the Premier League was being heralded as the most competitive league in the world. Marvelling at the top six clubs in the country, with their mega wealth and their superstar managers, it felt like it was the most competitive the Premier League has even been.

When you looked around Europe, it got even better for the English league. Paris Saint-Germain were by some distance the best team in France, Germany and Italy were also supposed to be one-horse races, while Spain was the only competitive league left in Europe – and even then, it was only competitive between two teams.

It didn’t pan out that way, though. Spain, Italy and Germany were as expected, but Monaco’s surge saw them win the Ligue 1 title. More importantly for the Premier League, though, the six-way battle for the title was essentially a procession for Chelsea for much of the season. They won the league by seven points, but only Tottenham looked like putting up much of a fight, and even then it was a long shot.

This summer, though, things have been juggled around again, and perhaps that means we really will see a ding-dong battle in the title race. This time last year, Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte and Pep Guardiola were all new to their jobs. That’s not the case anymore – all three now know their teams, and with a big-spending transfer window under their belts, they’ll be judged much more harshly.

Three transfers stand out already: those at Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea. All three clubs have spent big on strikers this summer, and that’s what will probably define their seasons.

Taking only the stats, you’d have to say that Alexandre Lacazette stands out the most. He has most goals, the best goals to game ratio, and indeed the most shots. With Arsenal having seemingly lacked a certain strength and directness for years, it’s a signing that should actually bring a fair bit of excitement.

Of the other two, Romelu Lukaku is probably the more similar. A pacey and powerful striker who knows the Premier League and has proven can score goals in it. Even in a struggling side under Roberto Martinez did Lukaku manage to score regularly.

Morata, however, might just be the most interesting of the three. The Spanish international comes to Chelsea looking like a Diego Costa replacement (‘looking like’, that is, because Costa hasn’t yet left the club). But although he has four league titles and two Champions League winner’s medals to his name – as well as a goal in the 2015 final, in which he was on the losing side – Morata is yet to actually make a regular starting berth his own as a regular, prolific goalscorer.

In his two-season spell at Juventus, Morata scored just 27 goals in 93 appearances. But there’s a caveat: Morata was still seen as a youngster in the process of development, and even at Real Madrid, last season, of his 26 appearances in La Liga, only 14 were starts, and whilst he played nine games in the Champions League, only one – a game away to Legia Warsaw – was a start.

That goes some way to explaining why Morata’s stats aren’t quite as stellar as the other two, even if his price tag was just as big.

But each have their drawbacks, too. Morata’s is that, despite the fact that he quite clearly is a very gifted footballer, who is probably more agile than the other two whilst still retaining a certain physicality, he hasn’t actually proved that he can lead the line by himself for a top club, despite playing sporadically for top clubs so far in his career. He has the pedigree, but it’s unclear if he has £60m worth of ability.

Lukaku’s drawbacks are perhaps a little better known in this country. His first touch has been criticised, as has his ability to decide big games, often going missing when it matters most – both of those things will worry Jose Mourinho, but it’s also true that the Belgian seems to know where the goal is in every other type of game, and United’s problem last season wasn’t beating the big boys anyway – it was converting enough chances to beat the teams below them, and a striker who can bully those defences will be hugely important.

Lacazette has a similar stature to Lukaku in terms of his physicality and his overall contribution to the team. The Frenchman’s ability lies in converting chances and being a physical presence to act as a hold-up player. The problem Arsenal will face is that, for years, their focal point has been Olivier Giroud, who may be as physical as his compatriot, but he certainly isn’t as explosive.

Last season, it was the more explosive Alexis Sanchez who played mostly as the central striker for Arsenal, and given that Lacazette would be most effective playing through the middle, you get the feeling that he’ll be more effective running behind defenders than he will be with his back to goal.

This is where the battle will be won and lost for each of these teams. It will be their ability to fit in with teammates and provide goals for their teams which will be the difference between a real title race and one like we had last season. And going by the stats, that’s Lacazette, who could well be the signing Arsenal have needed for years. He makes the other two look like gambles.

But his strike rate of late isn’t the only thing to think about. More than anything else, the pressure of the price tags, and the pressure to deliver goals, will be huge on all three. You get the feeling that whoever delivers the most for their team will have a great chance of lifting the Premier League trophy in May.

According to reports in the Yorkshire Evening Post, Leeds United are targeting a move for out-of-favour Hamburg striker Pierre Michel-Lasogga.

The Yorkshire Evening Post says that the Yorkshire outfit have been trailing the 25-year-old throughout the summer transfer window after the centre-forward was deemed surplus to requirements by the Bundesliga side.

A move for a striker looks to be on the cards after Marcus Antonsson left to join Blackburn Rovers on a season-long loan deal on Friday, while Souleymane Doukara didn’t feature in either of the club’s opening two match-day squads in the new campaign and could also depart.

This would leave manager Thomas Christiansen with just Chris Wood and Caleb Ekuban to pick from and that might not be enough depth if the Championship side are to win promotion this term, meaning he could step up his interest in Lasogga.

Here are three reasons the Leeds target would inspire them to secure a long-awaited Premier League return…

Pedigree

While he may be surplus to requirements at Hamburg, Lasogga has certainly shown enough throughout his career to suggest that he could be a huge hit in the Championship with Leeds.

Even though he struggled for game time last season – often finding himself coming off of the substitutes’ bench because of injury problems and playing second fiddle to Bobby Wood and Michael Gregoritsch – the 25-year-old is strong physically and decent in the air, but he has also shown what a good finisher he can be too.

He scored eight goals in 30 appearances for the Bundesliga strugglers in the 2015/16 campaign while he netted an even more impressive 13 times in just 20 German top flight matches in the 2013/14 season during a loan spell with Hamburg.

Competition

While Chris Wood certainly didn’t get complacent last season after scoring 27 Championship goals as Leeds narrowly missed out on finishing in the play-off positions, he didn’t have too much competition for the centre-forward position.

If Lasogga – who has proven himself in the Bundesliga caps and has 11 Germany caps to his name –came to the club then the New Zealand international would know that he would need to raise his game and perform at a consistent and decent level every week in order to keep his place in the side.

Thomas Christiansen could even be tempted to partner the duo together if he thought it would work or if the side needed a goal, and you certainly wouldn’t bet against one of the duo finding the net if that proved to be the case.

Statement of intent

With four goals in 11 appearances for Germany and a decent goalscoring record in the Bundesliga when he is a regular starter and fully fit, it would be hard to argue that if Leeds signed Lasogga it would be a huge statement of intent and make some of their Championship rivals sit up and take notice.

If the 25-year-old can show the form he did in the past that earned him a call-up for the current world champions, then he could help inspire the Yorkshire outfit win promotion.

While he would obviously be seen as a signing for the present, there would be little doubt that he would also be ready to make the step up to the Premier League with the club in a year’s time if they have the successful that season the club and fans are hoping for.

Do you agree, Leeds fans? Let us know below.

The last time Chelsea faced Burnley on the opening day of a Premier League season, a 3-1 win at Turf Moor – remembered best for a gorgeous goal in which Cesc Fabregas’ sublime pass was finished off by Andre Schurrle – set the tone for the rest of the campaign.

The aesthetic football dried up post-Christmas as Jose Mourinho’s pragmatic instincts took over, but the Blues started the season on the front foot and continued in that manner until clinching the title against Crystal Palace in May. In fact, from the first to the last, Chelsea finished all 38 matchdays at the top of the table and eventually claimed the crown by an eight-point margin, losing only three games along the way.

Twelve months later, Chelsea’s season opener against Swansea City had the same tone-setting effect, yet in completely polarised, pejorative terms. Following a winless pre-season and an underwhelming summer transfer window, Mourinho’s temper had already reached boiling point when, after Thibaut Courtois was sent off, Swansea came back twice to draw level against ten men. Eva Caneiro then rushed onto the field to treat a downed Eden Hazard in and the fallout from Mourinho’s response sent splinters throughout the club. From then on, Chelsea’s title defence rapidly unravelled.

Chelsea’s opening performance and result for 2017/18 undoubtedly bears closer resemblance to the latter game; two red cards and a shock defeat at home to a side who’ll likely finish the season in the bottom half, on the backdrop of an unconvincing transfer window that has seen plenty leave west London, including two incredibly experienced players in Nemanja Matic and John Terry, but not enough arrive. Considering how frosty Antonio Conte has appeared in the public eye in recent weeks, another title defence imploding before its already started – another ‘Mourinho season’ to quote the Italian himself – has already become frighteningly plausible.

History does have a curious knack of repeating itself in football, but whether their season will differ from 2015/16 despite starting with staggeringly similar beginnings remains fully in Chelsea’s control. Whereas Mourinho’s reaction to the Swansea draw divided his players almost instantaneously, Conte’s response has the power to put last weekend’s result into context, to remind everybody that it’s a 38-game season and that the Blues are still very much one of the top sides – if not the top side – in the Premier League.

In another eerie similarity, Chelsea once again face last season’s runners up in their second game of the campaign. In 2015/16, the Swansea result was followed up by a 3-0 defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium. The Blues now travel to Wembley to take on Tottenham Hotspur, a rival they’ve lost to, drawn to and beaten twice from their last six Premier League meetings, including one draw and one defeat apiece in the top flight last season.

Clinching a win in what has become the Premier League’s most heated and significant London derby over the last few seasons would undoubtedly put Chelsea’s season back on the right path. But after last weekend’s result, it’s vital the Blues don’t bite off more than they can chew. At this stage of the season, a draw against a top side away from home is more than enough to re-instil confidence throughout the squad and amongst concerned supporters.

That may seem a somewhat pessimistic viewpoint, but Conte doesn’t have a full squad at his disposal – even talismanic attacker Eden Hazard is injured – and Tottenham are still an unpredictable quantity at their new home. Their record at Wembley is underwhelming to say the least, but that may not necessarily apply in league action when the home of English football is filled with a Spurs-partisan crowd.

Furthermore, amid all the discussion of season openings, it’s actually last term that Conte can take the most inspiration from. Unconvincing performances and back-to-back defeats to divisional rivals in Liverpool and Arsenal saw the Blues plummet all the way down to eighth place after six games. By the time of their next defeat, however, Chelsea were in pole position and five points clear of the chasing pack. The switch to 3-4-3 transformed the Blues’ season, inspired a run of 13 straight wins and had the rest of the league scratching its collective chin hoping to think up a tactical remedy.

Another tactical switch having such a devastating effect on Chelsea’s opponents seems unlikely. For starters, from the squad Chelsea currently have, Conte’s hands are relatively tied in fielding a 3-4-3 or at the most different, a slight variation. But the most important factor is Conte’s ability to maintain the perception of control, something Mourinho’s failure to do eventually cost him dearly. That’s easier said than done when results aren’t going your way, especially when you’re as hot-headed as Conte, but it’s imperative the Italian doesn’t let one bad result on the opening day of the season spiral into a full-blown crisis. More melodrama will serve nobody well.

Vital to that challenge is remembering there are two weeks of the transfer window still to go – Chelsea’s two best signings last summer arrived in the last two days of August, David Luiz and Marcos Alonso – and 37 games left of the Blues’ title defence. Chelsea’s season has started in almost the worst way possible, but patience, pragmatism, perspective and a few smart signings can quickly put it back on the right path. Conte must learn from Mourinho’s errors and take inspiration from the turnaround he masterminded less than twelve months ago.

Newcastle United fans were beginning to worry about their English Premier League season after two defeats in the opening weeks provided a wake up call about the step up from Championship to top-flight football.

However, if they continue to play like they did on Saturday against West Ham United then they should have no problems at all remaining in the division.

The Magpies were in sparkling form, destroying the Hammers 3-0 at St James’ Park and piling the pressure on visiting manager Slaven Bilic. Joselu, Ciaran Clark and Aleksandar Mitrovic provided the goals on the afternoon in front of a buoyant home crowd.

However, it was the performance of Matt Ritchie that had fans most enthused, his tireless running and hard work setting the benchmark in the Newcastle team and driving them to victory. He was also the man who provided a wonderful cross for Clark to nod home and put the game beyond the Irons.

Supporters took to Twitter to rave about his performance…

Nowadays, it is rare for managers to spend lengthy terms at a club due to the demand for instant success.

Frank de Boer was the first Premier League manager to get the boot this season as he lasted just 77 days at Crystal Palace.

The Dutchman arrived in the summer as a replacement for Sam Allardyce, who opted to step down and take a break from football after helping the Eagles retain their top-flight status.

De Boer’s spell was very short-lived as he oversaw just four league matches, all of which ended in defeat.

The 47-year-old earned a name for himself at Ajax after guiding the team to four Eredivisie titles, but since leaving Holland he has struggled.

The former Barcelona player spent just three months at Inter Milan before he was sacked, and now his experience in England has not gone much better.

On Instagram, De Boer appeared to make fun of his latest dismissal while celebrating the news that his daughter Jackie is to study English at Cambridge for six months.

Within the caption, the football manager wrote the hashtag: “#longerthanherdaddy”.

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Gareth Barry’s fifth Premier League appearance of the 2017-18 campaign took him onto 633 overall, seeing the 36-year-old become the all-time leading appearance maker in the Premier League.

The record-breaking match proved to be Monday night’s fixture between Arsenal and West Bromwich Albion at the Emirates, with Barry being handed the captain’s armband for the Baggies.

The experienced midfielder made 365 of his Premier League appearances at Aston Villa, before spells at Manchester City and latterly Everton, who he represented for five seasons.

Indeed, Barry made 131 Premier League appearances during a successful spell at Everton before leaving the Toffees to join West Brom during the recent transfer window.

As expected, Everton followed Villa in posting their own tribute to Barry on social media, and the club’s supporters were out in force to hail the experienced midfielder.

Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs had been at the top of the list for some time, but Barry is now out on his own as the veteran looks to set a potentially unbeatable record.

The pressure is continuing to grow on Everton and manager Ronald Koeman following another disappointing performance.The Merseyside outfit took on Apollon Limassol at Goodison Park on Thursday night in their second Europa League group match.The Toffees were hoping to bounce back from a previous 3-0 loss to Atalanata, but it was not to be as they were restricted to a 2-2 draw by the Cyrpiot side.Everton went a goal down inside the first 13 minutes, but Wayne Rooney managed to draw the team level before the half-time break.It seemed that the tide had turned when Nikola Vlasic put the home side ahead shortly after the hour mark, but the team were hit with a sucker-punch when Hector Yuste headed home in the 88th minute.As expected, a lot of the focus is on Koeman, who has overseen just six wins in 13 matches in all competitions this season following a summer in which the club spent over £100m on new players.Kevin Campbell, who spent six years playing for Everton during his career, gave his thoughts on the match via Twitter.

In the standout fixture of the Premier League weekend, Liverpool play host to Manchester United at Anfield on Saturday, and Reds fans want Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to start in Sadio Mane’s absence despite the fact he has endured a tough time following his summer move from Arsenal.

The 24-year-old would have hoped to have been a regular starter under Jurgen Klopp, but he has had to make do with a place on the substitutes’ bench in both the Premier League and Champions League so far.

Following a disappointing performance when he did start against Leicester in the EFL Cup, and a below-par showing for England during the international break, he could finally get his top flight opportunity against the Red Devils with Mane out for six weeks after picking up a hamstring injury playing for Senegal.

Liverpool supporters have been having their say on the Ox via social media, and while some said they “really hope he starts”, others say it is ‘time for him to step up’.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

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Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez is still open to selling Aleksandar Mitrovic, according to the Chronicle.

What’s the word?

The Serbian was linked with a move away in the summer transfer window, but no deals were agreed.

Aside from a three-match ban, the forward has failed to earn a starting spot in the Premier League, despite being 10 games into the season.

The Chronicle claims that Benitez has concerns over Mitrovic’s discipline and does not believe that he can thrive in a 4-2-3-1 system.

The publication suggests that the manager will be open to offloading the 23-year-old if an offer presents itself in January.

Is this the right call?

Mitrovic, who signed for the Magpies from Anderlecht in 2015, has scored 10 goals in 36 Premier League appearances.

The forward may not have set the world alight, but the statistics are not too dreary.

From the player’s perspective, though, he faces an uphill battle getting into the team given that Joselu has become first choice, with Dwight Gayle just behind him in the list.

Mitrovic has only made three outings in all competitions this season, so it may be best for him to look elsewhere.

From Newcastle’s point of view, they need to make sure that a new player can be bought as a replacement before selling the Serbian.

Benitez does not want to find himself in a position where he is short of options up front, particularly if they fall into a relegation battle.

Christian Eriksen has become a key member of Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur team, and he is in scintillating form heading into this weekend’s North London derby.

On Tuesday night, the midfielder starred for Denmark by scoring a hat-trick in a 5-1 rout over the Republic of Ireland in the nation’s World Cup playoff.

The result broke Irish hearts, but it was a positive one from Tottenham’s perspective as their man was the star of the show.

Not only did Eriksen score three times, he did it in style, which will give him masses of confidence when lining up against arch enemies Arsenal on Saturday.

It is fair to say that Tottenham fans were mightily impressed with their midfielder’s display.

So far this season, Eriksen has scored four goals and created three assists in 15 appearances for the North London outfit.

Currently, Pochettino’s men sit third in the Premier League table, level on points with Manchester United and eight adrift of leaders Manchester City.