Just a few hours remain until the 2024-25 Premier League season kicks off when Manchester United take on Fulham at Old Trafford on Friday night.
The top half of the table usually creates the biggest attention, and Afrosport predicts the teams that will finish in that section of the log come the end of the season.
Manchester City (1st)
The Citizens won a record fourth straight league title last season and will be favourites for a fifth one in a row under manager Pep Guardiola.
Arsenal (2nd)
The Gunners have continued to grow under Mikel Arteta in recent seasons and have been genuine Premier League title contenders in the past two seasons.
The upcoming season might not be any different.
Liverpool (3rd)
The Reds will begin life without Jurgen Klopp for the first time in almost nine years but have another man at the helm in Arne Slot.
Liverpool looked pretty solid during pre-season, which is an indication of what should be the same for the Premier League season.
Manchester United (4th)
After a disappointing eighth-place finish, Manchester United will be expected to improve massively.
They have received a considerable amount of investment in infrastructure and transfers which should be enough to improve their play and get them back into the Champions League places.
Tottenham Hotspur (5th)
Spurs narrowly missed out on finishing in the top four which was ultimately taken by Aston Villa while they had to settle for fifth.
Expectations will be high for Ange Postecoglou to lead them to that revered spot, however, the intense competitive nature of the Champions League places might not allow it to become a reality again.
Chelsea (6th)
The Blues spent most of last season in the bottom half of the table before a late improvement in form ultimately saw them finish sixth and book a spot in the UEFA Europa Conference League.
Chelsea are under a new manager in Enzo Maresca and there are doubts about his credentials to make Chelsea a title-winning side.
They also have a very young squad that does not look anything close to the successful Chelsea squad over the years.
Crystal Palace (7th)
The Eagles saw instant improvement from the moment Oliver Glasner walked into Selhurst Park in February.
Palace played an attractive brand of football which gave them the needed results to avoid relegation.
Now they will be expected to take things up a notch with a top-half finish.
Newcastle United (8th)
The Magpies failed to live up to the highs of the 2022-23 season when they qualified for the Champions League for the first time in two decades.
The following season was one of struggle, with a Champions League group stage exit and a seventh-place finish in the league.
There will be bigger expectations this season but Eddie Howe’s team have not made the kind of additions in the transfer market that can take them back to their form of two seasons ago.
West Ham United (9th)
The Hammers have caught a lot of attention this summer by being one of the busiest in terms of transfers.
It is a clear statement of intent under new manager Julen Lopetegui but what might be good enough for a top-half finish and not a place higher up the table.
Brentford (10th)
The Bees narrowly escaped relegation last season after struggling for form owing to factors such as injuries, participation of key players at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations and the eight-month suspension of talisman Ivan Toney.
With all those issues now behind them, manager Thomas Frank will be aiming for a fresh start that puts the London outfit higher up in the standings.
