New faces, old stagers and a mid-season break – Premier League talking points

The 2022-23 Premier League seasons kicks off on Friday.

Clubs are preparing for the 30th season of the Premier League era, which kicks off on August 5.

Champions Manchester City begin as favourites for the title, while Fulham, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest are the newly-promoted sides.

Here, the PA news agency picks out some of the talking points ahead of the 2022-23 campaign.

New era at Old Trafford

New Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag was appointed on an initial three-year contract in April (Manchester United handout/PA)

Unstoppable City?

Manchester City were crowned champions for the fourth time in five seasons in May after ending Liverpool’s quadruple bid with a nail-biting 3-2 comeback win over Aston Villa. City once again begin as title favourites after bolstering their enviable ranks with prolific striker Erling Haaland and England midfielder Kalvin Phillips. Yet manager Pep Guardiola has perhaps surprised some by allowing attacking duo Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus to join Premier League rivals Chelsea and Arsenal respectively. Liverpool, champions in 2020, have replaced Sadio Mane with Darwin Nunez and appear most likely to dislodge City, while Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel will hope Sterling can help close a 19-point gap to his former employers.

Winter World Cup

Gareth Southgate will attempt to lead England to World Cup glory during a six-week break in the Premier League fixture list (Nick Potts/PA)

Forest fanfare

Steve Cooper, with trophy, ended Nottingham Forest's 23-year wait for top-flight football by securing promotion at Wembley — Steve Cooper, with trophy, ended Nottingham Forest’s 23-year wait for top-flight football by securing promotion at Wembley (Mike Egerton/PA)

Crowd control

Confrontational pitch invasions became a worrying trend in English football at the end of last season (Peter Byrne/PA)

Managers under the microscope

Leeds boss Jesse Marsch, Tottenham's Antonio Conte, Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard, Newcastle's Eddie Howe and Everton's Frank Lampard, left to right, are preparing for their first full seasons with their current clubs — Leeds boss Jesse Marsch, Tottenham’s Antonio Conte, Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard, Newcastle’s Eddie Howe and Everton’s Frank Lampard, left to right, are preparing for their first full seasons with their current clubs (PA)