67 Things to Look Forward to Next Season
For the first time in five seasons, normality is back – no winter World Cup, no pandemic – but that doesn’t mean it will be boring. Can anyone stop Manchester City? Will Wrexham storm League Two? Are Charlton fixtures about to turn into a rave? There’s plenty to look out for in the year ahead…
Words Chris Flanagan, Si Hawkins, Grant Shub, Jessy Parker Humphreys
01 PEP’S QUEST FOR SEVEN TROPHIES
In the 135-year history of league football in England, no team has won four top-flight titles in a row. In 2023-24, Manchester City are overwhelming favourites to do that.
True, City are unlikely to achieve universal popularity any time soon, but Pep Guardiola’s side confirmed themselves as one of Britain’s finest teams ever with last season’s stunning treble. Such dominance had been coming. They now top the UEFA rankings for results over the past five years, overtaking Bayern Munich at the European summit, thanks to that first Champions League trophy, secured courtesy of Rodri’s goal against Inter in June.
Their toughest test came against Arsenal in the Premier League – in the table at least, before they swatted the Gunners aside at the Etihad in late April, illustrating the gulf that still existed between the two sides. Perhaps nothing summed that up better than that game’s final minutes – 3-1 up, City were in such control that Erling Haaland literally let his hair down, removing his hair bobble to show off his long mane, then scoring mere seconds later. It was quite the flex. Against City’s nearest challengers, the goal bot could still score when barely trying.
Haaland’s 52 goals in 53 games have taken City to the next level and it’s hard to see anyone stopping them. The Norwegian insists he’s still got room for improvement, too: after all, there were 22 matches he didn’t score in, perish the thought.
Only five times before had a team won three straight English titles. Huddersfield were champions between 1924 and 1926, while Arsenal clinched the First Division from 1933 to 1935, each largely thanks to Herbert Chapman. Liverpool won three in a row from 1982 to 1984, with Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United doing it twice in the Premier League era (1999-2001 and 2007-09. Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea beat Wigan 8-0 on the final day in 2010, to pip United to a fourth. No one has got closer.
City are huge bookmakers’ favourites to break the record and win a sixth top flight in seven seasons. The Bundesliga have their ‘farmer’s league’ jibes saved in their drafts after Bayern Munich’s 11 consecutive titles.
Of course, the Mancunians still have an FFP case hanging over them. In Febr
