Arsenal’s trip to Crystal Palace lifts the curtain on the new Premier League season on Friday, with Erling Haaland’s debut in the English top flight the highlight of the weekend as champions Manchester City travel to West Ham, IgbereTV reports
Haaland has been the marquee arrival to the Premier League from over £1 billion ($1.2 billion) spent on transfer fees ahead of the new campaign.
The Norwegian is expected to further strengthen Pep Guardiola’s side, who have won the title in four of the last five seasons.
However, Haaland and City’s season did not get off to a good start as perennial title rivals Liverpool won the Community Shield 3-1 last weekend.
A trip to the London Stadium is a good early-season test of City’s revamped squad with Julian Alvarez and Kalvin Phillips also coming in to replace the departed Oleksandr Zinchenko, Fernandinho, Raheem Sterling, and Gabriel Jesus.
West Ham nearly denied City the title last season as they led 2-0 at half-time in the penultimate game of the campaign before the visitors rallied to salvage the point which won them the league.
The Hammers have also strengthened with the signing of Italian international striker Gianluca Scamacca as David Moyes’ men look to close the gap on the top four after qualifying for Europe in the past two seasons
