Man Utd miss the top four, Chelsea in mid-table again and Ipswich survive: GOAL predicts the 2024-25 Premier League table

Southampton could be this season's Burnley: a newly-promoted side intent on playing a progressive brand of football under a young coach but nonetheless doomed to drop right back down to the Championship. They have been very active in the transfer market, though, bringing in several free agents, including Adam Lallana, while Taylor Harwood-Bellis has been signed on a permanent basis from Manchester City after impressing during his loan spell at St. Mary's.

Despite the signing of Ben Brereton Diaz, goals could be a problem if Adam Armstrong doesn't maintain the form that helped Southampton secure promotion via the play-offs.

After securing an immediate return to the Premier League by winning last season's Championship, Leicester initially looked the best equipped of the newly-promoted sides to stay in the top flight. However, Enzo Maresca promptly left for Chelsea and the Italian coach took Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall with him to Stamford Bridge.

The Foxes have some real experience in their ranks (Jamie Vardy is still knocking about!) but there's a very strong possibility that they'll be hit with a points deduction for a previous breach of financial regulations, which would only make survival all the more difficult for new coach Steve Cooper.

Despite all of the chaos of last season, which included a four-point deduction for breaching the Premier League's Profit & Sustainability Rules (PSR), Nuno Espirito Santo led Forest to safety after succeeding Cooper as manager in December. Improvement is unquestionably required, though, as it's unlikely that 32 points will secure safety this time around.

Forest have been relatively quiet in the transfer market - at least compared to the last two summers - but ex-Fiorentina centre-back Nikola Milenkovic could prove a bargain buy at £12m. Of even greater importance, though, is the fact that Forest have retained the services of Murillo and Morgan Gibbs-White.

Ipswich would probably consider their summer a success simply for the fact that they managed to hold onto manager Kieran McKenna, who was linked with the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea after sensationally guiding the Tractor Boys back to the Premier League via back-to-back promotions.

Of course, staying in the top-flight would arguably be an even greater feat. They have managed to hold onto their best players, at least, while they've also signed some promising youngsters, including Liam Delap and Omari Hutchinson, while Kalvin Phillips looks to be on the way from Manchester City.

This summer hasn't gone according to plan for either Brentford or star striker Ivan Toney, who had already made clear his intention to sign for a bigger club. The Bees did bring in a replacement, in Igor Thiago, but the club-record signing from Club Brugge suffered a serious knee injury in pre-season, meaning Toney's future remains up in the air as the season gets under way.

On the plus side, at least, Fabio Carvalho could prove a fine signing, while the much-loved and much-coveted coach Thomas Frank remains at the helm.

For a while last season, there was a very real fear that Everton would end up being relegated because of PSR breaches, which resulted in the club being docked a total of eight points. However, Sean Dyche's squad showed impressive resolve during the final two months of the season to pull clear of the drop zone.

The club's financial problems haven't gone away but they've been alleviated somewhat by selling Amadou Onana to Aston Villa for £50m ($64m), which has helped them hold onto Jarrad Branthwaite - despite intense interest from Manchester United - and bring in the likes of Iliman Ndiaye.

These are tough times for Wolves fans. Gary O'Neil did a fine job in difficult circumstances at Molineux last season (becoming serial victims of VAR's incompetence didn't help matters at all!), but he's lost both Max Kilman and Pedro Neto this summer, thus robbing the manager of both his best defender and his best attacker.

How the money raised from those two deals is spent - if at all - will determine how Wolves fare this term.

Are there grounds for cautious optimism at Craven Cottage? Losing Tosin Adarabioyo to Chelsea for nothing was tough for the fans to take, and Joao Palhinha's move to Bayern Munich robs Marco Silva of one of the best ball-winners in Europe.

Still, Rodrigo Muniz was excellent in the second half of the season and should enjoy playing in front of former Arsenal attacking midfielder Emile Smith Rowe, while the hope is that a return to Fulham will help Ryan Sessegnon rediscover the form that made him such an exciting prospect.

The big question facing Bournemouth just ahead of the start of the new season is how on earth they replace Dominic Solanke. The Cherries have banked a big fee, but it will not be easy at all finding a worthy replacement for last season's top scorer, who was utterly integral to his team's attacking place.

On the plus side, the defence has been strengthened by the acquisition of former Barcelona right-back Julian Araujo and the highly-rated 19-year-old centre-half Dean Huijsen, who is considered a player of real potential. Scoring goals, though, is likely to be Bournemouth's major problem.

It's hard to know exactly what to expect from the post-Roberto De Zerbi era at Brighton, though we can say for sure that they've got themselves another fascinating young coach in Fabian Hurzeler, the 31-year-old Texas-born German who did such a remarkable job getting St. Pauli back into the Bundesliga last season.

The Seagulls have signed some interesting players too, including Mats Wieffer and Yankuba Minteh, from Feyenoord and Newcastle, respectively. Unlike last summer, they've not lost any key players other than Pascal Gross, who has joined Borussia Dortmund.

It's all change at West Ham this season, with David Moyes' successor, Julen Lopetegui, having been well-backed in the transfer market this summer. Niclas Fullkrug, Max Kilman, Jean-Clair Todibo Crysencio Summerville, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Luis Guilherme make for a fascinating mix of summer signings, and when one considers that Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta and Mohammed Kudus are all still at the London Stadium, the Hammers could cause the top teams some serious problems if Lopetegui manages to knit all the new faces together.

Crystal Palace were 15th and five points above the relegation zone when Oliver Glasner took over in February. By May, they'd equalled their best-ever Premier League finish (10th) and highest points haul (49), so hopes are high at Selhurst Park that the Eagles will continue to soar after a full pre-season under the Austrian.

Daichi Kamada could prove an inspired free signing while holding onto Adam Wharton is a huge boost, but it's hard to see Palace finishing any higher, given Michael Olise has left for Bayern Munich and Marc Guehi appears to be edging ever close to Newcastle.

How not to run a football club! Chelsea showed undeniable signs of improvement - and even stability - during the final few months of Mauricio Pochettino's spell in charge, which saw the Blues climb to sixth by the season's end. After another summer of frankly ridiculous transfer activity, the west Londoners have a new manager and a host of new signings, none of which make much sporting sense.

Chelsea still have Cole Palmer, and a fit-again Christopher Nkunku and Romeo Lavia, but it's impossible to predict anything but more chaos under the unproven former Leicester boss Enzo Maresca.

Are Aston Villa in store for a brutal reality check? Unai Emery has given a masterclass in management since arriving in Birmingham, transforming a team that was toiling under Steven Gerard into Champions League qualifiers in a little over 18 months.

However, Villa's owners feel as if their attempts to cement the club's place among England's elite are being hindered by the Premier League's PSR and there's no denying that this summer's underwhelming transfer business (losing Douglas Luiz was a real blow), coupled with the additional strain of competing in Europe, makes another top-four finish unlikely.

Optimism has returned to Tyneside. After a surprise fourth-placed finish in 2022-23, Newcastle buckled under the weight of competing in last season's Champions League and suffered a spate of injuries that spoiled their campaign. Worse still, it appeared as if at least one star would have to be sacrificed this summer because of the club's PSR issues.

However, a Newcastle side that won't have any European football to worry about this season has managed to hold onto key duo Anthony Gordon and Bruno Guimaraes by selling younger players, while Marc Guehi could soon join them at St. James' Park.

Better this season but not good enough for that crucial top-four finish. INEOS' activity in the transfer market has certainly lifted the spirits around Old Trafford, with Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui arriving to strengthen the brittle backline, and the Zlatan Ibrahimovic-like Joshua Zirkzee expected to add a whole new dimension to the attack.

However, Yoro, Luke Shaw and Rasmus Hojlund are all presently sidelined, while there are ongoing doubts over Erik ten Hag and his apparent strategy of signing as many Netherlands-linked players as possible to improve on last season's historically bad Premier League finish.

Back Big Ange Postecoglou to get Spurs back in the Champions League! Tottenham finished two points shy of fourth last term, as a combination of injuries and a loss of form to key players meant a stunning, 10-game unbeaten start to the 2023-24 campaign proved to be a false dawn.

The north Londoners have the talent to go one better this term, though, with summer signing Dominic Solanke representing a serious - albeit expensive - upgrade on Richarlison. Teenage duo Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall will also inject even more youthful enthusiasm into what is a seriously exciting project at Spurs.

As you were for Liverpool, who have a new manager but no new players, meaning another third-placed finish beckons. There was obviously a concern that the loss of the charismatic Jurgen Klopp could have left the Reds reeling, but the German left the squad in rude health for his successor, Arne Slot, as underlined by a string of impressive performances in pre-season.

However, while Liverpool could launch a serious title threat if all of their key men stay fit this season, they'll probably once again pay the price for failing to sign a specialist No.6.

More agony for Arsenal, who are likely to finish as runners-up for the third year in a row. Mikel Arteta has employed some novel methods to try overhaul former club Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table, while he's also added more class and versatility to his backline this summer with the signing of Riccardo Calafiori. The Italian could also soon be joined at the Emirates by Mikel Merino.

However, despite Arteta's claims to the contrary, neither Kai Havertz nor Gabriel Jesus looks like the prolific No.9 Arsenal need to end a 20-year title drought.

No shock here. Our writers believe that Manchester City will finish top of the pile - for the fifth consecutive season - and it's easy to understand why. Pep Guardiola has held on to the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Ederson, both of whom were linked with moves to the Saudi Pro League, and also brought in the incredibly exciting Savinho.

Julian Alvarez has departed, of course, but only for a staggering £81.5m, which could well be used to strengthen an already stellar squad before the close of the window. As Kyle Walker says, the league is City's to lose.