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“Football-Futbol-It All Begins”

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The NFL preseason is underway, so football fans get their fix weekly now.

The Futbol season has begun to, for soccer fans, as the English Premier League kicks off this weekend, coming on the heels of the spectacular World Cup we saw in Russia.

The 20-team league kicks off with a full slate of games this weekend in England.

All eyes will be on Manchester City to see if they can continue the dominance of a year ago, and why not. Record wins, record points, record number of goals scored.

It all begins on Friday night. A quick look at storylines.

MANCHESTER CITY….Pep Guardiola returns this high powered team intact. Kevin DeBruyn comes off an amazing World Cup, and now the Citizens add Riyad Mahrez, from Liverpool, comes on board in a transfer deal, joining other big names like Sterling, Silva and Kyle Walker.

MANCHESTER UNITED….A summer of distractions for Coach Josie Mourinho, an unhappy Paul Pogboa, a volatile coaching style, an uncomfortable relationship with players. Mourinho campaigned heavily for this job, and now it may blow up in his face. A summer of trouble could be coming to Old Trafford.

TOTTENHAM HOT SPUR….A strange summer of inactivity on the player front. Harry Kane has become a super star, but do they have enough?

LIVERPOOL…40-goal scorer Mohammad Salah returns after rejecting offers to go elsewhere. They add international star goalie Alisson, but won’t have star Alex Chamberlain for the year with knee problems. Jorge Klopp is held in high regard as coach.

CHELSEA….What a couple of week leading up to the start of the season. Keeper Thibault Courtois is on his way to Real Madrid. They spent 83M to acquire Kepa Arrizabalaga from Spain and Mateo Kovacic from Real Madrid. Still to be determined what becomes of Eden Hazard. On top of all this, a new leader in coach Mauricio Sarri.

ARSENAL…For the first time in 22-years, there is no Arsene Wenger pacing the sidelines. . Coming on board is midfielder Lucas Torseira and Pierre Aubamayeng is a star in the making. Unami Emery replaces Wenger as manager.

EVERTON…..Wayne Rooney has gone to MLS, Lucas Degne comes in with great credentials, and they’ve added Yerry Mina, Jorginho and Richardson. They could be a big time team. for new lease Marco Silva..

LEICESTER CITY….Might be a big bounce back season, with Harry Maguire and Jamie Vardy bordering on star status after World Cup play, but there’s not much left from the champion Foxes team of just two seasons ago..

FULHAM…This bears watching, as they have added 10-free agents via the transfer route after climbing into the EPL during the relegation period. They just spent 38M to acquire French goals Andre Auguissa from Marseille. The Cottagers are joined by Cardiff and Wolverhampton are the other new teams in the EPL.

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