In just a few weeks from now, a new Premier League season is about to kick off to where we’ll see a couple of familiar faces and a newbie joining into the fray.
Norwich City, Watford, and Brentford have secured their qualification to the English top-flight and all of them have plans to make sure that they’ll stay there for a considerable amount of time.
The Canaries and the Hornets have bounced in and out of the Premier League in recent years, but the Bees are relatively new to this kind of environment since their last appearance dates back to 1947.
Here at SBOTOP, let’s preview the new boys by analysing their roster as well as taking a look at the Premier League 2021 updates.
Norwich City
After bowing out from top-flight status at the end of the 2019/20 season, the Canaries are now back with a vengeance here in the Premier League.
They finished on top of the Championship last season with 97 points in 46 fixtures, while Watford and Brentford trailed behind them at 91 and 87.
A key reason to the Canaries’ success is because they’ve been prolific at the attack with Teemu Pukki and Emiliano Buendia leading the way. The strike duo combined for 41 goals and 20 assists last term, and the team overall recorded 75 goals.
However, Norwich City will have question marks out front next term as Aston Villa signed Emiliano Buendia for £38-M, while Teemu Pukki is slowly reaching the past of his prime.
Aware of this situation, Norwich City decided to become buyers in the transfer market in hopes of bringing in recruits to boost their Premier League 2021 odds.
One of their top signings was when they got Milot Rashica for around £9-M from Werder Bremen to replace Emiliano Buendia.
Rashica’s numbers aren’t eye-popping but he can fit in seamlessly right away and can even outdo Buendia’s production.
Meanwhile, Norwich City have also added Pierre Lees-Melou from Nice for additional firepower in the midfield, while they’ve strengthened their backline with the likes of Ben Gibson, Dimitris Giannoulis, and Angus Gunn.
Norwich City had one of the biggest upsets at the start of the 2019/20 season when they bested Manchester City in a five-goal thriller, and they’ll be looking to achieve the same feat when they’ll meet again at the Etihad on August 21.
Watford
Xisco Munoz will face the biggest test of his managerial career in trying to steer Watford’s ship for the upcoming Premier League season.
The 40-year-old tactician was brought in last December when the Hornets had a shaky start during the Championship. However, he was able to turn things around by guiding them to 17 wins out of their next 24 fixtures to finish at second place.
Vicarage Road will be rocking once again. But just like Norwich City, Watford will need to shore up their depth.
Ismaila Sarr was their top scorer last term with 13 goals and four assists but he’ll need a reliable partner out front in order to keep up.
Watford have brought in a viable candidate in the form of Emmanuel Dennis, who recently signed a five-year deal after spending four seasons with Club Brugge.
The Nigeria international is big and agile – qualities that are perfect for Munoz’s free-flowing offence. And he’s just 23 years old, which means that time is on his side.
Along with Emmanuel Dennis, the Hornets have added another striker in Joshua King to the hive, who should offer experience given his time with Everton last season.
Imran Louza is also an intriguing young addition for the Hornets. The French-Moroccan midfielder scored seven goals in 35 appearances for FC Nantes last term.
Brentford
Brentford supporters will be ecstatic to see the Bees back in top-flight after a 74-year wait, with Arsenal first on the menu on August 13.
But unlike Norwich City and Watford, Brentford are probably just happy to be here and it’s inevitable that they’ll have some growing pains along the way.
Team manager Thomas Frank will be strapped in trying to strengthen his roster due to financial constraints, which is why their focus will be on acquiring and developing young talent.
According to recent reports, Reiss Nelson is on top of their wishlist but they might be in a bidding war against Crystal Palace and Brighton.
The 21-year-old has been underutilised by Arsenal and he is said to be one of their academy’s best young standouts.
On the other hand, they are also interested in Brennan Johnson, Trevoh Chalobah, Matthew Cox, Kristoffer Ajer, and Harry Wilson, although it remains to be seen on whether they can get either one of their signatures soon.
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