5 Premier League RABS to Lookout for in the Upcoming 2021/22 Season

The first RequestABet on this list involves Premier League champions Manchester City who are well known for their goalscoring capabilities.

37 of City’s 38 Premier League matches last campaign had over 0.5 goals in them with their 0-0 draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford on 12th December being the anomaly. However, in the 2019/20 season, every single one of City’s matches saw over 0.5 goals being scored in them, meaning that there is a decent chance of this tip from coming off, especially if they can hit the goalscoring heights of their 2017/18 campaign where they managed to hit the back of the net 106 times.

Liverpool have failed to convert being top of the Premier League table at Christmas five times, more than any other side in the competition’s history. The Anfield club have notably been top of the league in three of City’s five Premier League title wins, including last time out, but a run which saw City earn 62 of 69 points available to them between their defeat at Spurs in late November and their 2-0 win at Leicester in early April meant that the rest of the Premier League were blown away.

The Anfield club will be looking to have another blistering start to the Premier League as they have in the last three seasons which has seen them at the top of the table at Christmas on each occasion. With the returns of van Dijk and Joe Gomez as well as their neat run of form at the end of last season which saw them finish in the top four, the Reds should come into the new campaign filled with confidence.

Meanwhile, City are set to announce the imminent signing of Jack Grealish according to reports from the Athletic and are pushing for Harry Kane from Tottenham, which would ultimately see them with arguably the best team in Europe on paper.

Last time out Spurs striker Kane managed to score 23 Premier League goals and create 14 assists in 33 appearances last season which was incredibly impressive considering the negative football which the Lilywhites played under Jose Mourinho last season, which saw Spurs have the 12th most shots in the top-flight, which is quite staggering considering their talented forward options.

If rumours are to be believed then there is a chance that Kane could be on his way to City this summer which would only further enhance his chances of scoring 25 Premier League goals as he edges closer to Alan Shearer’s all-time record of 260.

Meanwhile, Mohamed Salah managed 22 league goals in what was a tough season for Liverpool at times, but, thankfully for Jurgen Klopp, the Egyptian remained as consistent as ever. The 29-year-old does hold the record of the most goals in a single season under the 20-team format, bagging 32 in 36 in the 2017/18 season. So far in his time at Anfield, Salah managed more than 20 league goals in three of his four seasons.

United striker Edinson Cavani weighed in with a decent goal tally of 10 in 26 appearances that tallied to just 1,366 minutes on the pitch in the league. The Uruguayan started the season late due to being signed on deadline day, meaning his first game didn’t come till the 24th October. United will be expecting big things from the former PSG man considering he hadn’t played a league game for six months between Ligue 1’s curtailment and his debut for the club.

Another striker who will be looking to build on his first Premier League season is Ollie Watkins of Aston Villa who fired in 14 goals in 37 games. The former Brentford man impressed and is a key player for Dean Smith’s side, hence why he only missed one match due to suspension.

Manchester United are yet to finish outside of the top four in the Premier League in either of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first two full seasons as manager of the Red Devils and following the signings of Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane from Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid, that statistic looks set to be safe for another season if the Old Trafford club carries on their trajectory, having finished third and second in the last two campaigns.

Villa are a club that are certainly on the up, despite their imminent sale of Jack Grealish to City, having agreed on deals to take Emiliano Buendia and Leon Bailey to Villa Park, and with many other high-quality Premier League players such as James Ward-Prowse of Southampton set to be on their radar, there is a good chance of them impressing once again.

It will be interesting to see how the likes of Brighton and Newcastle get on next season despite their contrasting styles of play. Brighton have never finished above 15th place in their time in the Premier League, despite playing some very attractive football, whilst the Magpies have only finished in the top half of the Premier League twice since the start of the 2012/13 season, of which both were 10th placed finishes under Alan Pardew in 2013/14 and Rafael Benitez in 2017/18.

Somebody that will certainly be a big miss for Newcastle in the upcoming campaign is Joe Willock, as the Arsenal man managed to score eight goals in 14 matches on loan at St James’ Park last season. The 22-year-old looks like he could be priced out of a return to the Toon due to high loan fees and a £22m buyout price.

West Ham managed to qualify for the Europa League against all odds last season under David Moyes and they will be starting the new season with a relatively similar squad that they finished last season with, although at present it looks unlikely that they will re-sign Jesse Lingard who managed 14 goal contributions in 16 league appearances. With the rigours of Thursday night football to go through and tight fixture scheduling, this season could be tougher than expected for the Hammers.

Watford come into the 2021/22 season as one of the favourites to be relegated. The Hornets are known for lacking stability, as in their last season in England’s top-flight they had four different managers. The Vicarage Road club have suffered three relegations in seven seasons in the Premier League and will do well to avoid the drop this time out if they carry on their managerial merry-go-round.

The final tip on this list of RABS to lookout for in the upcoming Premier League season involves Leeds United and Leicester City. A combined goal tally of 140 for the two may look a big figure, but, last season Leeds found the back of the net 62 times, whilst Leicester managed 68, meaning that they scored 130 between them.

Marcelo Bielsa will know that if he can get Rodrigo Moreno firing more than the seven goals, he managed in 26 games last season that there is a significant chance of his side further impressing in the goalscoring department, especially with the handy addition of attacking wing-back Junior Firpo from Barcelona.

Meanwhile, Leicester City have added the likes of Red Bull Salzburg striker Patson Daka to their front line. The Zambian striker had 70 goals involvements in 82 league matches for the Austrian Bundesliga outfit and will be hoping that he can push the likes of Kelechi Iheanacho to further raising his game, as the Nigerian impressed in the second-half of the campaign, scoring 12 and assisting two in 25 matches.

Something that can also be noted is that Jamie Vardy’s tally of 15 league goals was relatively low for the former Premier League winner and 2019/20 season Golden Boot winner. The season before, the Sheffield born forward fired in 23 goals and will hope that he can hit similar heights this time around.