5 More PL RABs/Specials Ahead Of The 2023/24 Season

Here we take a look at some of Sky Bet's RequestABets and Specials ahead of the upcoming 2023/24 Premier League season.

After an impressive 2022/23 campaign in which they finally finished in the top four after spending the past six seasons outside of it, Arsenal will be looking for another top-four finish for next season and consolidate their status as a team to now finally fear. The club’s expenditure of £200m already this summer is a mark of intent that they are looking not only to maintain but to improve on their performances in 22/23 and thereby stay in the top 4 after many years out in the cold.

Meanwhile, Liverpool, who have finished within the top four in six of the previous seven league seasons, will also be looking to get back in there after what was a poor 2022/23 season in which Jurgen Klopp’s men finished 5th – their transfer business in terms of reshaping their midfield will be key in helping them to improve on last season’s performances.

West Ham found themselves in a relegation battle for the majority of last season, and with the departure of key man Declan Rice to Arsenal, the Hammers will find it hard to adjust without their talismanic captain. Therefore, you would expect West Ham to struggle yet again this season and secure another bottom-half finish, while Sheffield United are also widely expected to have a tough season.

The Blades impressed during the first year of their two-year stint in the top flight from 2019 to 2021, but they are now coming back into a division that is much more competitive and has seen many clubs become stronger since they were last in it, which is why they are widely tipped to go straight back down to the Championship.

Brighton enjoyed a season to remember in 2022/23, securing Europa League football under managerial revelation Roberto De Zerbi as the Seagulls finished 6th in the Premier League.

De Zerbi carried on the fine work already done by Graham Potter at the club, and in the process, has made Brighton a much better and more attractive side to watch, with Brighton’s much-improved goalscoring numbers (an area in which they had previously struggled) a key aspect of that improvement.

The Seagulls hit 72 goals last season, a figure that triumphed over Newcastle, Manchester United and Tottenham’s respective goal tallies, while also being just three goals less than Liverpool’s final goal count. Brighton failed to score at least a single goal in just 5 of their 38 league fixtures last season – so with additions in the transfer market to supplement their squad and sustain their excellent form already being made, it is highly likely that every single one of Brighton’s league fixtures in 2023/24 will see goals.

Our third tip involves three players who will be central to Arsenal’s endeavours in 2023/24 – Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and new signing Declan Rice.

Saka had the best goalscoring season of his career in 2022/23, with the young Englishman scoring 14 and also laying on 11 assists. Odegaard went one better with 15 goals to his name, with the Norwegian contributing seven assists. It was an unexpectedly impressive campaign from the Gunners, with the duo of Saka and Odegaard central to Arsenal’s stunning form, and with additions to the squad such as Kai Havertz and Rice having already been made, the Gunners will likely be a much better and more formidable side in 2023/24.

Therefore, expect Saka to improve on his goalscoring tally with more than 15 goals while Odegaard will almost certainly carry on his fine level of performance and should be able to contribute more assists. For Rice, who stands at over 6 foot, he is now playing in a side that is able to keep the ball and sustain pressure against opponents more, which means that he might be able to get himself in among the goals much more than he could at West Ham.

Newcastle astonishingly lost just twice at home throughout the entirety of last season, with those defeats coming to fellow top-four contenders Arsenal and Liverpool. Ultimately, the Magpies won 11 of their 19 home matches in 2022/23 as they made St James’ Park somewhat of a fortress, and with the Magpies likely to make additions to strengthen their squad this summer for next season, they could very well improve on that record by winning every single home fixture next year.

Liverpool’s strength when playing at Anfield is well known, with the Reds boasting a formidable record at the iconic stadium. But even though 20223/23 was a poor season to remember for the club as they finished outside of the top four, they still kept up their fine home record in the league, losing just once (via a shock stoppage-time winner from Leeds United) while picking up a win in 13 of their 19 home games.

In 2021/22, the Reds won 15 and did not lose a single one of their home games, while in their title-winning season of 2019/20, they won 18 and drew one of their 19 home games. Simply put, Liverpool always perform when they are playing at Anfield, which is why with a much-improved team going into the new campaign, they could very well win every game that they play at home.

Arsenal almost won the Premier League last season, with the Gunners coming agonisingly close but ultimately faltering in the latter part of the season to cede the crown to eventual treble-winners Manchester City. But that failure only seems to have strengthened the Gunners’ resolve to win a first Premier League title since 2004, with the club backing Mikel Arteta to the tune of just over £200m already this summer. With an overall improved squad and better squad depth going into 2023/24, Arsenal could very well finally win the trophy that they have now not won for two decades.

Wolves had a poor campaign in 2022/23, picking up just 11 wins and only scoring 31 goals, a figure that was the lowest of all 20 teams in the league, with relegated Leeds, Southampton and Leicester all pipping Wolves’ tally. Julen Lopetegui has done good work in helping Wolves to avoid the drop, but after many poor transfer choices in recent years and the departures of key midfielders Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho, it will be much harder for them to avoid relegation in the future.

Harry Kane, now 29 and linked with a move away from Tottenham, shows no sign of slowing down his goalscoring exploits going into the 2023/24 season. Kane’s longevity in terms of consistent goalscoring has been incredible to watch, with the Englishman scoring at least 17 Premier League goals in every campaign since the 2014/15 season, winning the Premier League Golden Boot three times throughout that period. And it would have been a fourth Golden Boot for Kane in 22/23 had it not been for the force of nature that is Erling Haaland, whose record-breaking 36 goals outdid Kane’s 30 strikes for Tottenham. But in what could be his final season in a Tottenham shirt, Kane would of course want to go out in a blaze of glory, and that coupled with the positive appointment of Ange Postecoglou as manager, could see Kane have another season in which he ends up finishing as the division’s top scorer.

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