New Rules, New faces — The Premier League is back

The Premier League began on Friday, with Manchester City bidding to continue their supremacy in English football and Ipswich making their top-flight return.

Manchester United hosted Fulham on Friday.

Ipswich host Liverpool on Saturday before Manchester City travel to Chelsea on Sunday in the two most eye-catching games of the opening weekend.

Arsenal will be hoping they can finally pip Manchester City to the title, while Manchester United are looking to recover from their worst season since 1990.

There will be tweaks to handball, VAR and injury time, plus more.

BBC Sport looks at who, and what, is new and what we can expect in the 2024-25 Premier League campaign.

What is new? Changes to VAR, blocking and handball
The video assistant referee system will have a higher bar for intervening than before.

The “referee’s call” means that the VAR should only intervene if they can “see without any doubt the on-pitch official has made a clear mistake”.

Otherwise the initial decision will stand. That means fewer stoppages for marginal decisions to be repeatedly rewatched.

“Let’s have the confidence to not be too forensic on our analysis,” is what refereeing boss Howard Webb has said.

The Premier League Match Centre account, external on social media platform X will post “near-live” explanations of VAR decisions.

It plans to show more replays and explain decisions on the big screens in stadiums, too.

We will see a significant drop in stoppage time this season – because of a change in timing goal celebrations.

Until now time was added on for every second between the ball hitting the net and the kick-off being taken.

Now the clock will only be started after 30 seconds. So a game with six goals would have three minutes less of stoppage time.

Away from VAR, attacking players blocking or obstructing opposition players at a set-piece will be penalised more strictly.

Ben White was trending on social media with the suggestion the Arsenal defender’s actions from corners will result in more opposition free-kicks.

The handball law will be relaxed a tad. Players have been told by the Premier League they do not have to move with their arms rigidly by their sides or behind their backs.

The position of their arm or hand will be judged in relation to the movement of their body.

“We get a sense that we give too many handballs for actions that are quite normal and justifiable,” said Webb.

“The guidance to officials this season is less is more. You will see fewer harsh handball penalties.”

Meanwhile, a non-deliberate handball that leads to a penalty will no longer be an automatic booking offence.

During penalties the ball must be on or hanging over the centre of the penalty spot, rather than at any point on the spot.

“Premier League players will enjoy the short seam length crafted to ensure the deftest of touches on matchday” using the new Nike Flight ball – apparently

Encroachment by players into the box when the penalty is taken will only be penalised if it has an impact.

That means if an opposition player has an impact on the kicker or prevents a goal or chance from a rebound.

If it is a penalty taker’s team-mate, the encroachment is relevant if they impact or distract the goalkeeper, scores or creates a chance.

Ball boys and girls will be allowed to give a ball to a goalkeeper to take a restart, instead of the keeper having to pick it up off a cone. The multiball system – picking the ball off a cone – will remain for outfield players.

One more tiny change – five substitutes can warm up at the same time on the touchline, up from three.

There will be a new ball this season, the Nike Flight, which is “built with Aerowsculpt technology with grooves debased into the casing, to allow air to travel seamlessly around the ball, delivering truer flight”.

Who Is New? Fresh Managers And Players Galore
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has never played or managed in the Premier League – though he was Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City

A quarter of the managers in the Premier League will be taking charge of an English top-flight game for the first time on the opening weekend.

They are Arne Slot at Liverpool, Enzo Maresca at Chelsea, Russell Martin at Southampton, Kieran McKenna at Ipswich and Fabian Hurzeler at Brighton.

Slot and Hurzeler have come from Feyenoord and St Pauli respectively, while Martin, McKenna and Maresca – albeit then at Leicester City – all won promotion from the Championship last season.

There are plenty of new players, too.

Manchester United signed £52m Lille defender Leny Yoro, who will miss the start of the season with a broken foot, £33.7m Bologna striker Joshua Zirkzee and Bayern Munich defenders Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui for a combined fee approaching £60m.

Champions Manchester City have brought in Brazil winger Savinho from sister club Troyes for £30.8m, while Arsenal have recruited Bologna defender Riccardo Calafiori, who impressed for Italy at Euro 2024, for up to £42m.

What Can Fans Expect From New Premier League Bosses?
Brighton signed Gambia winger Yankuba Minteh from Newcastle United for £30m and two £25m midfielders in Mats Wieffer from Feyenoord and Brajan Gruda from Mainz.

Minteh is effectively new to the Premier League because he joined Feyenoord, playing alongside Wieffer, on loan on the day he joined the Magpies last summer.

Chelsea signed a host of players, including Barcelona striker Marc Guiu and £20.7m goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen from Villarreal. The Dane will compete with Robert Sanchez for the number one spot.

Teenage midfielder Archie Gray is new to the Premier League after joining Tottenham Hotspur from Leeds United for about £30m.

Julen Lopetegui’s West Ham paid £27m to sign Germany’s Euro 2024 striker Niclas Fullkrug from Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund, and £25.5m for Brazilian winger Luis Guilherme from Palmeiras.

The New Clubs – Ipswich’s Long Wait Is Over
Two of the three promoted Championship clubs are familiar to the Premier League – champions Leicester City and play-off winners Southampton bouncing back immediately after relegation in 2022-23.

But Ipswich Town surprised everyone as they finished second to achieve back-to-back promotions. They are back in the top flight after 22 seasons away.

They will be an unknown quantity with very little Premier League experience in their squad, and an exciting up-and-coming manager in McKenna.

The three players to hit double figures in goals for them last season – Conor Chaplin, Nathan Broadhead and Omari Hutchinson – have a combined two Premier League appearances.

Left-back Leif Davis, who recorded 18 assists last term, played twice in the top flight for Leeds.

Captain and player of the season Sam Morsy, who turns 33 next month, will make his Premier League debut.

Ipswich have signed Hutchinson, who was on loan from Chelsea last season, in a club-record £20m deal, and Manchester City forward Liam Delap for a fee that could reach £20m.

Hull defender Jacob Greaves, West Ham’s Ben Johnson and Burnley keeper Arijanet Muric are among their other summer recruits.

Leicester are on their third manager since sacking Brendan Rodgers in April 2023. Dean Smith left following their relegation. Maresca led the Foxes to promotion in his only season in charge but then left for Chelsea, with ex-Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper replacing him.

Jamie Vardy, now 37, was their top scorer last season with 20 goals.

Player of the season Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, sold to meet financial rules, has joined Maresca at Stamford Bridge for £30m.

They could get a points deduction for breaking Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) last time they were in the Premier League.

Martin took Southampton back to the Premier League via the play-offs after they enjoyed a club-record 25-game unbeaten run from September to February.

Adam Armstrong was named Saints’ Player of the Season after scoring 24 goals.

Che Adams, their only other player to hit double figures, has left for Torino and been replaced by Chile striker Ben Brereton Diaz, signed from Villarreal.

The promoted trio are the three favourites to go straight back down, followed closely by Nottingham Forest, Everton and Wolves.

The Title Race – Can Anyone Stop Man City Making It Five In A Row?
Manchester City are the first English club to win four consecutive top-flight titles – can they make it five?

Arsenal will hope to be their main title rivals – again.

Under Mikel Arteta, the Gunners have got closer and closer and finished runners-up the past two seasons. Last season they took it down to the final day, finishing two points behind City.

Liverpool – the only other team to win the title in the past seven seasons – start a campaign without Jurgen Klopp in charge for the first time since 2015-16.

Slot, who has won the Dutch league with Feyenoord, is working in English football for the first time.

Manchester United will be hoping for a better season after Sir Jim Ratcliffe took over the running of the club. He has changed a lot off the pitch, but kept manager Erik ten Hag in charge, when it was widely expected the Dutchman was going to be sacked.

Nobody knows what to expect from Chelsea after another summer of changing manager and heavy recruitment.

Tottenham are bidding to improve on last season’s fifth-placed finish under Ange Postecoglou, while Aston Villa may struggle to better their top-four finish as they juggle domestic football and a debut Champions League campaign.

Culled from BBCSports