Ligue 1 preview 16/17

After looking into Italy, the next league to turn attention to is the, Ligue 1, and there is a lot to cover. For example: can PSG cope with the loss of Ibrahimovic; can Lyon mount a serious challenge on the title this term and how can Toulouse make up the goals that Ben Yedder scored last term to stop them from being relegated.

The First look at Ligue 1 has to be with PSG. The club easily ran away with the league, last term, but with the loss of the league's biggest stars will they still be able to be so dominant. After Ibrahimovic's departure, PSG went about plugging the hole left by him by bringing Hatem Ben Arfa from Nice and moving Cavani back into a more central role, they hope that will replace the role left by the enigmatic Swede. By bolstering the squad depth by bringing in Krychowiak from Sevilla and replacing Van Der Wiel, with young Belgian full-back Meunier that will help them to compete on more fronts in Europe . The arrival of Unai Emery, as manager can only give PSG fans a sense of hope of going further into the Champions League than they have done.

PSG's main rivals to the crown come in the form of Lyon and Monaco. The former will be hoping for more goals from the red hot Lacazette and hoping Fekir can help in that department, they could again test PSG for the crown. they will also hope young midfielder Tolisso and the ageing Valbuena to help offensively and defensively to aid in a title push. Monaco on the other hand could have some optimism for the new campaign as with the signing of Glik from Torino will stop the leak of goals in the back and the return of Germain from Nice who had a good campaign and helped Nice into a Europa League spot will try and bring the also returning, Falcao, back to the form of old that made him so feared by defences.

The one team that could struggle is OGC Nice, who with the departure of star man, Ben Arfa, and the loss of striker Germain could struggle to find that cutting edge up front that they need, to maintain the progress they achieved last season. Their only saving grace is that they weren't a team that conceded a lot so, as long as they are able to find a good source of goals then they will hold up the right end of the table.

Now looking towards the other end of the table, the real concern is with Toulouse, who have lost the player who single headedly kept them afloat last season, in Yassim Ben Yedder. Without his goals they will struggle as they hard a torrid time of defending leads and drew one too many games as to have the chance of staying up. If they find a replacement for Ben Yedder, then things will okay but if they can't I have real fear for them going forward. the other team in the danger zone is Guingamp who avoided relegation by the skin of their teeth and will need the ageing Star Jimmy Briand to fire in the goals whilst Kerbrat needs to marshal the back to keep the goals conceded down.
Lastly of the three promoted sides Dijon are in the danger seat as they lack squad depth and seem to be in for a lack of goals and the side to be the whipping boys of the league like, Troyes, were the previous season.

In conclusion, PSG will need to hope Cavani can find form of old to try and fill Ibrahimovic's boots, but if he can't then there will be ready takers for the crown in Lyon and Monaco who have the calibre of players to win the league but just need to stop the PSG steam train. At the other end I can see the bottom to be propped up by Dijon and followed by Toulouse if they aren't able to find the Ben Yedder replacement.

Serie A 16/17 Preview

As a first post I'd thought of previewing the league of the country I am currently visiting which is

Italia.

The main talking points that are coming out of the Serie A are: how will Napoli adapt to the loss of Higuaín; will Juventus break their own record and secure their sixth consecutive Scudetto and who can if anyone challenge for the crown.

You obviously can't have a Serie A preview with out talking about the 'Old Lady' of Italian football which is Juventus. It's been a busy summer transfer window for the club with many new additions to the fold like Miralem Pjanic; Dani Alves; Medhi Benatia and of course the big one Gonzalo Higuaín for a league record transfer fee. Are these additions just paving the way for the inevitable departure of Paul Pogba to either Real Madrid or Manchester United. Massimiliano Allegri's side will be looking to break the record the club set in the 1930's and win their sixth consecutive Scudetto title. They will need to be at the top of their game as some those teams who have been lagging behind in recent years will out to stop the side from setting further dominance in Italy.

To look at the main rivals to Juventus' crown we have to look at the those who finished in and around them last season and a maybe surprise package.

The main rivals to the crown come in the form of Napoli and Roma. Both have lost key players that made the side tick last season in Higuaín in the former and Pjanic in the latter.  Napoli have looked to Polish striker Arkadiusz Milik to maybe find the goals that Higuaín reached last season and Roma will be looking for the likes of Salah and El Shaarawy to help Dzeko and the ageing Totti to help power them over their rivals. The arguably more likely to challenge is Roma as they have an overall strong spine of a team and excellent players who have the ability to turn games, such as Radja Nainngolan who scored one of the goals of the tournament at the recent Euros and resolute defence shields in Strootman and De Rossi. The defence itself is one of the strongest in the league with an excellent full back in Florenzi who will provide attacking power as well as his defensive ability and they also have supremely strong centre backs in Rudiger and Manolas and the addition of Juan Jesus can only add depth in that area for Roma. The sight of all would be to see Francesco Totti to lift the league in what could be his last season would be a sight for all to see and his crowning achievement.

The surprise package in the Serie A this season could be from Inter Milan. They finished last season in 4th and a grand total of 24 points off of the winners, but with players in the side having an impressive Euro's in Perisic and Eder, and if they keep hold of Icardi then they could prove to be a side to watch in the coming season.

Then to finish off this preview we have to look at those sides down the other end of the table and keeping their heads above water this season. Of the Promoted sides the most likely to suffer the drop is Crotone who lack the quality and depth to stay afloat whereas some who came close last season need to greatly improve as to avoid the dreaded drop this time ride. These are Udinese, Sampdoria and Palermo, who will need to maintain strong form at home and to pick up some on the road as to avoid anxious fans come crunch time in May.

All in all I can see Juventus creating history but if they have dodgy start as they did last campaign, I doubt that the teams around them will be as forgiving this time round, especially with what will be created if they do.