Veteran football coach Steve Darby, who harbours hopes of coaching in Malaysia again, is excited about the upcoming English Premier League season.
Now back home in Liverpool, Darby has set aside his ‘biases’ towards his home club by naming Manchester City as the potential winner.
If City does live up to Darby’s prediction, it will become the first club to win England’s top-flight title for the fourth consecutive time after winning from 2021-2023.
Huddersfield Town (1924-1926), Arsenal (1933-35), Liverpool (1982-84), and Manchester United, which did it twice (1999-2001 and 2007-2009), are the other clubs to have won it three times on the trot.
“City will win the league as it has too much quality and depth all over the field,” said the former Johor, Perak, and Kelantan coach.
“I also expect (Erling) Haaland to continue his remarkable scoring rate, especially if (Kevin) De Bruyne can stay fit.”
Haaland scored a Premier League single-season record of 36 goals and 52 goals from 53 games in his debut season with City.
His tally surpassed the previous record of 44 goals in a single season for a Premier League club, beating the mark set by Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (2017-2018) and Manchester United’s Ruud van Nistelrooy (2002-2003).
The Norwegian only turned 23 last month, and if he does stay longer than his five-year contract with City, he could break Alan Shearer’s Premier League record of 260 goals.
However, as good as Haaland was last season, he was far off the English top-flight record of 63 goals in a single season, set by Everton’s Dixie Dean in 1927-1928, when teams played 42 games instead of 38.
Darby choosing City as the title favourite was not a surprise, but his pick for the other three teams he feels will occupy the Champions League spots may shock some fans.
“Arsenal, Liverpool, and Newcastle should finish in the top four,” said Darby, a guest for the Football Writers’ Festival, held on the sidelines of the ongoing Women’s World Cup in Australia.
“Arsenal has the momentum and belief from last year. Liverpool is there because of its two new midfielders (Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai), while Newcastle is well-coached (Eddie Howe), and has great passion at home.”
Asked why he left Manchester United out of the top four, Darby said: “They have the potential to implode as they have too many superstars and selfish lads.
“Their manager (Erik ten Hag) is too disciplined. That might be an issue. Also, their owners do not seem to care for anything except money.”
As for his bottom three, Darby thinks two of the three promoted teams – Luton and Sheffield United – will return to the Championship, with only Burnley staying in the top flight.
“Sheffield does not have enough good players,” said Darby, formerly a football analyst and pundit for ESPN.
“It is the same for Luton, although I want them to stay up just for their stadium.”
Kenilworth Road has a capacity of 10,265, making it the smallest ground in Premier League history.
“I also want Bournemouth to go down for sacking Gary O’Neil despite him saving them from relegation last season,” said the former English youth goalkeeper.
O’Neil, however, is the new Wolves manager after Julen Lopetegui left the club on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Darby said he is not worried about the Saudi League offering lucrative transfer fees and contracts.
“It is great for the players as they get a nice ‘pension’ at the end of their careers,” said Darby, who has coached in Laos, Bahrain, India, Australia, Fiji, Vietnam, Singapore, and Thailand.
“There is money coming into the European game as well. I will only worry when 25-year-old players and England internationals start going over there.”
FIXTURES (Malaysian time)
SATURDAY
Burnley vs Manchester City (3am)
Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest (7.30pm)
Bournemouth vs West Ham (10pm)
Brighton vs Luton (10pm)
Everton vs Fulham (10pm)
Sheffield United vs Crystal Palace (10pm)
SUNDAY
Newcastle vs Aston Villa (12.30am)
Brentford vs Tottenham (9pm)
Chelsea vs Liverpool (11.30pm)
TUESDAY
Manchester United vs Wolves (3am)
