3 Dark Horses To Back For Success In The 2020-21 Premier League Season

Brighton and Hove Albion

Graham Potter took the reigns of the Brighton and Hove Albion head coach at the start of last season, and was tasked with rebuilding the club from its dismal showing over the course of 2018-19. Taking over a fragmented and disillusioned changing room who were tired of playing the ultra-defensive style brought in by Chris Hughton, Potter immediately endeared himself to the footballing world by promoting a more possession-based attacking style of play.

The squad was progressively rejuvenated with younger talents such as Steven Alzate, Aaron Connolly and Tariq Lamptey and the side put in some seriously stellar performances against the likes of Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea on their way to their record points tally in the Premier League.

Graham Potter has continued to add more excitement to his side with the addition of Ben White to the Brighton backline. The 2019-20 Championship Player of the Year is smooth on the ball and remarkably composed for a player so young, and Brighton’s three at the back formation absolutely blew Newcastle out of the water on matchday 2 of the league campaign.

Brighton are a side on the rise for sure, adding a level of steeliness to their performances that was missing for parts of last season. They’ve hit eight goals in just three games and already have a winning formula that will only continue to get better as their campaign progresses.

Southampton

Most football fans probably weren’t expecting to see Southampton even lining up for the 20201 Premier League campaign after their record 0-9 loss to Leicester City, let alone with then-manager Ralph Hassenhuttl still at the helm.

However, following the mauling from the Foxes the Saints went onto record 13 more wins, going unbeaten in 8 of their final games and registering 52 points to close the season.

Hassenhuttl’s side have continued to recruit well, but have more importantly kept a hold of their technical spine that drove most of their success last season. Kyle Walker-Peters looks like a real talisman on the right hand side, James Ward-Prowse is a creative hub in the centre of midfield and Danny Ings’ 22 goals last season is worth its weight in gold to any side.

Arsenal

Despite being odds on favourites for a Champions League place preseason, Arsenal stunned sports betting markets everywhere by effectively dropping into a relegation battle during the first half of the 2019-20 season under Unai Emery and Freddie Ljungberg.

It was clear a major, major reshuffling was needed from top to bottom in the club and Mikel Arteta was hooked in from Manchester City to bring about a seismic shift in the culture of the club. Though it took a little bit of time, and certainly wasn’t plain sailing throughout, things have finally begun moving in the right direction for the Gunners.

The style of play has improved, the defensive lapses in judgement have been cut out, the recruitment seems to have become more concise and there have been some memorably high profile wins over Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea that have given the Gunners an FA Cup and Community Shield trophy in their cabinet.

And what’s especially important for Arsenal this season is the fact that they have finally found a way of stopping their star players from running down their contracts and leaving on free transfers. Both Bukayo Saka and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have signed new long term contracts and, with the exception of Matteo Guendouzi and Mesut Ozil, the entire squad looks more settled and driven than any Arsenal squad that has come before.