Stopping Man City, VAR and burnout fears: The big talking points ahead of the Premier League season

A look at some of the big talking points heading into the new Premier League season, which starts on Friday when Manchester United hosts Fulham:

STOPPING CITY

Since 2017, only one team — Liverpool, in 2020 — has stopped Manchester City winning the title. Can anyone stop Pep Guardiola's juggernaut capturing a record-extending fifth straight title in what could be a tumultuous season for the champions? Arsenal took City all the way last season, having collapsed late the year before, and looks to be the best equipped to win what would be its first title since 2004. Otherwise, only Liverpool seems capable of producing the consistency to finish ahead of City — and that is a big ask for Arne Slot in his first season in charge since replacing Jurgen Klopp as manager. Manchester United and Chelsea should improve after more heavy spending in the offseason, but they are unlikely to deliver a sustained push for the title.

IMPROVED VAR?

It will be the sixth season of video reviews in England's top division — and it still hasn't prevented regular flashpoints popping up, much to the frustration of players, managers and fans alike. New for this season is an account on X, formerly Twitter, dedicated to offering live refereeing and VAR clarifications and explainers from all matches. Semi-automated offside technology will be in use for the first time, though not until a few months into the season. And there will be an enhanced in-stadium experience for fans, with replays shown on the big screen when a video review has led to a decision being overturned, a delay to a restart or a goal being disallowed. The Premier League says the number of correct decisions in matches has climbed to 96%, up from 82% before video reviews were brought in.

GOALS, GOAL, GOALS

Premier League teams will do well to top the record 1,246 goals scored last season, which was a staggering 162 more than the previous most for a single campaign. It worked out at 3.28 goals per match — never before had it exceeded 2.85. Increased amounts of stoppage time, more adventurous managers and VAR interventions were credited as some of the reasons behind the soaring numbers of goals. Will it continue this season?

LONG SEASON

For some, this could be the longest ever club season. Take the players at Manchester City, who have just started the season by winning the Community Shield on Saturday and might not finish it until the final of FIFA's expanded and revamped Club World Cup, scheduled for July 13 next year in the United States. Make that an 11-month season for City and Chelsea, the other Premier League team involved in the Club World Cup. City manager Pep Guardiola has already gone public with his concerns that there is too much soccer on the calendar, with the Champions League also expanding for this season. Expect talk of burnout and the threatened legal action by soccer leagues and player unions against FIFA to be a constant issue throughout the season.

MORE POINTS DEDUCTIONS?

Everton and Nottingham Forest were hit with points deductions last season for overspending, forcing all the clubs in the league to take a closer look at their finances to ensure compliance with the competition’s regulations that are being more strictly applied. Leicester, one of the three promoted teams, is facing a points deduction for breaching spending rules during their previous stay in the Premier League but have others learned their lesson? Judging by some of the creative transfer activity in the last weeks of June and the lack of blockbuster signings so far in the summer window, teams appear to be more aware of what it takes to comply.

FAREWELLS

Pep Guardiola is heading into his ninth year at Manchester City and he will have to decide at some point this season whether his stay at the club will extend to a decade. Similarly, this might mark Kevin De Bruyne's final season at City — enjoy him while you can — while Liverpool stars Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk are in the final years of their contracts at Anfield. Then there's Everton, which is preparing for its last season playing at Goodison Park, its storied home since 1892, before moving to a new stadium at Bramley Moore Dock that has cost a reported 760 million pounds ($975 million).

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Liverpool manager Arne Slot looks on from the sidelines prior to an international friendly soccer match against Arsenal, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)

FILE - Arsenal's manager Mikel Arteta reacts during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Everton at the Emirates stadium in London, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

FILE - Manchester City's Erling Haaland smiles as he celebrates his second half goal against Chelsea during an FC Series soccer match, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Tom E. Puskar)

FILE - Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola gestures during the English FA Cup final soccer match between Manchester City and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium in London, Saturday, May 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Manchester City players celebrate winning the FA Community Shield soccer match between Manchester City and Manchester United by penalty shootout at Wembley Stadium in London, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/David Cliff)

PRAGUE (AP) — The head of NATO's military committee said Saturday that Ukraine has the solid legal and military right to strike deep inside Russia to gain combat advantage — reflecting the beliefs of a number of U.S. allies — even as the Biden administration balks at allowing Kyiv to do so using American-made weapons.

“Every nation that is attacked has the right to defend itself. And that right doesn’t stop at the border of your own nation,” said Adm. Rob Bauer, speaking at the close of the committee's annual meeting, also attended by U.S. Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Bauer, of Netherlands, also added that nations have the sovereign right to put limits on the weapons they send to Ukraine. But, standing next to him at a press briefing, Lt. Gen. Karel Řehka, chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces, made it clear his nation places no such weapons restrictions on Kyiv.

“We believe that the Ukrainians should decide themselves how to use it,” Řehka said.

Their comments came as U.S. President Joe Biden is weighing whether to allow Ukraine to use American-provided long-range weapons to hit deep into Russia. And they hint at the divisions over the issue.

Biden met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday, after this week’s visit to Kyiv by their top diplomats, who came under fresh pressure to loosen weapons restrictions. U.S. officials familiar with discussions said they believed Starmer was seeking Biden’s approval to allow Ukraine to use British Storm Shadow missiles for expanded strikes in Russia.

Biden’s approval may be needed because Storm Shadow components are made in the U.S. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to share the status of private conversations, said they believed Biden would be amenable, but there has been no decision announced yet.

Providing additional support and training for Ukraine was a key topic at the NATO chiefs’ meeting, but it wasn't clear Saturday if the debate over the U.S. restrictions was discussed.

Many of the European nations have been vigorously supportive of Ukraine in part because they worry about being the next victim of an empowered Russia.

At the opening of the meeting, Czech Republic President Petr Pavel broadly urged the military chiefs gathered in the room to be ”bold and open in articulating your assessments and recommendations. The rounder and the softer they are, the less they will be understood by the political level.”

The allies, he said, must “take the right steps and the right decisions to protect our countries and our way of life.”

The military leaders routinely develop plans and recommendations that are then sent to the civilian NATO defense secretaries for discussion and then on to the nations' leaders in the alliance.

The U.S. allows Ukraine to use American-provided weapons in cross-border strikes to counter attacks by Russian forces. But it doesn’t allow Kyiv to fire long-range missiles, such as the ATACMS, deep into Russia. The U.S. has argued that Ukraine has drones that can strike far and should use ATACMS judiciously because they only have a limited number.

Ukraine has increased its pleas with Washington to lift the restrictions, particularly as winter looms and Kyiv worries about Russian gains during the colder months.

“You want to weaken the enemy that attacks you in order to not only fight the arrows that come your way, but also attack the archer that is, as we see, very often operating from Russia proper into Ukraine,” said Bauer. “So militarily, there’s a good reason to do that, to weaken the enemy, to weaken its logistic lines, fuel, ammunition that comes to the front. That is what you want to stop, if at all possible.”

Brown, for his part, told reporters traveling with him to the meeting that the U.S. policy on long-range weapons remains in place.

But, he added, “by the same token, what we want to do is — regardless of that policy — we want to continue to make Ukraine successful with the capabilities that have been provided” by the U.S. and other nations in the coalition, as well as the weapons Kyiv has been able to build itself.

“They’ve proven themselves fairly effective in building out uncrewed aerial vehicles, in building out drones,” Brown told reporters traveling with him to meetings in Europe.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has made similar points, arguing that one weapons system won't determine success in the war.

“There are a number of things that go into the overall equation as to whether or not you know you want to provide one capability or another," Austin said Friday. “There is no silver bullet when it comes to things like this.”

He also noted that Ukraine has already been able to strike inside Russia with its own internally produced systems, including drones.

FILE - Rescuers search for victims in an apartment building destroyed by Russian missile attack in centre Lviv, Western Ukraine, Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mykola Tys, File)

FILE - NATO's Chair of the Military Committee Admiral Rob Bauer listens during the plenary session of the Seoul Defense Dialogue in Seoul, South Korea, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)