The 2024-25 Premier League season gets underway this weekend and there is plenty to look forward too this season.

As ever a raft of new and exciting players will showcase their skills on the world's biggest stage, with some promising talents, including the likes of Joshua Zirkzee, Niclas Fullkrug and Ricardo Calafiori all arriving in the top-flight. 

There will be some rule changes, with the PGMOL officials making a couple of key changes to how the game will be policed this year. There will also be talk about financial rules and Profit and Sustainability breaches, as clubs look to avoid sanctions from the Premier League. 

Elsewhere, Man City will be looking to retain their title, while several new and returning managers will return to the dug out this season. 

As the 2024-25 campaign gets underway, Mail Sport brings you our A-Z guide to the new season. 

A is for Ange 

When Postecoglou arrived in the Premier League last summer, he was full of energy and verve. It’s all awesome, mate. But by the end of the season, he was a picture of misery. Tottenham can do that to you. Let’s hope the signing of Dominic Solanke brings a twinkle to his eye. We want to see the old Ange back.

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B is for the (Tractor) Boys are Back in Town 

Ipswich’s return to the Premier League after 22 seasons away following back-to-back promotions is a great story and so much is down to manager Kieran McKenna. Ipswich racked up 193 goals and 194 points across the last two seasons with their thrilling style, so it’s no wonder big clubs wanted McKenna in the summer.

C is for charges 

The hearing into Manchester City’s 115 alleged breaches of financial rules is finally expected to begin next month, Leicester could face a points deduction for breaking spending rules the last time they were in the top flight (but probably not until next year), and the investigation into Chelsea’s financial dealings under Roman Abramovich is said to be ‘reaching a conclusion’. Nothing like swift justice.

D is for don’t hit out at VAR

Premier League chiefs have told managers to rein in criticism of any howlers. Some coaches, apparently, blame the constant questions they receive on the subject after matches. Stop asking us about controversial decisions and we’ll stop complaining. Good luck with that.

E is for Erling Haaland 

Only two players have won the Premier League golden boot three seasons in a row: Alan Shearer from 1994-95 to 1996-97 and Thierry Henry from 2003-04 to 2005-06. Haaland’s 63 goals in 66 games in the last two seasons are 26 more than anyone else so, yes, he’s going to do it again.

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F is for free-kicks

The days of David Beckham curling them endlessly into the top corner are gone. Only 11 were scored last season, down from an average of 32 per season from 2007 to 2014. Even James Ward-Prowse didn’t bag one. None were scored at Euro 2024. Coaches know you’re unlikely to score so now teams often don’t bother shooting.

G is for greed

A new, unintelligible Champions League format and a massive revamped Club World Cup next summer has left Premier League chiefs so annoyed at the congested calendar that they are taking legal action against FIFA. Still, as long as they can find time for those lucrative pre-season tours.

H is for handball 

Howard Webb felt too many soft penalties were given for it last season (he’s right) so has told officials to be more lenient with defenders moving in a natural way and especially if balls deflect wildly off another body part. Handball on the line is now only a red card if it’s deliberate.

I is for It’s All Kicking Off… again...

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J is for Julen Lopetegui

West Ham have a new man in the dugout after the departure of David Moyes but will he be the man Hammers fans crave? Lopetegui won the Europa League with Sevilla but is known for his pragmatic, cautious style. A European trophy but slightly dull football? Sounds familiar…

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K is for Omari Kellyman

Who? Exactly. He’s just another of Chelsea’s summer signings. £19million, by the way. Pedro Neto is the latest through the Stamford Bridge door and takes the number of first-team players listed on Chelsea’s website to FORTY THREE. Pleased someone is keeping count. Victor Osimhen could still follow from Napoli. New head coach Enzo Maresca can name 20 in his matchday squad for this weekend.

L is for laws

It’s not just handball that has changed; referees will be tough on grappling in the box and goalkeepers holding the ball too long. Encroachment only matters if it affects the result of a penalty and the ball must now hang over the centre of the spot before it is taken. Oh, and five substitutes can now warm up together instead of three.

M is for more goals? 

For the past two seasons, we’ve seen records broken for the most scored in a 38-game campaign. More stoppage time and better finishing led to 1,246 goals, 162 more than the previous best. It’s never increased three years in a row, though.

N is for no more 100-minute matches 

Last season, officials added an average of 11 minutes 36 seconds of stoppage time as they clamped down on time-wasting. They will do the same again but allow teams 30 seconds to celebrate a goal before they start the clock. They claim this will save 1min 38sec of additional time, which would take the average down to 99min 58sec!

O is for offsides

Semi-automated technology will finally arrive to make those toenail calls more accurate and, crucially, quicker. Just one problem: the Premier League are using a different supplier, Genius Sports, and it’s not ready yet. It’s likely to come in after one of the early international breaks.

P is for pickpockets

Mikel Arteta hired professional ones to nab his players’ phones and valuables during a team dinner to teach them the importance of staying alert, but will that be enough for Arsenal to pinch the title off mentor Pep Guardiola this season?

Q is for quest for immortality

Guardiola heads into what we expect to be his final season at City with the chance to make it five top-flight titles in a row. No English club have ever done it and City would become only the sixth club in Europe’s major leagues to exert such dominance. It would be better for the league if Pep didn’t manage it.

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R is for Referee’s Call

Taken from cricket’s ‘Umpire’s Call’, it is the new phrase for when VARs decide not to stick their oar in. Nothing’s changed, really; it’s just a new way of saying that an on-pitch error was not ‘clear and obvious’. In the words of Alan Partridge and his Mini Metro, ‘They’ve rebadged it, you fool!’

S is for Slot’s challenge

It’s no mean feat replacing one of your club’s greatest-ever managers. Just ask David Moyes. To continue Jurgen Klopp’s legacy at Liverpool is a daunting task for Arne Slot, especially with no signings and after missing out on midfielder Martin Zubimendi. When you see how important Rodri is to City, not having that kind of player makes Slot’s challenge a lot tougher.

T is for tactics

Could we see a shift towards slow, methodical passing football this season? Heavy-metal coaches Klopp, Mauricio Pochettino and Roberto De Zerbi have been replaced by possession kings such as Slot, Maresca and Brighton’s Fabian Hurzeler. Lopetegui at West Ham, too. Will that lead to a slump in end-to-end action?

U is for under pressure already

Erik ten Hag’s new contract at Manchester United felt like a stay of execution and Todd Boehly is already on to his fourth permanent manager at Chelsea, so you wonder how long Maresca will last there when Boehly takes off his sunnies and realises that bald bloke in the dugout isn’t Pep Guardiola.

V is for Vardy’s last party

Wily old fox Jamie signed a one-year contract at Leicester for another crack at the Premier League. He’s 37 but still bagged 20 goals last season and you would be a fool to write him off, especially if opposition fans insist on singing about his wife.

W is for waffle

The new Premier League ball has been revealed, the Nike Flight, and is ‘built with Aerowsculpt technology with grooves debased into the casing’ so that ‘players will enjoy the short seam length crafted to ensure the deftest touches on matchday’. If that sounds like the ball for you, it’s available to buy… for £130!

X is for, well, X

The Premier League have opened a new account on the social media site we used to call Twitter on which they will provide, for the first time, ‘near-live’ explanations of VAR decisions.

Y is for young blood at Brighton

New boss Hurzeler is, at 31, the youngest permanent manager in Premier League history, breaking Chris Coleman’s 21-year record, and the first to be born after the competition’s inception in 1992. He’s seven years younger than his midfielder James Milner. Hurzeler says he’s called ‘The Grounded One’. By his mum, presumably.

Z is for Z-Cars

After 132 years, Everton fans will say their goodbyes to Goodison Park before moving to a new ground at Bramley-Moore Dock. For one final season, supporters will roar the players on to the pitch to the music from that old police drama. One more time, for the road.