What to look out for at Premier League Summer Series

The inaugural Premier League Summer Series gets under way this Saturday as six of the competition’s strongest sides battle it out in five different cities across the East Coast.

Newcastle United, Brighton & Hove Albion and Aston Villa all qualified for Europe last season, while Brentford and Fulham also punched above their weight to finish in the top half - and Chelsea will be looking to return to the top four this campaign under Mauricio Pochettino.

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The Summer Series gives all six clubs a chance to crank up their pre-season to a more competitive level. That’s because the tournament doesn’t just bring Premier League action to big crowds in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Orlando, New Jersey and Maryland – it also gives each club the rare chance of warming up against their rivals ahead of the new season.

This is a test run of the real thing, and as such there is plenty that can be gleaned from the performances and outcomes in the US. Here are five things we might learn from the Summer Series.

Can Villa challenge Newcastle for top four?

The team most likely to push their way into the top-four race this season are surely Villa, a side whose remarkable recovery under Unai Emery lifted them from 15th upon his appointment in October to seventh and UEFA Europa Conference League qualification in May.

Across his 26 league matches in charge, Emery’s team won 49 points, the sixth-most in that time and just one fewer than Eddie Howe’s Newcastle. But things seem even better for Villa when you look at the league table since January 1, which puts them six points ahead of Newcastle.

2022/23 table from 1 Jan

There is no better pre-season examination of Villa’s potential than the Summer Series, which they begin against Newcastle on Sunday July 23 before facing Fulham and Brentford. With Chelsea and Brighton - two fellow top-four hopefuls - also competing, by the end of the tournament we will have our first indication of how Villa are faring against their rivals.

That first match feels particularly intriguing. Sandro Tonali should line up for Newcastle, while Villa have Youri Tielemans and Pau Torres available, together forming the first three of a series of expected high-profile signings for the clubs.

See: How will Torres improve Emery's defence?

They mean business, that’s for sure, and watching two clinical teams on the up going head-to-head in Philadelphia should be a good barometer of what’s to come when the Premier League kicks off a mere three weeks later.

Pochettino seeks to lay groundwork

Although victory in pre-season tournaments is normally not a priority, there are two reasons to believe Pochettino and Chelsea will be taking the Summer Series seriously.

First, the quick unravelling of the Graham Potter era means Pochettino knows he has to hit the ground running despite unprecedented upheaval this summer. Nine senior players have so far departed the club and two, Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku, have joined.

See: Who is Chelsea's new forward Christopher Nkunku?
See: Why Jackson can be a game-changer for Chelsea

That sort of turnover would make any new job challenging, and yet Pochettino has been tasked with lifting Chelsea from their lowest ebb with instant results. He will require a good pre-season showing, using this time to work out his strongest XI and begin to form tactical partnerships across the pitch.

Even at this very early stage nothing can be truly "friendly" for Pochettino in such a uniquely challenging role. This brings us on to the second reason why the Summer Series matters for Chelsea: most of their top-four rivals are taking part.

Chelsea open the tournament against Brighton, who finished 18 points above them last season and were in the top-four conversation all the way through to May. The Blues also face Newcastle, who finished fourth (the minimum expectation for Chelsea in 2023/24), before they end against local rivals Fulham.

See: Summer Series schedule

None of those are friendly. All are litmus tests. All must be used as vital preparation as Pochettino tries to bring together a much-changed squad at breakneck speed.

How will new midfields gel?

After Newcastle and Brighton's brilliant campaigns last season there is pressure to repeat the feat, or better it, in 2023/24.

Early indications suggest, unsurprisingly, that Howe’s team are the more likely of the two to push on.

Newcastle's summer has been about adding quality in key positions – Tonali has joined, and Howe hopes for more – while Brighton have lost Alexis Mac Allister and have Moises Caicedo the subject of transfer interest from rivals.

Newcastle have arguably one of the best midfields in the country. Tonali’s defensive work can complement the more graceful style of Bruno Guimaraes in a rejigged midfield, adding further resilience to a team who conceded only 33 goals in the Premier League last season, the same total as champions Manchester City.

It would be naive to write off Brighton, of course, who consistently find ways to improve even after losing their stronger players to wealthier clubs. That is why comparing the Summer Series performances of the two could be so revealing.

After all, as the table above shows, Brighton also finished above Newcastle on points won since the beginning of 2023. Most clubs selling star players over the summer move backwards the following year – but Brighton are not like most clubs.

They could yet rise, and Newcastle could yet drop off. The Summer Series will give us an early sign of how they will fare this season.

See: Can Brighton teenagers become key men?

Travel offers taste of European tests ahead

Clubs are used to travelling to sunny climates for pre-season friendlies, but one thing unusual about the Summer Series is its spread around the East Coast.

Each of the six clubs will play in three different locations across the week, with Fulham and Villa travelling the furthest due to their second fixture taking place all the way down in Orlando. For every club, there will be a lot of miles covered, and new cities and environments to adapt to, with the temperature constantly above 30 degrees Celsius.

This kind of working environment is particularly interesting for Villa, Newcastle and Brighton, all of whom are entering European competition in 2023/24 for the first time in at least a decade.

Consequently all three will be new to the demands of playing midweek matches on the Continent and all that it entails: long flights, new time zones, changing weather and rapid adaptation back to England.

For clubs not used to European football, the focus over the summer tends to be on adding squad depth, but Howe, Emery and Roberto De Zerbi will know that dealing with the travel and the disturbance is just as important.

The Summer Series provides a test of how well the players of each club will cope.

Will top-half clubs hold their ground?

The strength of the competition at the Summer Series also provides a valuable test for Brentford and Fulham, who finished ninth and 10th respectively in superb 2022/23 Premier League campaigns.

Both could be in weaker positions than they were 12 months ago. Fulham could be braced for further bids on star players Aleksandar Mitrovic and Joao Palhinha, while there is reported interest from Saudi Arabia in manager Marco Silva. Losing any of these three would be a major blow to Fulham’s chances of consolidating.

Brentford are without Ivan Toney for the first half of the season, although they have already strengthened this summer with the arrival of Nathan Collins from Wolverhampton Wanderers and the permanent signing of Kevin Schade, who has been at Brentford since January on a loan deal.

See: Can Schade seize a spot in Brentford's attack?
See: Frank: Summer Series is key to our preparations

Starting with a match against each other, Brentford go on to play Brighton and Aston Villa, while Fulham face Villa and Chelsea. In each example, we will witness an examination of whether either club is capable of another top-10 finish.

Words by Alex Keble