10 Players To Watch This Season in the EPL

The Premier League returns on August 10th after a periodic summer break which saw the World Cup and teams building up for the season with transfers. Last season, Mohamed Salah tore the Premier League scoring a record 32 goals. Kevin De Bruyne was the catalyst to Manchester City winning the title, David De Gea with his saves helped Manchester United to their best league finish since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club, Harry Kane continues to be one of the best strikers around, etc. While many of the players on this list are recognizable, it is exciting to see how they will adapt in the Premier League this season and how successful they will be this season. Here are the 10 players to watch this season.

• Ruben Neves

Ruben Neves' move to Wolves from FC Porto last season for a club record 15.8 million pounds was the oddest transfer that season given the reputation the young midfielder has already received in Portugal. Nevertheless, Neves flourished at the Championship, scoring six goals from the base of midfield as Wolves achieved promotion to the Premier League last season finishing first and Neves was awarded as Wolves' Player of the Season and part of the Championship Team of the Season. A fan favourite at the Molineux, he will be important to Wolves staying up and it's interesting to see how he will perform at the top flight of English Football.

Stat: Neves made a pass success rate of 84.9% with 63.8 passes per game last season in the Championship.

• Lucas Torreria

Arsenal has been in need of a defensive midfielder for years now as their midfield lack any bite or solidity. So Unai Emery has signed Uruguayan midfielder Lucas Torreira from Sampdoria for 26 million pounds. Making his name in Sampdoria last season, he was a key member for Uruguay during the World Cup with a strong performance against Portugal in the Round of 16. A no-nonsense midfielder, Torreira looks to be the face of Arsenal's new midfield under Emery as they're starting life without Wenger.

Stat: Torriera made 2.4 interceptions and 1.6 clearances for Uruguay during the World Cup.

• Alireza Jahanbakhsh

Brighton stayed up in the Premier League last season and have continued to build on their success. They signed Iranian Winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh from AZ Alkmaar in the Eredivisie. Glenn Murray was their only player to score double digits in the league last season so they clearly need a goal-scorer. Signing the Iranian attacker who can play on both flanks would some pressure off Pascal Gross, who was their main attacking threat. With a mixed record of players who have moved to the Premier League from the Eredivisie, Brighton should hope that he's more of a Luis Suarez than a Jozy Altidore.

Stat: Jahanbakhsh scored 21 goals in the Eredivisie last season winning the Golden Boot. The First Asian Player to be a top-scorer in an European League.

• James Maddison

With Riyad Mahrez now gone to Manchester City, Leicester City are in need for some creativity in their attack. Step forward James Maddison. Norwich's best performer last season in the Championship, he scored 14 goals and made 8 assists earning a nomination for the EFL Championship Young Player of the Year award. The jump-up from the Championship to the Premier League is big so Maddison will be playing with bigger fish and if he gives a fine performance through the season, Mahrez won't feel missed at Leicester.

Stat: Maddison made 2.8 key passes last season. The most in the Championship.

• Ryan Sessegnon

The Star of the Championship last season, Ryan Sessegnon is the biggest talent to come from the second division and it's exciting to see him at the top flight. The 18 year-old won every single individual award including Championship Player of the Year, EFL Young Player of the Year and Championship Apprentice Award. He also was the first Championship player to be nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year Award. He was critical to Fulham's push to promotion leading them to the Playoff Final against Aston Villa winning the game 1-0. He will be crucial to Fulham's chances of staying up.

Stat: Sessegon was Fulham's top scorer with 16 goals. Only four players scored more goals in the Championship than Sessegon.

• Felipe Anderson

West Ham have made some smart signings this summer but their marquee signing is their record signing Felipe Anderson. West Ham had a mediocre season finishing 13th with unrest as the relationship between the fans and the owners not in good terms. They managed to put where their mouth is with a spending spree with Anderson the pick of the bunch. Scoring 4 goals and 7 assists last season for Lazio in 21 league appearances, Anderson would bring some flair in West Ham's attack to support Arnautovic and Hernandez.

Stat: Anderson made 3.7 dribbles per game last season for Lazio. Better than Manuel Lazini (2.4) and Marko Arnautovic (1.8)

• Jorginho

Sarri left Naples for London becoming Chelsea's new manager and took an important cog of his Napoli side with him to Stamford Bridge. Chelsea beat Manchester City to sign Brazilian-born Italy International Jorginho from Napoli for £50 million and it's easy to see why. Jorginho was important to Napoli's midfield dictating play deep in midfield and has a strong football intelligence. He will make Chelsea's midfield better with N'golo Kante alongside him and will make the transition much easier for Sarri.

Stat: Jorginho made on average 108 passes per 90 minutes for Napoli last season. More than any Chelsea player.

• Alisson

After a horror show from Loris Karius in the Champions League Final back in May, Liverpool needed to address the goalkeeper situation with Simon Mignolet also not fitted for the number one spot. Enter Alisson Becker. The Brazilian shot-stopper has a fine season with AS Roma finishing third in Serie A and reaching the semifinals of the Champions League. A modern day sweeper keeper with fantastic reflexes and great ball control, Liverpool's back-line has improved with the addition of Alisson and could win points this season for the Reds.

Stat: Alisson had a save percentage of 79.3% last season in Serie A. Only Jan Oblak and David de Gea have a better save percentage in Europe's top 5 Leagues.

• Fred

United have the players to challenge their noisy neighbors but their squad is pretty imbalance especially in midfield with little drive whether playing a midfield two or three. Which is why the signing of Fred makes sense. Capable of playing in defensive or central midfield, his ability of making passes from deep as well as driving the forward will improve United's midfield especially Paul Pogba as he will be given the freedom to roam forward and support the attack. His skill set could bring balance to Manchester United.

Stat: Fred's dribble success rate in the Champions League was 87.9%. Better than Paul Pogba whose rate was 73.8%.

• Richarlison

Everton finally have Marco Silva as their as they are looking to make a strong challenge on the top 6. They signed Brazilian winger Ricahrlison from Silva's former employers Watford. Despite make just 9 goal contributions last season for Watford, he is still a talented winger and experienced his best run of form under the Portuguese. Last season, Everton were poor in their attack with Rooney, Sandro, Sigurdsson all underperformed with little threat from the flanks. With a year of Premier League experience under his belt, the best is yet to come for the Brazilian.

Stat: Richarlison took 2.5 shots for Watford last season. Better than Oumar Niasse who took 1.7 shots per game.