EPL power gap widens as Liverpool, Man City spend big on strikers

The summer transfer window is now open and the elite teams in the English Premier League have wasted no time strengthening their squads. Both Liverpool and Manchester City have signed star strikers who will be expected to make an immediate impact as the two clubs continue their battle for dominance next season.

Manchester City announced they have signed Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund. The Norwegian striker exploded onto the scene as a teenager and has since established himself as one of the best forwards in the world. Over the last three seasons with Dortmund, he has scored 62 goals in 67 games and always seems to make an impact in the big games.

Haaland will immediately start for City, filling the only void the team had over the past couple seasons. City have won four of the last five English Premier League titles, and while they didn’t need any reinforcements, Haaland is too good to pass up. Manchester City signed him for €60 million, and considering Haaland is only 21, that is a steal. He will be a key player for City for years to come.

Haaland is expected to start at striker with playmakers like Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva feeding him the ball. City won the league last year and this signing gives seem a great chance at repeating. If he continues scoring at the rate he has done for Dortmund and Norway in recent years, Haaland has a legitimate shot to smash Premier League goal records.

Liverpool, on the other hand, went after Darwin Nunez from Benfica, signing the Uruguayan striker in a deal worth up to €100 million. After Liverpool lost the Champions League Final, star forward Sadio Mane announced he would leave the club, and it appears Nunez will be his replacement.

Nunez exploded onto the scene last season and scored 26 goals in 28 games. He is only 22 and, like Haaland at Man City, should be a stalwart for the club for a while. Liverpool finished second behind City last year and will hope Nunez is the guy who helps them win their second Premier League title in four years.

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It remains to be seen whether Nunez will have the same success as Mane, but he will be set up to succeed. He will be playing alongside Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz and should have plenty of goalscoring opportunities. Some people have called this signing an overpay, but given how close Liverpool were to winning both the Champions League and the Premier League last season, it is easy to see why the Reds want to bring in top-tier talent at whatever cost.

If he can come in and add a little more finishing prowess, Liverpool become that much more dangerous and Nunez will be worth every penny. It remains to be seen how both of these signings will play out, but on paper, it looks like Haaland and Nunez will be prolific players in this upcoming season.

The odds to win next season’s Premier League title are tentatively out, and it looks like the top sports betting sites are expecting a repeat of last season. Of course, that makes sense considering how much better Liverpool and City were than the rest of the EPL last season. Now, they have even more talent and it would be shocking to see either club falter.

Manchester City are currently at -175, which is way too short for even such a deserving favorite. There are a lot of different things that can happen throughout this summer transfer window, and even if nothing crazy happens, it is worth waiting for the odds to blow out at some point in the season.

Liverpool are +200 to win the Premier League title, and that bet makes a little more sense. It would be surprising to see their odds go lower at this point, and although a lot can happen, it’s almost a certainty that Jurgen Klopp’s men will compete next season. We wouldn’t recommend betting it at this point, due to how early it is, but if you want to, betting on Liverpool isn’t a terrible idea.

Regardless, this upcoming season cannot come soon enough. Both of these teams are going to be the cream of the crop and should once again be competing for the major trophies. It is shaping up to be a great season, and these two signings only add to the intrigue.

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