Premier League preview - Ronaldo returns after Man City miss out on Kane

 

▪️ ARSENAL @Arsenal
Last season 8th FA Cup Fourth round League Cup Quarter finals Europa League Semi finals
Last major trophy FA Cup 2020
Ownership Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (USA)
Head coach Mikel Arteta (since December 2019)
New signings Nuno Tavares, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Ben White, Martin Odegaard, Aaron Ramsdale, Takehiro Tomiyasu
Painful and embarrassing. That could be the only assessment of last season for Arsenal who finished eighth for a second year in a row. Worse still, this time there was no FA Cup success to secure European football - and the summer has not exactly lifted the mood at the Emirates. Increasingly, it is only the youngsters Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith-Rowe who provide hope of any progress in this part of north London - and the big signing of centre-back Ben White already looks extremely overpriced at £50m. Mikel Arteta - humiliated by predecessor Unai Emery in the Europa League semi finals - faces an early exit if the Gunners do not start firing on all cylinders soon. 
▪️ Prediction [11th]

▪️ ASTON VILLA @AVFCOfficial
Last season 11th FA Cup Third round League Cup Fourth round
Last major trophy League Cup 1996
Ownership Nasser Sawiris (EGY) and Wes Edens (USA)
Head coach Dean Smith (since October 2018)
New signings Emiliano Buendia, Ashley Young, Danny Ings, Leon Bailey, Axel Tuanzebe*
This is not quite the Team That Jack Built - but honest Aston Villa fans will admit the Birmingham-born 25-year-old will be a massive miss following his British record £100m transfer to Manchester City. If nothing else, the beating heart of this squad has been ripped out - and that is not something which new signing Emi Buendia, as talented as he is, will be able to replace. Ollie Watkins, an England squad member this summer, will still score enough goals without Grealish - and, with the support of John McGinn and new face Danny Ings, Villa should stay clear of trouble. Sadly, for supporters of the Second City club, though, there will be no Grealish-inspired push for Europe in 2021-22.
▪️ Prediction [12th]

▪️ BRENTFORD @BrentfordFC
Last season 3rd in Championship (promoted) FA Cup Fourth round League Cup Semi finals
Last major trophy None
Ownership Matthew Benham (ENG)
Head coach Thomas Frank (since October 2018)
New signings Kristoffer Ajer, Myles Peart-Harris, Frank Onyeka, Yoane Wissa, Alvaro Fernandez
Brentford finally made it to the Premier League following several successive promising Championship seasons - although the Bees still needed to rely on the playoffs for promotion. That is not to take away anything from Brentford, the 50th club to achieve a place in the top division in the Premier League era after decades of toil - and, even recently, several squad rebuilds. Ivan Toney led the line brilliantly last season with 31 goals in the Championship - and, aided by the attacking philosophy of Danish head coach Thomas Frank, the 25-year-old has more than a fair chance of also making an impact on the top division. Nevertheless, the Bees' concern surely must be the lack of experience throughout their squad which collectively had only played 19 minutes of Premier League football before the season.
▪️ Prediction [14th]

▪️ BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION @OfficialBHAFC
Last season 16th FA Cup Fifth round League Cup Fourth round
Last major trophy None
Ownership Tony Bloom (ENG)
Head coach Graham Potter (since May 2019)
New signings Enock Mwepu, Kjell Scherpen, Jeremy Sarmiento, Kaoru Mitoma, Marc Cucurella
Neil Maupay was Brighton's top scorer last season with just eight league goals, a statistic which will surprise nobody who saw the Seagulls play. Indeed, the sheer profligacy of Graham Potter's men became something of a running joke as they regularly frustrated the geeks obsessed with XG, i.e. the number of goals which they were expected to score. The problem appeared to reach a critical point in the relegation clash in February against West Brom in which Brighton contrived to miss two spot-kicks - although, eventually, the south coast club did enough to survive and line up for a sixth straight Premier League campaign. None of their summer signings so far is a striker, however - and this oversight certainly points towards another long season at the Amex Stadium.
▪️ Prediction [15th]

▪️ BURNLEY @BurnleyOfficial
Last season 17th FA Cup Fifth round League Cup Fourth round
Last major trophy First Division 1959-1960
Ownership ALK Capital (USA)
Head coach Sean Dyche (since October 2012)
New signings Wayne Hennessey, Nathan Collins, Jacob Bedeau, Aaron Lennon, Maxwel Cornet, Connor Roberts
Turf Moor was not a happy place last season. Not only was the tight, old-fashioned ground missing its usual Lancastrian roar due to the coronavirus restrictions, a takeover saga left head coach Sean Dyche less than impressed after he was left in limbo last summer and beyond. Eventually, the change in ownership went through in December and the Clarets' poor early form improved sufficiently for them to line up among the elite of English football again. Still, though, Burnley were terribly shot-shy, scoring a measly 33 league goals on their way to 17th place despite main striker Chris Wood managing to get into double figures with 12. So far, the new owners have not exactly splashed their cash and little has changed from a squad which struggled badly at times year.
▪️ Prediction [16th]

▪️ CHELSEA @ChelseaFC
Last season 4th FA Cup Runners-up League Cup Fourth round Champions League Winners
Last major trophy Champions League 2021
Ownership Roman Abramovich (RUS/ISR)
Head coach Thomas Tuchel (since January 2021)
New signings Romelu Lukaku, Marcus Bettinelli, Saul Niguez*
It all went horribly wrong, quite quickly really, for Frank Lampard in the dugout at Stamford Bridge last season. Club legend Lampard was appointed to great fanfare in the summer of 2019 - and had a solid enough first year, guiding the Blues to fourth position and a place in the FA Cup final. But, with the transfer embargo lifted, far more was expected from Chelsea in 2020-21, especially given the investment in their attack with the arrival of German pair Timo Werner and Kai Havertz. Instead, Werner found it tough to adapt to the Premier League - and, defensively, Chelsea rather fell apart. Thomas Tuchel took over in January and immediately improved the organisation of the team in a half-season burst which culminated in Chelsea achieving European Cup glory for the second time in nine years. Building on from that, the Blues have again strengthened their attacking hand by re-signing Romelu Lukaku for £103m from Internazionale. With the arrival of the Belgian, Tuchel will expect his team to mount a serious challenge to the Manchester clubs and Liverpool.
▪️ Prediction [3rd]

▪️ CRYSTAL PALACE @CPFC
Last season 14th FA Cup Third round League Cup Second round
Last major trophy None
Ownership Steve Parish (ENG)
Head coach Patrick Vieira (since July 2021)
New signings Marc Guehi, Michael Olise, Joachim Andersen, Conor Gallagher*, Jacob Montes, Remi Matthews, Will Hughes, Odsonne Edouard

All change at Selhurst Park as Crystal Palace welcome a new head coach for the start of a season for the first time since 2017 following the rather wonderfully surprising appointment of Patrick Vieira. Of course, we all know what happened then - Frank de Boer turned up in the dugout, lost four games without seeing as much as a goal and was promptly sacked. Roy Hodgson took over his boyhood club and repaired his own reputation somewhat after his spell with the England national team ended dreadfully - with the Eagles never less than steady for the vast majority of his tenure. Vieira has enjoyed some success already in the transfer market, attracting Danish international Joachim Andersen and Chelsea loanee Conor Gallagher - but he only needs to ask predecessor de Boer what will happen if Palace cope badly with a change again.
▪️ Prediction [13th]

▪️ EVERTON @Everton
Last season 10th FA Cup Quarter finals League Cup Quarter finals
Last major trophy FA Cup 1995
Ownership Farhad Moshiri (IRN)
Head coach Rafael Benítez (since June 2021)
New signings Andros Townsend, Demarai Gray, Asmir Begovic, Salomon Rondon*
A strange and unsettling pre-season in this part of Merseyside has only increased the pressure on a Toffees team which has underperformed in recent seasons. First, former Liverpool head coach Rafael Benitez received rather less than a hero's welcome at Goodison Park when he was appointed as Carlo Ancelotti's replacement on 30 June - and then, in July, Everton admitted they had suspended a first-team player pending a police investigation over suspected child sex offences. Even the proposed move to a new ground in the Docklands area suffered a reputational blow when the plans were met by stern criticism from UNESCO, which subsequently removed the city of Liverpool from its list of World Heritage Sites. On the pitch, Dominic Calvert-Lewin will be determined to back up the breakthrough campaign which he enjoyed last time out - while Benitez will, as usual, take criticism of his style on the chin if it leads to an improved defensive record.
▪️ Prediction [7th]

▪️ LEEDS UNITED @LUFC
Last season 9th FA Cup Third round League Cup Second round
Last major trophy First Division 1991-92
Ownership Andrea Radrizzani (ITA)
Head coach Marcelo Bielsa (since June 2018)
New signings Jack Harrison, Junior Firpo, Lewis Bate, Amari Miller, Kristoffer Klaesson, Daniel James

Marco Bielsa did not disappoint as he took his forward first approach into the Premier League last season. Better still for Leeds United, it actually worked out well for the Argentine - at least in the primary aim of keeping the Whites in the top flight. Patrick Bamford, in particular, had a cracking campaign up front and scored 17 league goals as the West Yorkshire club recorded a  finish in the top 10 places in the English top division for the first time since 2001-02. In excellent summer news for Leeds supporters, Bamford agreed this week to a new five-year contract - and with his poaching ability, Bielsa's men will bloody a few noses again this season. Indeed, they could easily improve on last season if they even get a little bit better at the back from set-pieces - after all, not including penalties, those situations cost Leeds on 15 occasions during 2020-21, the most in the Premier League.
▪️ Prediction [10th]

▪️ LEICESTER CITY @LCFC
Last season 5th FA Cup Winners League Cup Third round Europa League Last 32
Last major trophy FA Cup 2021
Ownership Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha (THA)
Head coach Brendan Rodgers (since February 2019)
New signings Ryan Bertrand, Boubakary Soumare, Patson Daka, Jannik Vestergaard, Ademola Lookman*

Medals count - the Olympics have been ample demonstration of that - so former Stocksbridge Park Steels striker Jamie Vardy must still be pinching himself. After all, the incredible 2015-16 Premier League title win has now been followed up by an FA Cup win at Wembley in May. Conversely, in the league, the Foxes fell out of the Champions League places in the last week of the campaign for the second year in a row so there are reasonable doubts over just how far this current Leicester team can go. Except for Liverpool, the teams who finished above Brendan Rodgers's men have all made big signings - although, at the same time, none of the teams below have made particularly great strides. Consequently, this all points to a strong Leicester outfit holding firm in fifth but still not breaking through.
▪️ Prediction [5th]

▪️ LIVERPOOL @LFC
Last season 3rd FA Cup Fourth round League Cup Fourth round Champions League Quarter finals
Last major trophy Premier League 2019-20
Ownership Fenway Sports Group (USA)
Head coach Jürgen Klopp (since October 2015)
New signings Ibrahima Konate

Liverpool produced a weak title defence and relied on a late season run of form - eight wins and two draws - to rescue a season which appeared to be drifting towards a finish in the Europa League places at best. Instead, the Reds finished third after that late run having spent much of the campaign bemoaning a lack of home fans, injuries and VAR decisions, factors which were not exactly unique to Liverpool during 2020-21. True, the early season injury to Virgil van Dijk was probably decisive enough in itself for Klopp's men to concede the title - but the problems eventually stretched well beyond the injury to their key defender. Beyond Mo Salah, who had another excellent season in front of goal, Liverpool struggled in attack, and full-backs Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson were blunted by injuries and patchy form. Surprisingly, there has not been an influx of squad-boosting signings to Anfield this summer - and, as such, it is difficult to see the 2019-20 title winners managing a much closer challenge to the two Manchester clubs this time.
▪️ Prediction [4th]

▪️ MANCHESTER CITY @ManCity
Last season Champions FA Cup Semi finals League Cup Winners Champions League Runners-up
Last major trophy Premier League 2020-21
Ownership Abu Dhabi United Group (UAE)
Head coach Pep Guardiola (since July 2016)
New signings Jack Grealish, Scott Carson, Metinho, Kayky

Manchester City do not miss out on their man often - but, with Harry Kane now confirmed as committed to Tottenham Hotspur for the summer and Cristiano Ronaldo moving to Manchester United, the defending champions find themselves in the bizarre position of being short of options up front. Gabriel Jesus and Ferran Torres have shown plenty of promise already - but neither will ever come anywhere near to the feats of Sergio Aguero at the Etihad Stadium. After all, Man City have made it no secret this summer that they wanted to recruit a top-level striker - but, while the creativity ranks have boosted by the arrival of Jack Grealish from Aston Villa, a long-term implementation of the false nine tactic would be an especially brave tactic in competitions as competitive as the Premier League and the Champions League. Of course, Man City come into this season on the back of a first-ever appearance in the Final of the European Cup - and, while it is impossible to know for sure, the obviously conditional commitment of Kane to Spurs suggests a Champions League-winning team may have had just that bit more of a pull. As it stands, that remains the golden duck for the Abu Dhabi United Group but this looks like Pep Guardiola's most difficult season yet at the Etihad.
▪️ Prediction [2nd]

▪️ MANCHESTER UNITED @ManUtd
Last season 2nd FA Cup Quarter finals League Cup Semi finals Champions League Group stage Europa League Runners-up
Last major trophy Europa League 2017
Ownership Joel Glazer and Avram Glazer (USA)
Head coach Ole Gunnar Solskjær (since December 2018)
New signings Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane, Tom Heaton, Cristiano Ronaldo
Pity poor Manchester United, hamstrung by the Glazers on board and their transfer spend on a couple of players of only £107m this summer, having previously splurged similarly eye-watering amounts on Paul Pogba in August 2016 and Harry Maguire in August 2019. True, there are legitimate concerns about the club being saddled with the external debt of their American owners - but it seems unlikely that, if Man United were still a winning machine like they were under Sir Alex Ferguson, the protests - which, without sanction, caused the Liverpool match on 2 May to be postponed - would have reached anywhere near the same scale. Instead, Red Devils fans are frustrated by the lack of a trophy in four seasons and the lack of a Premier League title since Ferguson retired at the end of 2012-13. His immediate successor David Moyes found the job too big for him before Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho both lacked the attacking style with which to over-power their opponents. Solksjaer has brought back some of that style but has repeatedly failed to deliver tactically so far on big occasions. If the Norwegian fails again this time with this expensively-assembled team, it might well be time for yet another change in the Old Trafford hot-seat.
▪️ Prediction [Champions]

▪️ NEWCASTLE UNITED @NUFC
Last season 12th FA Cup Third round League Cup Quarter finals
Last major trophy UEFA (Fairs) Cup 1969
Ownership Mike Ashley (ENG)
Head coach Steve Bruce (since July 2019)
New signings Joe Willock
Steve Bruce probably survived lockdown more comfortably than most people with the coronavirus restrictions keeping the crowds away from St James Park. In fairness, Newcastle United also survived comfortably enough in the end despite a horrific winter run of just two wins in 21 league and cup games - and, in fact, the Magpies flew up to a finishing position of 12th, having spent only 20 minutes in the bottom three throughout the whole season. Much credit for that deserves to go to January loan signing Joe Willock who closed out the campaign by scoring in seven successive matches to equal a club record held by Alan Shearer - and the 22-year-old Londoner Willock has now signed permanently following a predictably protracted transfer saga. No other major players have arrived on Tyneside, though - and that leaves a thin squad just as vulnerable to injuries and illness as it was in 2020-21.
▪️ Prediction [19th]

▪️ NORWICH CITY @NorwichCityFC
Last season 1st in Championship (promoted) FA Cup Fourth round League Cup First round
Last major trophy League Cup 1985
Ownership Delia Smith (ENG), Michael Wynn-Jones (WAL)
Head coach Daniel Farke (since May 2017)
New signings Billy Gilmour*, Josh Sargent, Pierre Lees-Melou, Kenny Coker, Milot Rashica, Angus Gunn, Flynn Clarke, Ben Gibson, Dimitris Giannoulis, Liam Gibbs, Christos Tzilos, Brandon Williams*, Mathias Normann, Ozan Kabak*
Championship title followed by a rock-bottom relegation followed by another Championship title - it has certainly been eventful at Carrow Road in recent seasons. The Canaries bouncing between the divisions is nothing new, of course - they hold a joint record with West Brom for the most relegations from the top flight in the Premier League era with five - but the most recent instance was the worst of the lot, at least statistically. Head coach Daniel Farke was retained despite Norwich finishing the season by scoring just twice and losing each of their last 10 Premier League matches - and the German deserves some credit for this quick turnaround. But the departure of player of the season, Emi Buendia to Aston Villa, looks a costly loss - and there is big pressure on the young shoulders of incoming loanee from Chelsea, 20-year-old Billy Gilmour.
▪️ Prediction [20th]

▪️ SOUTHAMPTON @SouthamptonFC
Last season 15th FA Cup Semi finals League Cup Second round
Last major trophy FA Cup 1976
Ownership Gao Jisheng (CHN)
Head coach Ralph Hasenhüttl (since December 2018)
New signings Romain Perraud, Theo Walcott, Tino Livramento, Olly Lancashire, Adam Armstrong, Thierry Small, Lyanco
So it happened again. The first 9-0 defeat - against Leicester City in October 2019 - became a source of irritation to Southampton fans because of the number of times that the media mentioned the Foxes' momentous result. Now, of course, the worst way to deal with that sort of thing is to repeat it - and yet that is exactly what Southampton did at Old Trafford against Manchester United in February. Once might be unlucky but twice really is careless - and, while Austrian head coach Ralph Hasenhüttl has somehow survived both defeats, the second was so much worse because the Saints were far slower to recover from it. This summer, Danny Ings, Mario Lemina and Jannik Vestergaard have all departed St Mary's - but, while the squad was in dire need of an overhaul, those names heading for the exit were not the first which sprung to mind if Hasenhüttl's men were to see an improvement this season.
▪️ Prediction [17th]

▪️ TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR @SpursOfficial
Last season 7th FA Cup Fifth round League Cup Runners-up Europa League Last 16
Last major trophy League Cup 2008
Ownership ENIC International Limited (ENG)
Head coach Nuno Espírito Santo (since June 2021)
New signings Cristian Romero, Pierluigi Gollini, Bryan Gil, Pape Matar Sarr, Emerson Royal
"He's one of our own," sing the Tottenham Hotspur fans to Harry Kane - but the England striker was ever so close to moving on to Manchester City this summer. During the stand-off, Kane delayed his return to pre-season training until 7 August - and it has all proved a rather unsettling few weeks for new head coach Nuno Espirito Santo. Of course, it will take time for the wounds which have been opened to heal - nevertheless, Kane is still a Tottenham player for now, and he remains a high quality attacker who scored 23 goals and contributed 14 assists in 2020-21. Meanwhile, Nuno is a solid, if unspectacular appointment - or at least that is how his Wolves teams played - and, rather than worry about his attack, the Portuguese will need to work on Spurs' soft underbelly which they regularly demonstrated on their way to an under-par seventh-place finish last season.
▪️ Prediction [6th]

▪️ WATFORD @WatfordFC
Last season 2nd in Championship (promoted) FA Cup Third round League Cup Third round
Last major trophy None
Ownership Gino Pozzo (ITA)
Head coach Xisco Muñoz (since December 2020)
New signings Danny Rose, Kwadwo Baah, Mattie Pollock, Imran Louza, Ashley Fletcher, Emmanuel Dennis, Peter Etebo*, Joshua King, Juraj Kucka*, Ozan Tufan, Moussa Sissoko

In these uncertain times, Watford provide a refreshingly consistent level of erratic decision-making made by the Hornets' Italian owner Gino Pozzo. Even in a campaign which ended in an immediate return to the Premier League, there was a now customary mid-term change of head coach with Vladimir Ivic replaced by Xisco Munoz and, in fact, Javi Gracia is the only Watford coach to have remained at the helm for longer than a single season since the end of 2012-13. Surely, Pozzo must have learned that there is little to be gained from a repeat of 2019-20 when Watford had four different men sit in the dugout - but Xisco already has a difficult task of bedding at least 10 new faces into his squad, and a slow start seems likely to proceed in bringing about only one outcome for the Spaniard.
▪️ Prediction [18th]

▪️ WEST HAM UNITED @WestHam
Last season 6th FA Cup Fifth round League Cup Fourth round
Last major trophy FA Cup 1980
Ownership David Sullivan (WAL) and David Gold (ENG)
Head coach David Moyes (since December 2019)
New signings Craig Dawson, Alphonse Areola*, Pierre Ekwah Elimby, Armstrong Oko-Flex, Kurt Zouma, Nikola Vlasic, Alex Kral*
Where did that come from? Following his widely derided return to the London Stadium, and an unconvincing 16th-placed finish in 2019-20, David Moyes caused one of the biggest surprises of last season by leading West Ham United into the top six for the first time since 1998-99. The Scotsman may still have a dour personality but this current Hammers vintage play some delightful football with Saïd Benrahma and Manuel Lanzini ably assisting the main threat provided by Michail Antonio. Tomas Soucek and Declan Rice ensure the skillful play has a gritty underlay - and Rice, in particular, developed well during 2020-21 with the help of regular football. The extra games provided by the Europa League from September will likely stretch this Hammers squad to the maximum - but, for Moyes, it was a welcome return to the right end of the table and a nice problem to have to solve.
▪️ Prediction [8th]

▪️ WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS @Wolves
Last season 13th FA Cup Fifth round League Cup Second round
Last major trophy League Cup 1980
Ownership Fosun International (CHN)
Head coach Bruno Lage (since June 2021)
New signings Jose Sa, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Francisco Trincao*, Yersen Mosquera, Bendeguz Bolla, Hwang Hee-chan
Continuity has been the keyword at Molineux this summer despite a change to the head coach which became more and more inevitable as the 2020-21 season wore on. In fairness to Nuno Espirito Santo, Wolverhampton Wanderers were sitting in seventh after beating Arsenal 1-0 at the Emirates on 29 November - but, in that game, the Old Gold lost the services of main striker Raul Jiminez for the remainder of the season following a sickening clash of heads. Thereafter, Wolves were never quite the same - but their Mexican main man Jiminez is now back fit and ready to resume his role under new head coach Bruno Lage who has been brought in from Benfica. It is perhaps no surprise that Wolves scouted Portugal for their new man with no fewer than nine men in the current first-team squad sharing that natifonality - and, as such, Lage should have few problems bedding in his football philosophy at the West Midlands club.
▪️ Prediction [9th]

*refers to loan signing

Tokyo 2020+1 - Kennys keep their Golden Touch

JASON KENNY became the outright most successful British Olympian of all time after he won a seventh career Olympic gold medal with victory in the men's Keirin on the last day of action in Tokyo.

Earlier last week, his wife - Closing Ceremony flagbearer Laura Kenny - had become the top female British Olympian by winning her fifth career Olympic gold medal alongside Katie Archibald in the women's Madison. 

And, certainly, on the back of this performance, it can now be said that the supposed demise of British track cycling had been much exaggerated. 

Beyond the Kennys, Matthew Walls became an Olympic champion in the men's Omnium and later added a silver in the Madison alongside Ethan Hayter. Additionally, Jack Carlin continued to show promise by taking bronze in the men's sprint. 

There was not such good news from the Olympic Stadium where Britain failed to win a gold medal in athletics for the first time since the complete flop at the Atlanta Games in 1996.

In fairness, the outcome was not too much of a surprise, especially when big medal chances - heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson (calf) and sprinter Dina Asher-Smith (hamstring) - both pulled up during their events with injuries. 

To her credit, Asher-Smith recovered sufficiently to secure a bronze the 4 x 100m relay alongside Asha Philip, Imani-Lara Lansiquot and Daryll Neita. 

Undoubtedly, though, the men's equivalent event was the closest that Team GB came to athletics gold all week - and it really was painfully close.

CJ Ujah, Zharnel Hughes, Richard Kilty and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake ran 37.51 seconds to be beaten by the Italian quartet by one-hundredth of a second. 

It completed a remarkable summer for Italy following triumphs in the Euro 2020+1 Final and, through Marcell Jacobs, a men's 100m Final from which Hughes was disqualified for a false start.

Elsewhere, in the women's 1500m, Laura Muir enjoyed a Tom Daley-esque moment of redemption as she took silver after so many near-misses in the major championships over the years. 

Then, in the men's 1500m, fellow Scot Josh Kerr won bronze in the second-fastest British time ever behind only Mo Farah and ahead of the likes of Sebastian Coe, Steve Ovett and Steve Cram. 

Kerr, aged 23, should have plenty of majors left in him, hopefully - and so should 19-year-old Keely Hodgkinson who stormed to a shock silver in the women's 800m. 

In her first senior outdoor championship, the Leigh Harrier performed outstandingly in her Final to break the British record set by Kelly Holmes back in 1995. 

Add in Holly Bradshaw's bronze in the pole vault - and, while there was no gold rush (or even a trickle, for that matter), this was a pretty acceptable showing for an athletics cohort in transition and beset by misfortune.

Collectively, of course, Team GB has performed spectacularly well in the last couple of weeks and equalled the tally from London 2012 with 65 medals overall.

That was good enough for fourth place in the medal table behind United States, China and hosts Japan with the Americans only just jumping above the Chinese on the final day. 

A late run of British gold medals held off strong challenges from the team representing Russia, who finished fifth, and sixth-placed Australia.

And, altogether, Team GB won medals in 18 of the 26 sports in which it entered competitors - a greater breadth of sports than any other country in the world.  

Chelsie Giles got the first of the 65 medals with bronze, appropriately enough in the Japanese sport of judo, on the second day - and Lauren Price completed the haul with gold in the middleweight boxing in the last few hours of the final day. 

In between, there were British Olympic champions in no fewer than nine different sports: cycling, swimming, sailing, boxing, equestrian, modern pentathlon, triathlon, diving and gymnastics.

“For this team to deliver 65 medals is absolutely extraordinary,” the Team GB Chef de Mission Mark England said.

"The team has made history on the back of the most complex, challenging and most difficult environments that we will ever face, certainly in my lifetime. And I can say that because I’ve been involved in five or six summer Games.”

Gold medal success for Team GB in modern pentathlon for both Kate French and Joe Choong was particularly impressive, given they were only two gold medals available - while in another multi-sport event, the triathlon, Team GB took medals in all three events, including a gold in the new mixed relay event. 

Indeed, in an encouraging demonstration of adaptability, Team GB performed strongly in several of the new sports and events. 

Charlotte Worthington won the inaugural gold medal in the women's BMX freestyle - and, on the final day of a historic performance in the swimming pool, Britain won the first ever mixed 4 x 100m medley relay through Kathleen Dawson, James Guy, Anna Hopkin - and that man Adam Peaty. 

As well as the women's Madison and the mixed relay in triathlon, mentioned above, there were also medals in the men's BMX freestyle through Kye Whyte, women's skateboarding through 13-year-old Sky Brown, and women's featherweight boxing through Karriss Artingstall.

The women's +87kg weightlifting was also technically a new event - although, in reality, it was simply an adjusted version of the existing heavyweight category. 

Nonetheless, Emily Campbell's silver medal was the first ever won in weightlifting by a British woman, and the first British weightlifting medal of any sort since 1984.

Remarkably - except for the opening day - there were medals for Team GB on each and every day of Tokyo 2020+1. 

Day 11 on Tuesday 3 August was particularly special, producing eight medals which coincidentally matched the total from day 11 of both London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016. 

To begin, Britain woke up to sailing gold medals in the 49er and Finn categories for Stuart Bithell and Dylan Fletcher, and Giles Scott respectively following a series of ridiculously tight races. 

Meanwhile, there was a silver medal in the Enoshima Yacht Harbour for John Gimson and Anna Burnet in the mixed nacra 17 class. 

In the velodrome, there were also silver medals for Archibald, Laura Kenny, Elinor Barker, Neah Evans and Josie Knight in the women's team pursuit, and for Carlin, Jason Kenny and Ryan Owens in the men's team sprint. 

But the medal rush did not stop there. At breakfast time in the UK, Birtley boxer Pat McCormack took a fourth Team GB silver of the day in the men's welterweight and Jack Laugher secured a bronze in the 3m springboard diving.

Finally, there was that athletics medal for the teenager Hodgkinson, a fifth Team GB silver of the day.

The following day - Wednesday 4 August - could not quite live up to those incredible standards but still produced five medals including another sailing gold, this time for Hannah Mills and Eilidh McIntyre in the women's 470 class. 

Benjamin Whittaker and Frazer Clarke won silver and bronze boxing medals at light heavyweight and super heavyweight respectively, a few hours after skateboarder Brown had become Britain's youngest ever Olympic medal winner. 

Strangely, despite a generally impressive Games, it looked like boxing gold might somehow elude the male Team GB competitors. 

However, on the penultimate day of competition, Birmingham flyweight Galal Yafai completed the domination of his weight division.

Of course, there are some Olympians who, it felt, seemed simply destined to make it onto the podium. 

Max Whitlock defended his pommel horse title to become the most successful British gymnast in Games history - and top all-time British diver Tom Daley added a bronze in the 10m platform to the gold which he won with Matty Lee in the synchronised event. 

In equestrian, following the dressage success for Charlotte Dujardin, Team GB continued to produce the goods. 

Tom McEwen won gold in team eventing alongside Laura Collett and Oliver Townend - and won silver in the individual category on Toledo De Kerser. Ben Maher won gold in the jumping event on Explosion W. 

Other reliable medal shouts came on the water in canoeing where Liam Heath picked up his fourth career Olympic medal in the K1 200m sprint - and from women's field hockey team which has now won medals at the last three Olympics.

True, in the hockey, there was disappointment initially as eventual winners Netherlands got revenge for the defeat in the 2016 Final in Rio de Janeiro with a comprehensive 5-1 semi final win. 

However, the Team GB squad held its nerve to secure third place in a dramatic 4-3 win against India.

For sure, though, this Olympics - from a British perspective - belongs to the Kennys and their phenomenal achievements, and Britain will certainly miss them when they are gone.

Their fierce determination and prestigious talent is further augmented by their delightfully modest attitude and low-key approach to publicity. 

After all, when asked how they are going to celebrate their Record Games, Jason Kenny suggested that a quiet night with their three-year-old son, Albie, is probably going to be as wild as it is going to get.

“Just being home is the plan,” he said. “Being fair with Albie, we haven’t seen him for two weeks now. It’s the longest we’ve ever been away from him."

Little Albie - who has been staying with grandparents - will not realise yet but his parents are both British sporting legends.

The Kennys truly are Britain's Golden Couple. 

🔴MEDAL TABLE Final standings • BBC closing montage

Pos		G	S	B	TOTAL
1	UNITED STATES (USA)	39	41	33	113
2	CHINA (CHN)	38	32	18	88
3	JAPAN (JPN)	27	14	17	58
4	GREAT BRITAIN (GBR)	22	21	22	65
5	RUSSIAN OLYMPIC TEAM (ROC)	20	28	23	71
6	AUSTRALIA (AUS)	17	7	22	46
7	NETHERLANDS (NED)	10	12	14	36
8	FRANCE (FRA)	10	12	11	33
9	GERMANY (GER)	10	11	16	37
10	ITALY (ITA)	10	10	20	40
11	CANADA (CAN)	7	6	11	24
12	BRAZIL (BRA)	7	6	8	21
13	NEW ZEALAND (NZL)	7	6	7	20
14	CUBA (CUB)	7	3	5	15
15	HUNGARY (HUN)	6	7	7	20
16	SOUTH KOREA (KOR)	6	4	10	20
17	POLAND (POL)	4	5	5	14
18	CZECH REPUBLIC (CZE)	4	4	3	11
19	KENYA (KEN)	4	4	2	10
20	NORWAY (NOR)	4	2	2	8
21	JAMAICA (JAM)	4	1	4	9
22	SPAIN (ESP)	3	8	6	17
23	SWEDEN (SWE)	3	6	0	9
24	SWITZERLAND (SUI)	3	4	6	13
25	DENMARK (DEN)	3	4	4	11
26	CROATIA (CRO)	3	3	2	8
27	IRAN (IRI)	3	2	2	7
28	SERBIA (SRB)	3	1	5	9
29	BELGIUM (BEL)	3	1	3	7
30	BULGARIA (BUL)	3	1	2	6
31	SLOVENIA (SLO)	3	1	1	5
32	UZBEKISTAN (UZB)	2	0	2	4
33	GEORGIA (GEO)	2	5	1	8
34	CHINESE TAIPEI (TPE)	2	4	6	12
35	TURKEY (TUR)	2	2	9	13
36	GREECE (GER)	2	1	1	4
36	UGANDA (UGA)	2	1	1	4
38	ECUADOR (ECU)	2	1	0	3
39	IRELAND (IRL)	2	0	2	3
39	ISRAEL (ISR)	2	0	2	4
41	QATAR (QAT)	2	0	1	3
42	BAHAMAS (BAH)	2	0	0	2
42	KOSOVO (KOS)	2	0	0	2
44	UKRAINE (UKR)	1	6	12	19
45	BELARUS (BLR)	1	3	3	7
46	ROMANIA (ROU)	1	3	0	4
46	VENEZUELA (VEN)	1	3	0	4
48	INDIA (IND)	1	2	4	7
49	HONG KONG (HKG)	1	2	3	6
50	PHILIPPINES (PHI)	1	2	1	4
50	SLOVAKIA (SVK)	1	2	1	4
52	SOUTH AFRICA (RSA)	1	2	0	3
53	AUSTRIA (AUT)	1	1	5	7
54	EGYPT (EGY)	1	1	4	6
55	INDONESIA (INA)	1	1	3	5
56	ETHIOPIA (ETH)	1	1	2	4
56	PORTUGAL (POR)	1	1	2	4
58	TUNISIA (TUN)	1	1	0	2
59	ESTONIA (EST)	1	0	1	2
59	FIJI (FIJ)	1	0	1	2
59	LATVIA (LAT)	1	0	1	2
59	THAILAND (THA)	1	0	1	2
63	BERMUDA (BER)	1	0	0	1
63	MOROCCO (MAR)	1	0	0	1
63	PUERTO RICO (PUR)	1	0	0	1
66	COLOMBIA (COL)	0	4	1	5
67	AZERBAIJAN (AZE)	0	3	4	7
68	DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (DOM)	0	3	2	5
69	ARMENIA (ARM)	0	2	2	4
70	KYRGYZSTAN (KGZ)	0	2	1	3
71	MONGOLIA (MGL)	0	1	3	4
72	ARGENTINA (ARG)	0	1	2	3
72	SAN MARINO (SMR)	0	1	2	3
74	JORDAN (JOR)	0	1	1	2
74	MALAYSIA (MAS)	0	1	1	2
74	NIGERIA (NGR)	0	1	1	2
77	BAHRAIN (BAH)	0	1	0	1
77	SAUDI ARABIA (KSA)	0	1	0	1
77	LITHUANIA (LTU)	0	1	0	1
77	NORTH MACEDONIA (MKD)	0	1	0	1
77	NAMIBIA (NAM)	0	1	0	1
77	TURKMENISTAN (TKM)	0	1	0	1
83	KAZAKHSTAN (KAZ)	0	0	8	8
84	MEXICO (MEX)	0	0	4	4
85	FINLAND (FIN)	0	0	2	2
86	BOTSWANA (BOT)	0	0	1	1
86	BURKINA FASO (BUR)	0	0	1	1
86	IVORY COAST (CIV)	0	0	1	1
86	GHANA (GHA)	0	0	1	1
86	GRENADA (GRN)	0	0	1	1
86	KUWAIT (KUW)	0	0	1	1
86	MOLDOVA (MDA)	0	0	1	1
86	SYRIA (SYR)	0	0	1	1

🔴TEAM GB MEDALS 22 GOLD • 21 SILVER • 22 BRONZE • TOTAL 65

GOLD • BBC montage

26-July	Tom Pidcock	Cycling	Men's cross-country	Report
26-July	Tom Daley Matty Lee	Diving	Men's synchornised 10m platform	Report
26-July	Adam Peaty	Swimming	Men's 100m breaststroke	Report
27-July	Tom Dean	Swimming	Men's 200m freestyle	Report
28-July	Tom Dean James Guy Matt Richards Duncan Scott [Callum Jarvis]	Swimming	Men's 4 x 200m freestyle relay	Report
30-July	Bethany Shriever	Cycling	Women's BMX racing	Report
31-July	Jess Learmonth Jonathan Brownlee Georgia Taylor-Brown Alex Yee	Triathlon	Mixed relay	Report
31-July	Kathleen Dawson James Guy Adam Peaty Anna Hopkin [Freya Anderson]	Swimming	Mixed 4 x 100m medley relay	Report
01-August	Charlotte Worthington	Cycling	Women's BMX freestyle	Report
01-August	Max Whitlock	Gymnastics	Men's pommel horse	Report
02-August	Laura Collett Tom McEwen Oliver Townend	Equestrian	Team eventing	Report
03-August	Stuart Bithell Dylan Fletcher	Sailing	49er	Report
03-August	Giles Scott	Sailing	Finn	Report
04-August	Hannah Mills Eilidh McIntyre	Sailing	Women's 470	Report
04-August	Ben Maher	Equestrian	Individual jumping	Report
05-August	Matthew Walls	Cycling	Men's Omnium	Report
06-August	Katie Archibald Laura Kenny	Cycling	Women's Madison	Report
06-August	Kate French	Modern pentathlon	Women's individual	Report
07-August	Galal Yafai	Boxing	Men's flyweight	Report
07-August	Joe Choong	Modern pentathlon	Men's individual	Report
08-August	Jason Kenny	Cycling	Men's Keirin	Report
08-August	Lauren Price	Boxing	Women's middleweight	Report

SILVER

25-July	Bradly Sinden	Taekwondo	Men's -68kg	Report
26-July	Lauren Williams	Taekwondo	Women's -67kg	Report
26-July	Alex Yee	Triathlon	Men's individual	Report
27-July	Duncan Scott	Swimming	Men's 200m freestyle	Report
27-July	Georgia Taylor-Brown	Triathlon	Women's individual	Report
28-July	Tom Barras Jack Beaumont Angus Groom Harry Leask	Rowing	Men's quadruple sculls	Report
29-July	Mallory Franklin	Canoeing	Women's C-1	Report
30-July	Duncan Scott	Swimming	Men's 200m individual medley	Report
30-July	Kye Whyte	Cycling	Men's BMX racing	Report
01-August	Luke Greenbank James Guy Duncan Scott Adam Peaty [James Wilby]	Swimming	Men's 4 x 100m medley relay	Report
02-August	Tom McEwen	Equestrian	Individual eventing	Report
02-August	Emily Campbell	Weightlifting	Women's +87kg	Report
03-August	John Gimson Anna Burnet	Sailing	Mixed Nacra 17	Report
03-August	Katie Archibald Elinor Barker Neah Evans Laura Kenny Josie Knight	Cycling	Women's team pursuit	Report
03-August	Jack Carlin Jason Kenny Ryan Owens	Cycling	Men's team sprint	Report
03-August	Pat McCormack	Boxing	Men's welterweight	Report
03-August	Keely Hodgkinson	Athletics	Women's 800m	Report
04-August	Benjamin Whittaker	Boxing	Men's light heavyweight	Report
06-August	Laura Muir	Athletics	Women's 1500m	Report
06-August	Chijndu Ujah Zharnel Hughes Richard Kilty Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake	Athletics	Men's 4 x 100m relay	Report
07-August	Ethan Hayter Matthew Walls	Cycling	Men's Madison	Report

BRONZE

25-July	Chelsie Giles	Judo	Women's 52kg	Report
27-July	Bianca Walkden	Taekwondo	Women's +67kg	Report
27-July	Jennifer Gadirova Jessica Gadirova Alice Kinsella Amelie Morgan	Gymnastics	Women's team all-round	Report
27-July	Charlotte Dujardin Charlotte Fry Carl Hester	Equestrian	Team dressage	Report
28-July	Charlotte Dujardin	Equestrian	Individual dressage	Report
29-July	Matthew Coward-Holley	Shooting	Men's trap	Report
30-July	see below [1]	Rowing	Men's eight	Report
30-July	Luke Greenbank	Swimming	Men's 200m backstroke	Report
30-July	Bryony Page	Gymnastics	Women's trampoline	Report
31-July	Emma Wilson	Sailing	Women's RS:X	Report
31-July	Karriss Artingstall	Boxing	Women's featherweight	Report
01-August	Declan Brooks	Cycling	Men's BMX freestyle	Report
03-August	Jack Laugher	Diving	Men's 3m springboard	Report
04-August	Sky Brown	Skateboarding	Women's park	Report
04-August	Frazer Clarke	Boxing	Men's super heavyweight	Report
05-August	Liam Heath	Canoeing	Men's K1 200m	Report
05-August	Holly Bradshaw	Athletics	Women's pole vault	Report
06-August	see below [2]	Field hockey	Women's tournament	Report
06-August	Jack Carlin	Cycling	Men's sprint	Report
06-August	Asha Philip Imani Lansiquot Dina Asher-Smith Daryll Neita	Athletics	Women's 4 x 100m relay	Report
07-August	Tom Daley	Diving	Men's 10m platform	Report
07-August	Josh Kerr	Athletics	Men's 1500m	Report

[1] Men's eight Josh Bugajski, Jacob Dawson, Charles Elwes, Thomas Ford, Thomas George, James Rudkin, Moe Sbihi, Oliver Wynne-Griffith, Henry Fieldman (cox)
[2] Women's field hockey team Giselle Ansley, Grace Balsdon, Fiona Crackles, Maddie Hinch, Sarah Jones, Hannah Martin, Shona McCallin, Lily Owsley, Hollie Pearne-Webb, Izzy Petter, Ellie Rayer, Sarah Robertson, Anna Toman, Susannah Townsend, Laura Unsworth, Leah Wilkinson