With each Premier League season will see new iterations of teams looking to either maintain their challenge for titles, push on from whatever stage they had been at during the campaign earlier, or retain their status as a Premier League club, with the latter being the target for most, if not all promoted clubs in history.

To meet these ambitions, whatever they may be, each club strives to provide their manager with a squad that can meet their standards, players who fit the team’s system to help them throughout their tenure. Of course, there will be times when a player may have remained in the starting XI when their form suggests that perhaps they should be replaced by another within the club’s ranks.

With that in mind, it’s worth asking the question, which five Premier League players need to lose their starting places?

Brentford have been unlucky with injuries over the past year or so, particularly in the full-back department. When all are healthy, there’s an argument that Rico Henry and Aaron Hickey are one of the league’s stronger partnerships, but both have missed the majority of the last 12 months due to injury.

As such, Mads Roerslev has been drafted in to replace Hickey at right back and while the Dane’s performances have been okay, they have been okay at best. It’s an area of ​​the pitch that Brentford desperately need to strengthen and Hickey’s eventual return to fitness will be enough for this.

Until then, Bina has to rely on Roerslev, a player who has been with the club for five years. Again, it’s not that Roerslev is the worst player in the league, but it’s pretty clear that he’ll be dropped, at least at right-back, as soon as Brentford can afford his absence.

Excitement was high when Manchester United signed Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna, the Dutch striker having announced himself on the world stage with the Italian club after previously spending time in Germany with Bayern Munich. Under the guidance of Thiago Motta, who is now in charge of Juventus, Zirkzee helped guide Bologna to Champions League football before leaving for Old Trafford earlier this year.

Something of a 9.5, Zirkzee plays just behind the forward line and ahead of the 10, dropping deeper than most strikers to be more involved in any build-up play. While there is plenty of potential for Zirkzee, it is hard to argue that he has had a particularly big impact on Man United so far.

He scored on his debut but has not scored since in the Premier League. In all competitions, he has only two goals in 17 games and alternates with Rasmus Höglund, who is also struggling for goals. Of course, with the arrival of Ruben Amorim, a lot could yet change for Zirkzee and the Red Devils, but at the moment it’s hard to believe he should start.

Winger Jack Harrison made his name in English football with Leeds United and spent three years on loan at Elland Road from Manchester City before making the move permanent in 2021. Harrison spent two seasons there as a permanent player and left Leeds on loan to Everton following their relegation in 2023 and went with the Merseyside club on loan again ahead of this campaign.

Harrison has become known as a hot and cold player. When he’s on form, there really are few better than Harrison. But when he’s not, he risks being completely anonymous on the pitch, contributing very little to his team going forward.

At the time of writing, Harrison has featured in 13 games for Sean Dyche’s Everton this season, without registering a goal or assist in either the Premier League or the EFL Cup. He has come off the bench in his last two or three games for the Toffees, something that should remain consistent, at least for now.

Crystal Palace fans were understandably delighted when the signing of Daichi Kamada was announced. The Japan international had been with Lazio but found the best form of his career so far with his former club, Eintracht Frankfurt, where he was managed by current Palace boss Oliver Glasner.

Glasner guided Palace to a top-half finish in the second half of last season and a signing of Kamada’s pedigree saw hope rise among the Eagles faithful. Palace have unfortunately, and rather surprisingly, got off to a slow start, with the likes of Ebere Eze and Jean-Philippe Mateta going through a poor start to the campaign.

Kamada is no different, with the midfielder having clearly struggled to quickly adapt to the English game. He is yet to score a Premier League goal after 11 games and against Tottenham Hotspur he received a straight red card, forcing a first-team switch that may have needed to happen.

Kyle Walker, a clear Manchester City legend, has been a constant in Pep Guardiola’s side since arriving at the Etihad in 2017. But now, at the age of 34, there are cracks in Walker’s game, based so much on his pace. They were evident when he played for England at the European Championships earlier this year and unfortunately for him, they have not let go of Manchester City.

As is the case with all footballers, age catches up with them all. City have the likes of Josko Guardiol and Rico Lewis in their ranks who can play in Walker’s position and while the England international will undoubtedly still play a role during the season for the Sky Blues, it is up for debate whether that role will be as a appetizer or not.