Surprised almost no one has
Arsenal in their top 4. If they keep Sanchez, they have will have a well-balanced and experienced team with attacking quality that matches that of Man City. I also think Xhaka will show he's a better player than what he showed in his first season. I wouldn't be surprised if they won the whole thing. The biggest question mark, as always with Arsenal, are injuries.
Last summer I
predicted United would struggle to fit their best players into a coherent system. Well, unfortunately this season the situation is completely different – the system is there, the spine of the team is evident and for that reason I think they will be very good this time around. Lukaku will give them find the counter-attacking edge they've badly missed before and Matic will help them find the right balance in midfield to get the best out of Pogba. The defense will be solid, as Jose's teams always are. I think United as they stand at the moment are only a great winger away from matching some of Mourinho's best teams.
Man City seem to be the popular pick for champions. They have an incredible array of (mostly attacking) talent, but for me too many question marks – new GK is an unknown quantity, solidity of central defence will largely depend on whether Kompany stays fit (wouldn't bet on it), Aguero has been misfiring at times last season, which makes me think he might be approaching the end of his prime, while Gabriel Jesus is not experienced enough to carry a team to the title on his own. Their attacking midfield is unbeatable, of course, and Guardiola will hope it will compensate for all the weaknesses.
Chelsea will probably regress somewhat compared to last season as teams figure out how to cope with Conte's 3-4-3 system and some Chelsea players possibly suffer "second season syndrome" once again and also shift their focus on the CL. Still, let's not forget that Conte has won Serie A for 3 seasons in a row, and each time was more impressive than the last – so he won't let them regress very far, that's just not his personality. The biggest loss will be Diego Costa as I'm not sure either Morata or Batsuyahi can fully replace him.
Not sure what to make of
Spurs yet as Levy is probably keeping most of his business for the transfer deadline day.
As for us, I don't see
LFC finishing in top 4 at the moment. VVD is the big
if – if we do get him (and he gets quickly up to speed after missing a whole pre-season of team training), then we will have upgraded our defense, which was our biggest weakness last season, and we should be right in the thick of it. If not, I'm afraid the defensive solidity will have likely have
regressed with Clyne missing the pre-season and Moreno/Robertson far less solid than Milner at LB. United, City and Arsenal will all be stronger this season then the last, so unless both Chelsea and Spurs self-destruct we're likely to miss out.