When last season closed we saw one of the most dramatic climaxes to a Premier League title race in modern history, as Manchester City edged out Liverpool by just one point, finishing on 93, just one ahead of their North-West rivals.
Due to Liverpool in second finishing 23 points ahead of fifth-place Arsenal, the odds for both City and Liverpool are incredibly low at 1/33 and 1/10 to finish inside the top four, with these two expected to go at it in the title race once again next season.
Chelsea were expected to challenge for the Premier League title last season but fell off towards the second half of the campaign due to injuries to the likes of Reece James and Ben Chilwell, whilst also being compromised by inconsistent displays from their strikers.
With a large budget expected to be provided by new owner Todd Boehly for the Stamford Bridge club, on top of already having a good squad of players that played an integral role in them becoming Champions of Europe back in 2021.
The Blues are firmly expected to be in the running for the top four, and with further additions, maybe even the Premier League title due to Thomas Tuchel’s management style.
Tottenham Hotspur will be looking to make it back-to-back top-four Premier League finishes having benefited from the managerial skills of Antonio Conte.
Spurs managed to take 37 points from the 48 that were available in their last 16 matches which saw them leapfrog bitter rivals Arsenal into fourth. The North London club looks likely to keep hold of key assets such as Harry Kane, Son Heung-min whilst sorting out deals to sign Dejan Kulusevski and Cristian Romero on permanent contracts.
If the Lilywhites are to make further improvements to their squad, then they will likely have a chance of pushing for a trophy and will be expected to finish inside the top four barring any collapses in form.
Erik ten Hag has an almighty task on his hands at Manchester United and will be expected to finish in the top four of the Premier League, regardless of the Red Devils’ performances under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick last campaign.
United underperformed as a whole last season, as they regressed both defensively and offensively, but, under the Dutchman’s leadership, they are expected to improve, with high-quality stars such as Raphael Varane, Bruno Fernandes, Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford and Cristiano Ronaldo amongst their ranks, whilst it looks more likely that Frenkie de Jong may link-up with his old Ajax manager.
The Red Devils have often lacked cohesion on the pitch since the end of Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign as manager back in 2013 and in truth, the arrival of de Jong and other key positions could go a long way to fixing these issues and potentially start the path to put United back on the map as future challengers and towards Europe’s elite clubs once again.
Arsenal were agonisingly close last campaign to a top-four finish, as they finished on 69 points, two shy of Tottenham.
There will be a lot of scrutiny on how Mikel Arteta’s side does this season having lost out on qualification for the Champions League last campaign with what was arguably their best chance of getting it, following a season without European football.
The Gunners look likely to invest in their squad once again with players such as Gabriel Jesus and Youri Tielemans being linked to the Emirates Stadium, potentially increasing the quality of their squad which came so close to succeeding last time out.
The likes of Newcastle United will be looking to invest heavily into their squad this summer following a superb second half of the season under Eddie Howe in the aftermath of their takeover by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund. The Magpies are priced at 15/2 to make the top four having scored the fourth-most points in the division since the turn of the year.
West Ham have often found themselves in and around the European places and had countless opportunities to challenge for the top four last campaign but just couldn’t find the consistency required in the second half of last season. The Hammers are priced at 11/1.
Meanwhile, Aston Villa have once again shown ambition in the transfer market following the signings of Diego Carlos and Boubacar Kamara, having already managed to convince Lucas Digne and Philippe Coutinho to move to Villa Park last January. With Luis Suarez also linked, could they make a surprise top-four push? Villa are priced at 14/1 to qualify for the Champions League.
Leicester City comes in with the odds of 14/1 with Brendan Rodgers’ side looking to put last season’s woes behind them which saw them finish as low down as eight, with 52 points from 38 matches. This was a disappointing campaign for the Foxes who had previously finished fifth in back-to-back seasons. They will have to invest well in their squad and avoid injuries if they are likely to make the push.
