Just 3 days remain for the start of the Premier League season, something that almost every football fan has been waiting for. Arsenal and Chelsea met in the Community Shield which the Gunners won by a solitary goal. While nothing much should be taken from this, a glorified preseason friendly to an extent, this will give Arsenal a huge boost as this was the first time that Arsene Wenger has won against Jose Mourinho.
With the league a few days away, we look at which clubs could make it into the top four and reach the Champions League, something that a lot of clubs try to do. The Premier League has a lot of big clubs who spend a lot of money and we look at just the 4 who could get it done.
Arsenal – 1st
This shouldn’t be a surprise, but Arsenal have not missed out on the Champions League for a while. The Gunners though could do one better this season and win the league, they do have one of the best goalkeepers in the world in Petr Cech but most importantly for the club they have a fully fit squad and that could be the reason why they might win the league. They do have one of the strongest squads and as long as the players stay fit, Arsenal will have a chance to win the league.
There is a huge cry about the lack of a defensive midfielder and a world class striker from the fans and media alike, but if the current crop of players start firing, there is not much that can stop Arsenal from going all the way. In Francis Coquelin, Arsenal have an excellent ball winner and as Arsene Wenger claimed he has well and truly played like a £40m signing since Christmas. The role of Walcott as a striker against Chelsea hints about Wenger’s plan of using him more in that position this season, which will pave the way for Oxlade Chamberlain to play down the right where he has excelled in recent times. So you would get an all round feeling that arsenal do have what it takes to go all the way this season.
Chelsea – 2nd
The only reason for Chelsea to come second or even lower is due to the fact that they have not bought enough players into the team. The second half of last season saw them struggle against some of the teams and if they start this season the same way, Jose could well be on his way to losing the Premier League crown and that would really hurt for Chelsea, especially if Arsenal somehow get the league title from them.
With Remy and Falcao firing blanks, Chelsea heavily depend on an injury ridden goal-machine Diego Costa and if his hamstring woes continues to haunt him, the Blues might find it difficult to break open smaller teams away from home. Also with the likes of Oscar and Ramires tend to under-perform during the second half of the season, which should be avoided at all cost if Chelsea are to retain the title.
Manchester United – 3rd
Louis Van Gaal’s second season could be a defining one, many predict the club to come higher than third but they still lack a lot of attacking flair, something that United teams are known to do. They still have the chance of losing out on players such as Angel Di Maria to PSG and David de Gea to Real Madrid. If De Gea does move away from the team, it could well be the reason why United could even drop out of the top 4.
All that said, their back four is their main problem. LVG has failed to sign a to class defender so far and that might prove costly for the Red Devils in the business end of the season. The likes of Jones and Smalling are defenders who are good enough to play for United, but they should be playing alongside a defensive leader in the mould of Vidic or Ferdinand to get the best out of them and should not be playing with each other.
Manchester City – 4th
Simply purchasing a player for £49 million should not be enough but Manchester City is another aging team in the Premier League and a lot rests on the shoulders of Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero. We saw how the club struggled when Sergio Aguero was missing from the team and this season too, they will depend on the Argentine staying fit for the majority of the season. Anything less and it could be some other club coming into the top 4.