Written by Matthew Polyak

For all English Premier League fans, the last 2 months have felt like an eternity. But now, the time is coming! The best soccer league in the world returns in 1 week, so I will be ranking the teams that I think will finish in the top 7 while trying not to be biased.

Champions (1st): Manchester City

As a surprise to absolutely no one, Man City are my favorites to win the league. They are a team that is absolutely unstoppable on their day. With the likes of in-form Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland, it is very difficult to imagine an outcome that is any different. The Sky Blues also are coming off a historic campaign from last season, winning ‘the treble,’ consisting of the Premier League, English FA Cup, and UEFA Champions League. And with Pep Guardiola as coach, everything seems to be in their favor to take home an 11th league title.

UEFA Champions League (2nd-4th): Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal

Next up, we have the rest of the spots for the prestigious UEFA Champions League tournament. I believe that Manchester United will come 2nd because of their rebuild under head coach Erik ten Hag. He has put into place a new style and philosophy that Man United were missing since the departure of legend Sir Alex Ferguson. The team plays very nice attacking football, and is also to sign a forward, Rasmus Højlund, from Atalanta in Italy, but my only worry would be the defense. Last season, the Red Devils had conceded 13 goals on aggregate in 2 games against arch-rivals Man City and Liverpool. If ten Hag could tidy up the defense, then they could be a team to look out for.

Next up in 3rd place, is my favorite team—Liverpool. The Reds are coming off an extremely disappointing season, finishing 5th and in the UEFA Europa League. However, I think that Liverpool could use this to their advantage. Since it is the Europa League, they can rotate players more, and have their players who are cemented in the Starting 11 be more fit and match-ready. However, the biggest problem is the midfield and defense. Liverpool this summer (so far) have sold/let-go of 8 midfielders and only brought in 2. Both signings were attacking midfielders, so Liverpool would have to sign at least 2 more defensive midfielders in my opinion and 2 more central defenders to be safe, but, Jürgen Klopp is a fantastic manager and hopefully, he can lead this team back to the top 4.

And finally in 4th, taking the last UCL spot is Arsenal. The Gunners have come off a fantastic season, finishing 2nd while taking Man City to the last couple of match-weeks, where they ran out of steam, which caused their title challenge to ultimately collapse. However, I am doubtful that they can replicate this run again, because of the squads’ young overall age and inexperience. They lack good squad depth, meaning that an injury to a key player could be a huge setback for them, as seen last season when defender Will Saliba got injured for the rest of the campaign, causing a dip in form for the Gunners. But that being said, their attack is exciting, and I think they can squeeze their way in and make it to the top 4 again.

UEFA Europa League (5th-6th): Chelsea, Brighton and Hove Albion

To move on, we have the qualification for Europe’s second-tier competition, the Europa League. And for 5th place, I have put Chelsea. One of the most obvious observations in the world would be saying that Chelsea have been a huge disappointment last season. They had gone from finishing 3rd to 12th last season. An absolute shocker. From someone who watches the sport religiously, I can not even explain how this happened. But, that is the past and now the Blues have to move on. Their preseason form has been excellent, with them winning the Premier Leagues preseason tournament in the United States. I believe that under the coaching of Argentinian Mauricio Pochettino, Chelsea can finally get themselves back on track, get the feel-good factor back in Stamford Bridge, and most importantly, get good results. However, I don’t believe they have enough to make it over the finish line and qualify for the Champions League.

I have given Brighton and Hove Albion the final UEL spot in 6th position. Brighton coach Roberto De Zerbi has transformed the Seagulls into one of the most exciting teams to watch in the league. This team, probably 2nd to Man City has the most composure out of any other side and plays in that ‘Tiki-Taka’ one-touch pass style, similar to the legendary FC Barcelona sides of the late 2000s. They also have the best scouting system in the league and possibly, in Europe. Their ability to find young teens who are extremely talented and hardworking is unbelievable. But since this is a very young and inexperienced side, they can make some defensive/passing errors, which is why they are ranked at 6th in my opinion. I do hope I am wrong though and they finish higher, because they deserve it and I always love watching them play from a neutral point of view.

UEFA Conference League (7th): Newcastle United

Now for the third and final tier of European competition—the Conference League. I believe that Newcastle United will finish in 7th, thus qualifying for this tournament. As someone who does not like Newcastle, I have to admit that they were one of the best teams last season. Their attacking play was fantastic, and they had one of the best defenses in the league as well. However, I can not see them replicating last season’s form of finishing 3rd. This is mainly due to the pressure of competing amongst Europe’s elite in the Champions League. Since Newcastle also does not have great squad depth, I think that this could be a problem where players are not fit enough. It also has to be mentioned that Newcastle is one of the biggest timewasters in the league. If you are losing to them heavily, do not expect to get the ball, as every throw-in, goal-kick, and free-kick is exaggerated as long as possible until the referee steps in. This is why Newcastle players are booked with Yellow Cards a lot of the time, and since the Premier League is cracking down on time-wasting, we could see them concede more goals this season.

Conclusion

To conclude, I think this season will be the best so far in the league’s history in terms of quality, as all of these top 7 teams are very good and exciting to watch. And because of this, I think we are due to be seeing many upsets and underdog stories as well. And while these are my personal opinions, it has to be remembered that England’s top-flight league is one of the most unpredictable in the world, and anything possible can happen.

Sources

• MANCITY.COM
• SPORTINGNEWS.COM
• MANUTDNEWS.COM
• TRANSFERMARKT.US
• FOOTBALL.LONDON
• SI.COM
• SKYSPORTS.COM
• STRETTYNEWS.COM
• TALKSPORT.COM