The season so far
The 2018/19 season was great for Premier League football both domestically and in Europe.
At home, Manchester City and Liverpool pushed each other to their limits in the battle for the Premier League title.
Liverpool earned a staggering 97 points. But it still wasn’t enough to take the title from City, who had yet another super season, earning 98 points.
In Europe, England dominated in both the Champions League and the Europa League.
Liverpool and Tottenham would make up the 2019 UCL final, while Chelsea and Arsenal went head-to-head for the Europa League.
We are now four games into the new Premier League season.
The top four is currently comprised of Liverpool, Manchester City, Leicester City and Crystal Palace.
Here is how the top four could look come the end of the 2019/20 campaign.
BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND – AUGUST 25: Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City looks on during the Premier League match between AFC Bournemouth and Manchester City at Vitality Stadium on August 25, 2019 in Bournemouth, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
4th: Arsenal
4th place in the Premier League belonged to Tottenham in the 2018/19 season.
Spurs finished on 71 points, one point above Unai Emery’s Arsenal.
However, the Gunners did look as though they could have been on course for a Champions League finish for much of the season.
Arsenal, though, had a horrible run in April, that really scuppered their chances of a top-four finish.
Between the 21st of April and the 28th of April 2019, Arsenal lost three league games, vs Crystal Palace, Wolves and Leicester.
Had they won just one of those games, they may well have earned a 4th place finish.
The north London outfit have also had a pretty solid summer transfer window.
While some question marks may remain over their centre-backs, the arrivals of Nicolas Pepe and Dani Ceballos already look to be solid additions for Arsenal.
Kieran Tierney should also be a welcome addition at left-back for the Gunners, once he recovers from his injury.
So, given the fact that Arsenal came so close to 4th spot last season, and they have arguably improved their squad over the summer, a 4th place finish should be achievable for Emery and co this time around.
3rd: Tottenham
At one point in the 2018/19 season, Tottenham looked as though they may have had an outside chance of challenging for the Premier League title.
However, as the season went on, Spurs’ league form continued to dip, as they eventually only just managed to scrape 4th place.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side won just one of their last five PL outings during the 2018/19 campaign.
This time around though, Tottenham have actually brought in some new signings.
Tanguy Ndombele started the season very well , scoring one and assisting one in his first two league games for Spurs.
However, like another one of Tottenham’s new signings, Ryan Sessegnon, Ndombele is now injured.
Spurs’ third signing over the summer was Giovani Lo Celso.
The Argentine really impressed for Real Betis last term, and once he is up to full fitness, he too should prove a shrewd buy.
Given Spurs managed to earn a 4th place finish without signing a player for two windows, it is hard to see them not improving after bringing in three new signings.
Tottenham have also been able to keep hold of Christian Eriksen until at least January, which can only really help them in their pursuit of CL football.
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2nd: Liverpool
Liverpool played some simply outstanding football last season, earning 97 points in the league, and going on to win their 6th Champions League.
Jurgen Klopp’s side have also started this season very well. They are the only Premier League side to have won their opening four games.
However, Liverpool did not sign any first-team players over the summer.
Yes, as Jurgen Klopp has said before, having the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Rhian Brewster in their squad could be seen as new players.
But, a case can be made that Manchester City already had a stronger squad than Liverpool last season, and City went out and signed two new top players over the summer.
Liverpool’s amount of games
Liverpool will also likely have to play a fair few more games this season.
The Champions League holders have to take part in the Club World Cup in December.
Liverpool did pretty poorly in both the League and FA Cup last time around, being knocked out in the 3rd round of both competitions.
Should they go on a cup run in either or both competitions this season, added to their extra CWC games, Liverpool’s squad may struggle to cope.
For example, Sadio Mane played 50 games for Liverpool in 2018/19.
He then went all the way to the African Cup of Nations final over the summer with Senegal.
The 27-year-old was then given a fairly short break before coming back and featuring in Liverpool’s first league game of the season vs Norwich.
But, should Mane suffer an injury this season, whether it be from playing too much or just through bad luck, Liverpool may not do as well without him.
Yes, Xherdan Shaqiri and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could replace him, but they just aren’t as good as Mane.
While Liverpool are likely to give Man City another close race, it is just hard to see them beating this Citizens side to the title.
SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 17: Sadio Mane of Liverpool celebrates after scoring his team’s first goal during the Premier League match between Southampton FC and Liverpool FC at St Mary’s Stadium on August 17, 2019 in Southampton, United Kingdom. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)
1st: Manchester City
With Liverpool in 2nd spot, 1st place is obviously going to Manchester City.
As mentioned above, City brought in two new signings this summer, in the form of Rodri and Joao Cancelo, both of whom are quality players.
A case could be made that the Sky Blues may struggle somewhat with Leroy Sane out injured for a while.
However, last season, City had Kevin De Bruyne out for considerable periods. And, even when he was fit, he didn’t look at his best.
This campaign, though, the Belgian has started firing on all cylinders, assisting five and scoring one in four league games.
That gives City Raheem Sterling, David Silva, KDB, Bernardo Silva, Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden, Ilkay Gundogan and perhaps even Rodri to play across their midfield and help cover Sane’s absence.
The only potential problem area for City is now the centre-back spot.
Vincent Kompany departed the Etihad over the summer, and he was not replaced.
That did not seem like that big of a problem at the time, but now Aymeric Laporte is out with a knee problem.
This leaves Pep Guardiola with just John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi as regular first-team centre-backs.
Fernandinho is capable of doing a job in that role. But City may still struggle somewhat against the better sides.
However, given how the Citizens have dominated the Premier League for the past two seasons, them winning a third successive league title shouldn’t be that much of a surprise, even with their problems at the back.
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