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Manchester City have been the dominant force in English football over the last decade. They have won five league titles in the last ten years. Chelsea have won two, while the likes of Liverpool, Leicester City, and Manchester United grabbed one each in the process. At the moment, Manchester City and Liverpool represent two formidable forces in English football. They have been among the top-two teams in the league in three of the previous four seasons.
Nonetheless, the 2022/23 Premier League campaign is going to bring us even more drama and chaos as these two teams look even stronger on paper. We have all witnessed the recent Erling Haaland signing for Manchester City and we can't wait to see the Norwegian talisman in the Sky-Blue shirt. Many experts believe that the Citizens have now made a huge step ahead by this Haaland acquisition. The question, which we have asked to Betting Tips 4 You expert John Pentin, though, is can Liverpool, or any other outfit in the division keep up with Pep Guardiola's machinery?
How will Man City look with Haaland on the pitch?
With five Premier League titles in the last decade, Manchester City have confirmed dominance in the domestic circles. Nonetheless, Pep Guardiola still has a big task to accomplish as the Citizens have once again been eliminated from the UEFA Champions League. They were moments away from making it to the back-to-back final but Guardiola's troops went on to concede two late stoppage-time goals at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu to lose the reverse tie against Real Madrid. Man City eventually conceded the extra-time goal to suffer elimination despite being the better side on the pitch throughout most of the 210 minutes of the semifinal tie.
Nevertheless, the Citizens will now have a whole new dimension with Erling Haaland in the squad. They played the whole 2021/22 season without a real striker. Gabriel Jesus, Phil Foden, and Raheem Sterling (sometimes even Kevin De Bruyne or Bernardo Silva) have all been "false nines" in Guardiola's rotation. Now, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager will have a true predator capable of scoring 30+ goals in the season in his ranks. And not just an ordinary predator, but Erling Haaland, one of the best strikers in the world right now. Add him to this star-studded Man City team and you get a monster squad capable of dominating both English and European football in the years to come.
Haaland will start most of the games up front (barring injuries), leaving additional space for more rotations on the flanks. We are convinced that the Citizens will be much more dangerous in the final third with such a player and keeping things quiet at the back against them will be the toughest challenge in the whole game as a consequence.
Liverpool have excellent firepower on display of their own
Liverpool have closely followed the Citizens in recent years and they will no doubts remain their main rivals in the seasons to come (baring some shocking scenarios where they lose most of the current roster). The Reds are now well equipped all over the pitch and they finally have the width required for playing on multiple fronts and throughout the entire season. The acquisition of Luis Diaz from Porto has probably been one of the best transfer moves of the entire 2021/22 season. The Colombian forward has quickly established himself as a phenomenal addition for the Reds who now have five fantastic options for the final third. Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane are untouchable in the starting XI, while the likes of Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz, and Roberto Firmino (do not forget him) can cause damage against any team in the world. With the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip, Ibrahima Konate, and the inevitable full-back duo Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson, Liverpool certainly have enough weapons to at least stay competitive with Manchester City and make the title race exciting next year too.
Challenging times ahead of Chelsea
Chelsea have probably been one of the most disappointing surprises of the 2021/22 season. People expected the Blues in the race for trophies on all fronts after the Champions League success in the 2020/21 campaign. However, Thomas Tuchel's men failed to deliver the goods, coming only third in the 2021/22 Premier League season. They have been nowhere near the title contest in the domestic league along the way. The team faced huge problems with the atmosphere in the dressing room (primarily we mean on Romelu Lukaku), injuries (Mateo Kovacic, Ngolo Kante, Ben Chilwell, etc.), and the lack of consistency throughout the season.
Next year will be even tougher for the Blues who have lost their key man in defense as Antonio Rudiger signed for Real Madrid. It will be impossible to find an adequate replacement for the German center-back. Also, Lukaku will almost certainly leave Stamford Bridge after playing only a handful of games last season. Overall, Chelsea still have plenty of quality in their ranks but there are too many questions around them right now and we don't see them as contenders for the title at all in the 2022/23 campaign. The Blues might even struggle to secure the top-four finish.
Can the North London rivals finally step up?
We have enjoyed the battle for the top-four finish and a place in the UEFA Champions League between bitter North London rivals in the second half of the last season. Both Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur looked great in the spring of 2022 and we have reasons to expect them to keep rising as time passes by.
This can particularly be said for Arsenal whose key players are still extremely young. Emile Smith-Rowe, Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Ben White, Eddie Nketiah, etc. are all super-young players who can only grow both individually and as a unit in the years to come. Mikel Arteta has done an extraordinary job with this group of players in the 2021/22 season and we can't wait to see him continuing this long-term process next season.
Tottenham made a phenomenal signing by bringing in Dejan Kulusevski from Juventus. He makes a deadly attacking trident in the final third alongside the best duo in the league, Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son. However, Spurs do need some more high-profile players all over the pitch if they want to be competitive in the battle for the title. Kane and Son need support. Kulusevski is a great start, but can Antonio Conte follow up with some additional transfers?
The rest of the field
The aforementioned teams are the only sides we could potentially see hurting Manchester City (although realistically it will once again be the two-team race). The likes of Manchester United were the biggest disappointment of the 2021/22 season by quite some distance and we can't see them doing much next season either despite the appointment of Erik ten Hag as the new head coach.
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