The past two seasons in the Premier League have given fans some surprises. Two years ago, Leicester City won a championship out of nowhere. Last year, Chelsea — 10th place the previous year, with a new coach and a raft of new players — gelled quickly enough to coast to the title. It's tempting to pick another unlikely champion this season, but the year looks to be shaping up as a two-horse, one-town race. One of the Manchester squads — City or United — has to be the favorite.
Manager Pep Guardiola, fresh from conquering the world at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, took over at Manchester City last year. But his new team finished a distant third and without a single trophy. Guardiola's freewheeling offensive style was let down by an extremely fragile defense. The lowlight was the Champions League round of 16, when City scored five goals in the first leg and still lost to Monaco, after giving up three goals in both matches.
With that fragility in mind, Guardiola spent big in the offseason, bringing in the two most expensive defenders in history in Kyle Walker and Benjamin Mendy. Expect them to help solidify City's back line, and expect Guardiola's trophy-free streak to end before it reaches a second season.
Standing in his way, though, will be Manchester United and manager Jose Mourinho, who is aiming to keep an impressive streak going. In five consecutive managerial stints, "The Special One" has won the league title in his second season. It speaks to Mourinho's strength: clearly identifying his team's weaknesses, and working ruthlessly (and expensively) to correct them.
That blend of pragmatism and big-money spending has yet to fail Mourinho, and it would be something of a surprise if things were different at Manchester United, where he's now entering his second year. The Red Devils have not finished in the top three since 2013, but that's a streak that should end this season.
Chelsea, as defending champions, will be the most likely to break Manchester's grip on the title. But the Blues have to focus on the Champions League this year as well and might be one or two players short of what's required to compete on two fronts.
Tottenham only lost one player from last year's second-place squad but has brought in no reinforcements. It has to play its home games at Wembley Stadium this year as White Hart Lane is rebuilt.
Liverpool couldn't push for a league title last year, with no European distraction, and now, like Chelsea, has two competitions to deal with. Arsenal is still mired in the ugly end stages of manager Arsene Wenger's career.
