Premier League Futures (2023/24 Season)

August is approaching quickly and with that comes the start of the Premier League season which is right around the corner now. The first Premier League matches of the season kickoff on August 11 so it is time to see which teams are real contenders and which teams are just pretenders when it comes to winning this season’s Premier League title. 

Manchester City -138: Man City is coming into this season as the team with the best chance to win the title and for good reason as they are the defending champions from last year and also completed the Treble as they also won the Champions League title as well as the FA Cup. Man City has lost some talent this year in the transfer window as they have seen the departure of right winger Riyad Mahrez as well as central midfielder Ilkay Gundogan and left back Benjamin Mendy. The departure of these players will definitely be a bit of a blow to Man City but they also have so much depth on their bench that they will be able to fill the holes with players just as talented and the 1 silver lining is that none of these players have decided to stay in the Premier League either. They did pick up central midfielder Mateo Kovacic from Chelsea as a replacement for Gundogan and they also have countless other players on the bench so as far as their strength of team goes, nothing has really changed much from last year and they are going to be a just as dominant team as they were so they still have a very good chance at winning the Premier League title this season. 

Arsenal +500: Arsenal is coming into this season as the next team with the best chance to win the Premier League title according to the books. Arsenal had a very good team last season as they finished in 2nd place in the league and were actually leading the table for most of the season before letting it go to Man City in the final weeks. Arsenal is not a close 2nd to winning the title but they are the next best team according to the books because of their great season last year along with the fact that they have spent money to bring in more players to try and improve this team. They did lose a key player in defensive midfielder Granit Xhaka but they also signed Declan Rice to replace him as well as adding some other players to boost both their attack and their defense. They have brought in attacking midfielder Kai Havertz as well as bringing back centre-forward Folarin Balogun from his loan to add some dynamic talent to their attack and they also added centre-back Jurrien Timber as well as right back Cedric Soares to boost their defensive depth. Arsenal has definitely made some moves to improve their team and they are going to have their sights set on the Premier League title this year after almost winning it last season, but this season they are also going to have Champions League matches to worry about and it is their 1st time back in Champions League in years so they will definitely be more focused on that competition and that could negatively affect their Premier League matches down the road as we get late into the season with the build up of the condensed schedule. Arsenal has definitely improved their team from last year but they do not have the depth to win the Premier League title this season. 

Liverpool +800: Liverpool is coming into this season as the next team with the best chance at winning the Premier League title according to the books but this is a Liverpool team that was already on the down trend last year and even failed to finish in the top 4. They will have an easier time focusing on Premier League matches this season as they are only in Europa League and likely do not care that much about the competition so getting back into the top 4 of the Premier League will be their focus for this season. Liverpool is also in the middle of a changing of the guard though as they brought in a lot of new players last year which took some time to mesh and now they have seen a lot of their core players depart from the team in this transfer window as well. Central midfielder Jordan Henderson, centre-forward Roberto Firmino, central midfielder Naby Keita, central midfielder James Milner, and central midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain just to name a few players who have left the team in this transfer window and even though a lot of those players did not do much for the team last season, these were the core players that were around during their dominant years in the Premier League and the departure of these players signifies a rebuild with this Liverpool team as they desperately try to fix the problems they had last year. They have brought in some quality players to fill the gaps now as they signed attacking midfielder Alexis Mac Allister as well as attacking midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai which will definitely bring a much needed direction to this attack that was in disarray last season, but considering all of the attacking talent they have now in the midfield as well as their forwards, they are clearly going for an overly dominant attack this season and have done nothing to bring in players to strengthen their defense and defensive midfield which was the areas they struggled the most in. Liverpool can continue to overload their attack with talent but just like last year it will not do anything for them until they stabilize their awful defense and midfield. Liverpool is going to struggle once again this season to even make the top 4 and they will not be a threat to win the Premier League title. 

Manchester United +1100: Man Utd is coming into this season as the next team with the best chance to win the Premier League title according to the books. Man Utd is coming off of a great season where they finished in 3rd place and were much improved after so many years of struggling. They have continued to add players in this summer transfer window that will boost their team while also getting rid of some players that were holding them back. They have seen the departure of left winger Anthony Elanga, goalkeeper David de Gea, and centre-forward Wout Weghorst who went back to Burnley at the end of his loan but none of these players were key pieces in their lineup last season and the biggest blow to this team in the transfer window this year was actually the departure of central midfielder Marcel Sabitzer who went back to Bayern Munich as his loan ended but he had some very good flashes of play for this team last year. Man Utd has been signing a lot of talent to improve though as they have brought in attacking midfielder Mason Mount to add some flair to their already strong attack as well as signing goalkeeper Andre Onana who is definitely a step up from the goalkeeper they had. They are also in talks with centre-forward Rasmus Hojlund which would really strengthen their attack if he were to join, but Man Utd has not done anything to improve their defense which they did have some issues with last season, specifically with the flanks and their defensive depth, so until they add some players to boost their defense, they are not a true contender to win the Premier League title, especially when they will also have Champions League matches to focus on as well which is a competition they have not been in for a few years now. The focus on the title is not going to be there and they do not have the depth to make a run at the title this season. 

Chelsea +1200: Chelsea is coming into this season as the next team with the best chance at winning the Premier League title according to the books. Chelsea is coming off of an awful season where they finished in the bottom half of the table and a big problem they had was with the owner of the team after purchasing the club from the old owner as their new owner started to buy up any players on the market just because they were talented and wanted to keep them away from the other clubs. This led to a big problem with the team as they had an excess of players on the roster and there was absolutely no direction in which the team was headed in as they had also gone through quite a few managers during the season. Now they have another new manager but this time they will have some stability as they have departed with a majority of their players from last season and have just left a solid core to build on. They also added centre-forward Nicolas Jackson and second striker Christopher Nkunku to bring some consistency to their attack as scoring goals was a big issue for them last year. Now that they have improved their attack, which was their biggest issue, and have narrowed down the talent on their team to gain some stability with their lineup, an experienced manager like Pochettino will be able to guide the talent on this team to a much improved season as there is definitely no shortage of talent on the team, for them it is just all about putting it together on the pitch in an organized way. Chelsea has some real value here as a dark horse Premier League title contender because they have the talent and potential to be very good and due to their poor performance last year, they are not in any European competitions this season which means they will be well rested for their Premier League matches and fully focused on performing well in the league all year. Chelsea is definitely a dark horse to win the Premier League title this year. 

Newcastle +1400: Newcastle is coming into this season as the next team with the best chance to win the Premier League title according to the books. Newcastle is coming off of a very good season where they came out of nowhere to finish in 4th place, but they were also a dominant team in the league all season and a lot of that has to do with their new owners and the money they have been spending on the team. Newcastle had one of the best defenses in the Premier League last season and their attack was also very good but it could be inconsistent at times. They did lose their left winger Allan Saint-Maximin in the transfer window which was their biggest blow, but he also missed a lot of the year due to injury so it will not have a huge impact on this team. They also picked up left winger Harvey Barnes to replace him who will have a much bigger impact on this attack while also adding defensive midfielder Sandro Tonali to boost their midfield even more. Newcastle was a surprisingly dominant team last season and managed to maintain that good form all season. They are going to be just as good this season if not better with the improvements they have made but they are still not going to be a title contender this year. There are still a lot of strong teams that will be around them in the table this year and they were barely holding onto their top 4 spot near the end of last season. The fact that they finished in 4th place also means they will be playing in Champions League this season which is an extra competition that they did not need to focus on last year and never had to rotate their squad as much. It will be a lot more difficult for them this year to juggle both competitions with the depth they have so even though they are still going to be a very good team, they are not going to be a title contender this season. 

Manchester City is the obvious favorite to win the Premier League title this season after the year they had last season but even when looking at the squads, they still have the most talent and the deepest bench in the league which gives them the best chance at winning the title. Manchester City to win the Premier League title at -138 is not a bad price either considering they are usually closer to -200 or more. If looking for more of a longshot though, Chelsea at +1200 definitely has the most value as they are not going to be as bad as they were last season with their new direction now and also not playing in any European competitions can only help them from a depth standpoint. Manchester City at -138 is the best way to go here and Chelsea at +1200 is the best longshot.