Premier League: Seven teams to watch but who will reign supreme?

English football’s big guns bounced back in style last season, with the Top 7 on a different planet to the rest of the Premier League. How will the elite clubs fare this season? Our EPL analyst Adrian Clarke delivers a scouting report…

EVERTON

The Plusses

The early acquisitions of two coveted young Englishmen, keeper Jordan Pickford and central defender Michael Keane, instantly put smiles on faces in the blue half of Merseyside – and those grins got even wider when the old fella, Wayne Rooney, chose to 'return home’ too. 

Throw in eight other new faces, including the highly-rated Dutchman Davy Klaassen, and ex-Barcelona whiz kid Sandro Ramirez, and the Everton squad is suddenly looking far beefier than it was. 

Ronald Koeman now has proven talent aplenty, as well as a bunch of promising kids to work with. 

The Problems

Instead of collecting stamps, trading cards, figurines or vinyl records this summer, Koeman has been on the hunt for as many playmakers as possible. Or at least it feels like he has. 

If the Gylfi Sigurdsson deal goes through, he’ll have four or five to choose from, and all are all fine footballers - but the balance of his attack doesn’t look right. 

Where is the blistering pace? How will they fill the 25-goal void left by Romelu Lukaku’s departure?

There’s still time to recruit a dashing striker, but I fear Everton may lack penetration. 

Prediction

You’ll find plenty of pundits drooling over their transfer business, but talk of a Toffees title challenge is tosh. Post-Lukaku I don’t see them bridging the gap. 

Everton to finish 7th

LIVERPOOL

The Plusses

Chelsea fans will tell you Mo Salah is a headless chicken, but Liverpool’s £36.9 million (S$65.3 million) new boy has grown up, and returns to the Premier League 10 times the player he was in 2013. 

When the Egyptian and Sadio Mane are both fit and flying, the Reds will be devilishly difficult to contain down the flanks. 

Jurgen Klopp’s side had practically zero threat in behind whenever Mane was missing, but rival sides will now encounter double trouble in that department. 

Continuity is also a plus point. The Liverpool chief has made minimal changes to a squad of players who are now fully in tune with his ‘heavy metal’ demands. 

Tactically they know what their gaffer expects, and as simple as that sounds, it’s important. 

The Problems

Liverpool’s new sporting director Michael Edwards has had a catastrophic close season. 

His heavy-handed approach to ‘tapping up’ Virgil van Dijk led to a divorce in relations with feeder club Southampton, and his persistent but futile chase of Naby Keita also came to nothing. 

Was there a plan B to fill those two spots? It appears not. 

As it stands I feel the club have taken their eye off the ball and neglected their weakest areas. 

Without a new keeper, a quality centre-back, a proper defensive midfielder, and a fresh goalscorer that stays fit, I can’t see the Reds mounting a proper challenge. 

 Prediction

Liverpool are an excellent side that’s enjoyed a good pre-season on the pitch, but they don’t have enough quality defensive players. This will trip them up. 

The Reds to finish 6th

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

The Plusses

Mauricio Pochettino’s first XI is a well-oiled machine that can out-run, out-work, and out-play most Premier League rivals. 

Finishing 2016-17 in sensational shape, nothing dramatic should change. And with Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Harry Kane signed up for another crack at the title, Spurs fans have real grounds for optimism. 

Able to switch between formations with the minimum of fuss, and not have a dip in performance, Tottenham are one of most tactically adaptable sides in Europe. 

The Problems

Refusal to pay their best players the big bucks has come back to bite chairman Daniel Levy. 

Kyle Walker has left for Manchester City (and no one can persuade me Kieran Trippier is an upgrade) and now Danny Rose is angling for the emergency exit too, citing low ambition and poor wages as the reasons for his discontent. 

How long before their very best players become green-eyed monsters too? 

If Spurs continue their tight-fisted stance, they simply won’t attract enough top-class signings and those in situ will get wandering eyes. 

Pochettino may weather the storm, but a full-scale dressing room implosion could be on the cards. 

Prediction

They’ll drop more points at Wembley than they did at White Hart Lane, and if injuries strike the wrong players their season could fizzle out. This will be a much more challenging campaign. 

Sorry, Spurs fans, but I see them finishing 5th this season

ARSENAL

The Plusses

A near perfect performance to win last season’s FA Cup Final has provided Arsenal with a blueprint for season 

They delivered in a big game, proved they do know how to defend as a team, and showcased bags of resilience. 

The trick now is to bottle that brilliance, and repeat it more often. If they can, the sky’s the limit. 

Aside from a growing comfort in Arsene Wenger’s 3-4-2-1, it’s the two new faces who are the biggest positives. 

Sead Kolasinac is brute of a wingback that won’t take prisoners, and striker Alexandre Lacazette was born to fizz shots into the bottom corner. 

The Gunners have found a lethal finisher that should top 20 Premier League goals. 

The Problems

Uncertainty still engulfs Emirates Stadium, and that atmosphere isn’t conducive to season-long harmony, or guaranteed success. 

While the majority of Arsenal fans are still keeping their fingers and toes crossed that Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain sign new deals, a continuation of the current stand-off means those three stars are just months away from negotiating a free transfer. 

Focus-wise, it’s not ideal. 

I also feel Arsenal are a touch light on quality at the back. One new outstanding centre-back and a powerful defensive midfielder would lift them to another level. 

Prediction

With no Champions League football to worry about they can focus harder on domestic matters this term, and I fancy them to restore natural order with a top-four finish. 

Arsenal to finish 4th

MANCHESTER UNITED

The Plusses

It’s Jose Mourinho’s second season at the club, and you know what that means, don’t you? 

If Manchester United fail to finish top of the heap it will be the first time in their manager's career he hasn’t won the title in year two of a project. 

So, the omens are good, and so is his squad, which looks even more muscular than it was en route to League Cup and Europa League glory. Old Trafford is now the Land of the Giants. 

United’s engine room is especially formidable. A well-balanced Nemanja Matic-Paul Pogba-Ander Herrera triumvirate can dominate opponents. 

Don’t write off a possible winter return for Zlatan Ibrahimovic either. If the Red Devils have the Swede, Marcus Rashford and Romelu Lukaku available all at once, the side’s goal count should rise markedly. 

The Problems

This Manchester United is imbalanced, and until Mourinho adds a natural left winger or full-back to his starting XI that will remain the case. It's little wonder Gareth Bale and Ivan Perisic have been so strongly linked. 

Too much of their best width and attacking intent stems from the right, and this makes them a tad predictable. 

Their clunky, rather regimented style in the big games (where Jose likes to adopt spoiling mode) is another possible negative. 

To jump from 69 points to the late 80s this term – and that has to be their target - they must turn an awful lot of draws into victories. Will they be ambitious enough to do that?

Prediction

United are on an upward curve and should be significantly stronger in 2017-18. They’ll be hard to beat, but is there enough variance in their play? I’m not sure. 

As such, I see the Red Devils finishing 3rd.

CHELSEA

The Plusses

Chelsea won at a canter last term with a shape and philosophy that helped them claim 30 three point hauls from 38 matches. From back to front, they were incredible.  

So why are the doom mongers so convinced Antonio Conte’s magic has suddenly worn off? 

I don’t buy it. The Blues' formula is a rock solid one, and I anticipate them mounting another title push. 

Ok, Diego Costa and Nemanja Matic have departed, but in Alvaro Morata and Tiemoue Bakayoko, the Blues have younger models that can in my opinion be just as effective. I’d actually label them upgrades. 

This Blues squad lacks numbers at the moment, but it’s packed with winners and oodles of class. 

The Problems

There are two issues that could derail the champions: they don’t have enough first team players to challenge on all four fronts, and secondly, the impact of Antonio Conte’s obsessively intense approach could fade in year two. 

The latter point is especially relevant when you consider how Chelsea’s players downed tools for the previous manager, once they decided they’d had enough. 

Conte is smart enough to adapt I think, and to keep his troops happy, but the danger is a live one. 

As for numbers, it would be criminal if the Londoners didn’t invest in three or four newbies this month. Once that happens, their wafer thin group will be solidified. 

Prediction

Rumours of Chelsea’s demise are greatly exaggerated. Once the mood lifts and they knuckle down to the serious business, I envisage another consistent campaign. 

A tight race to the end and the Blues to finish 2nd

MANCHESTER CITY

The Plusses

Pep won’t take nearly as many liberties with the Premier League this season, so don’t expect as many gift-wrapped dropped points.

Manchester City will be more intense, better prepared, and far more stable in a tactical sense.

Their talent pool is a lot, lot deeper too. 

Ederson, Bernardo Silva, Kyle Walker and Benjamin Mendy should all make the first XI, and if they play to their potential, this group of debutants will have a transformational effect. 

City’s extra power and pace on the wings, coupled with a fabulous new creator on the inside, gives them strands of excellence they occasionally lacked last term. 

With Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero up front I think City could top the 100-goal mark. 

The Problems

Guardiola talks a lot about pressing, but he will also be content to take a we’ll-score-more-than-you approach this season. 

While that will be thrilling to watch, it’s an outlook that doesn’t often bring about a title. 

Defensively, they are not the strongest side in the division. Far from it. 

Injury-prone Vincent Kompany won’t play 38 games, Nicolas Otamendi dives in, and John Stones remains an error-prone enigma. Ahead of those guys, are Ilkay Gundogan or Fernandinho good enough protectors?

I have my reservations, but will a leaky backline matter?

To reach the finish line first they must adjust against their Top 7 rivals, and take a balanced approach. 

Prediction

Based on their new recruits and faith that Pep Guardiola won’t repeat his mistakes, it’s hard to look past a star-studded Manchester City side that have goals galore in their make-up. They are title favourites for a reason. 

So my tip is Guardiola to beat Mourinho to the title-in-the-second-season race and finish first

ADRIAN CLARKE'S FINAL TABLE PREDICTION

MAN CITY
CHELSEA
MAN UTD
ARSENAL
SPURS
LIVERPOOL
EVERTON
LEICESTER 
WEST HAM
SOUTHAMPTON
BOURNEMOUTH
WATFORD
SWANSEA
WEST BROM
NEWCASTLE
STOKE
BRIGHTON
CRYSTAL PALACE
BURNLEY
HUDDERSFIELD

LIVE ON TV:

Saturday morning (Aug 12):

Arsenal v Leicester (Singtel Ch102 and StarHub Ch227; 2.45am)

Saturday night:

Watford v Liverpool (Ch102 and Ch227; 7.30pm)

Everton v Stoke (Ch103 and Ch228; 9.50pm)

Southampton v Swansea (Ch104 and Ch229; 9.50pm)

Crystal Palace v Huddersfield (Ch105 and Ch230; 9.50pm)

West Brom v Bournemouth (Ch106 and Ch231; 9.50pm)

Chelsea v Burnley (Ch102 and Ch227; 10pm)

Sunday morning (Aug 13): 

Brighton v Man City (Ch102 and Ch227; 12.30am)

Newcastle v Tottenham (Ch102 and CH227; 8.30pm)

Man Utd v West Ham (Ch102 and Ch227; 11pm)