The Premier League Panel: Our panel pick their top four for the 2024/25 season
Will Manchester City reign supreme again? Can Arsenal or Liverpool bridge the gap? Join our panel of expert guests to see how the new Premier League season will unfold.
Transcript
00:00I mean, Michael, I'll come back to you first to ask about what other teams might be able
00:04to launch a bit of a challenge. I mean, we obviously saw, you know, Villa and Spurs scrapping
00:08for top four teams like Manchester United, Newcastle, Chelsea, spending a lot of money
00:12over the last couple of years. They're good teams. Can anyone sort of break from the sort
00:16of chasing pack and have a crack this season?
00:20I don't think so. Sorry to say, I think I think the top two from last season will be
00:25the top two again this season, probably by a little bit of a distance. I think if one
00:29team are going to challenge Spurs, maybe could. I think they obviously made a lot of positive
00:33steps last season with Posta Koglu and it tapered away a little bit at the end of the
00:38campaign. But I think that made some good signings. I think Solange will bring a lot
00:43more attacking impetus for them. I think that Gray, who's got his first name, from Leeds
00:50will be a good signing as well.
00:52Archie Gray.
00:53Archie, yes. Archie Gray will be a good signing for Leeds. And so I think they could have
00:57a good campaign. I think Villa will fall away a little bit from last campaign. I think
01:16the implications of Chelsea football will affect them as well. I just think it'll be
01:23a lot more for the squad to contend with. So, no, I don't think there'll be anyone
01:26that will step up. But I think, I mean, I mentioned earlier that I think it will be
01:29top four. I think Arsenal and City will be as well. I think Spurs will be the fourth
01:34team in the top four and could be potentially the closest to the top two.
01:40What about you, Roman? Do you reckon anyone can sort of bridge that gap? Because for starters,
01:43you probably know who plays for Chelsea at this point, seeing as you reported them on
01:46the regular. But because I don't, Planty doesn't, you know, does Enzo Maresca know who plays
01:51for Chelsea?
01:53I think you do and Planty does, but he's just being sarcastic.
01:56I've got a problem because I'm going to Stamford Bridge on Sunday. So I'm going to have to
02:00Google who plays for Chelsea ahead of time.
02:02That'll be like three pages deep on Google and you'll still be getting new players.
02:08But mate, you guys are laying down Newcastle. Newcastle without Champions League football
02:15is a massive start. I think Newcastle will try to challenge for the league title. Mate,
02:20last season, one of the things I really took Newcastle out with was injuries. They didn't
02:25just have the squad, they have to come. I think that Champions League football stretched
02:29them to the limit. It was the first time and they had a really difficult group. They were
02:33in the same group with Milan, PSG, Dortmund, like it was the most difficult group you could
02:39get. So I think Newcastle will be up there. Villar, it depends on how far they want to
02:45go. Spurs have a chance, but then it's their history. They just tend to fall away when
02:56everybody expects them and that kind of thing haunts them. And don't rule out Chelsea,
03:00especially on top four. I know this is quite really silly, but I saw Chelsea play against
03:06Inter Milan over the weekend. I thought they played quite really well. And sometimes because
03:11of what's happened in the last few years, everybody tends to say, oh, Chelsea don't have
03:14a chance. But if they hit form, they've got quality enough to be able to go on and do really
03:20interesting stuff. So yeah, these are the things. But yeah, Newcastle for me, don't ride them out.
03:26Well, I'll put you on the spot then, Rahman. What's your top four in order?
03:32Yeah, that's a really tough one. City, Arsenal,
03:37Newcastle, Chelsea.
03:40Well, you've just earned yourself quite a lot of new followers up in the North East, I suspect.
03:45I mean, again, Man United. But yeah, yeah.
03:50I mean, Michael, I'll ask you quickly as we're running out of time, but any sort of quick
03:53thoughts on Manchester United? They've obviously spent quite a lot of money already this summer.
03:57And by the time people watch this, it might well be a little bit more. Do you think they've done
04:00enough to make a difference? Do you think there was enough encouragement from the performance
04:03in the Community Shield to think they could at least crack top four?
04:08I think the encouraging thing from the Community Shield was that they weren't laid open in the
04:12middle. I think obviously last season that was their Achilles heel and they were just so
04:15vulnerable through the centre. Casemiro played better. But I do wonder if that's a specific
04:20approach for playing against a team like City. So I don't know. I mean, Fulham on Friday night
04:24would probably be a better indication. I mean, United, listen, by the time this video goes out,
04:30they'll probably complete the signings of De Ligt and Masraoui. I think there'll be at least
04:36another one that comes in, maybe two. I think they'll bring in a midfielder. They need a left
04:42back, urgently need a left back this season. I know Masraoui's been brought in to play there
04:46as well, but they need another option. What do I think this season? I don't know. I don't know.
04:53It's a common theme for me. I don't know. I think they'll be better than last season.
04:58And because, you know, last season was a bit small for Man United. In my opinion,
05:01the worst Premier League spot, in my opinion, and actually statistically the worst Premier
05:05League season ever. I think they'll improve on that. I think they'll be in there in the top four
05:09race, but I don't think they'll be anywhere near the title or anything like that. I think that
05:14Ten Hag just needs to get a bit more of his style on the side and needs to improve in terms of
05:21just the way they play week in, week out. They need to vastly improve on that compared to last
05:25season.