Premier League 2019-20: who will win the title? Best bets for the new season

The Premier League is not supposed to be like this.

France? Of course. Italy? Usually. Only Bayern Munich or Borussia Dortmund can win the Bundesliga and we know Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid just turn up to guarantee themselves maximum points.

That's right isn't it?

But not in England where the Premier League is the biggest and best and the competition from top to bottom is supposedly like nothing else in Europe's elite leagues.

And then along came Manchester City, racking up a record-breaking century of points in 2017-18 to blow that perception apart, and it's reached the stage where 97 points is no guarantee of landing the title.

The same six teams have filled the top positions for the past three years for the first time in English football history and it feels too predictable.

It may not be the overall reality as the teams finishing third to sixth last season lost 41 league matches between them. The big two, however, were beaten just five times and Liverpool's single defeat came at the hands of the champions.

Manchester City and Liverpool look well ahead of the chasing pack

City and Liverpool are scampering away from their so-called rivals and the sensible ante-post proposition is to back them to repeat their league positions.

Pep Guardiola's title hat-trick hopefuls claimed a domestic treble last term and beat every team at least once for the second consecutive Premier League campaign.

The allure of backing City is they have demonstrated an ability to win in different ways and their most recent one-point triumph will have been more satisfying than the 19-point romp.

• Michael Cox: Man City v Liverpool - the tactical battle

City were under the pump and delivered, first hunting down Liverpool before finishing in exceptional circumstances with 14 straight victories. In that string of wins City kept ten clean sheets and allowed a paltry 21 shots on target.

Guardiola's demands for a swashbuckling style will always bring goals, but this was different. Under pressure they were able to grind out 1-0 successes to leave Liverpool gutted.

There are many weapons in City's armoury and depth of squad is right at the summit.

Guardiola is an outstanding coach, although it helps to have Leroy Sane, Gabriel Jesus, Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez in reserve should anything happen to Bernardo Silva, David Silva, Sergio Aguero, Raheem Sterling or Kevin De Bruyne.

And something major did happen to De Bruyne as a string of injuries limited the brilliant Belgian to just four completed Premier League matches, the first of which was in January.

De Bruyne at his best adds a new dimension to City's play. Not many see the passes he lines up and even fewer can execute them.

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Rodri's arrival from Atletico Madrid solves the defensive midfield cover for 34-year-old Fernandinho, who may occasionally drop in at centre-back to compensate for the loss of leader, legend and long-range shooting king Vincent Kompany.

The departure of Kompany is the most encouragement Liverpool have had all summer. He started 18 matches last season and City won 17 of those while the other was a draw at Wolves.

That will give ever-enthusiastic Liverpool fans hope and they played with great fortitude last season, eventually rewarded for their endurance with Champions League glory.

Jurgen Klopp won't give up

Jurgen Klopp won't give up and Liverpool's options have been boosted by the return of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Joe Gomez from injury.

The Merseysiders finished with the best defensive record despite adopting risky tactics with full-backs Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold encouraged forward. Alisson and Virgil van Dijk were gargantuan figures.

Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane were co-winners of the Golden Boot alongside Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with 22 goals, yet they lack cover in key positions.

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Influential outfield figures such as Van Dijk (3,385 minutes), Salah (3,262), Robertson (3,219) and Mane (3,086) avoided injury last season. That availability cannot be taken for granted.

Liverpool gave everything to end 29 years of title hurt and they had enough breaks along the way - think of the injury-time goalkeeping errors which turned draws into Anfield triumphs against Everton and Spurs - but it still wasn't enough.

At least the Reds had their moment in Madrid, beating Tottenham
2-0, and it was that sapping sequence of Champions League results which hindered Spurs' domestic season.

Tottenham best placed to challenge the big two

Spurs split Liverpool and City at the halfway stage before hitting a wall usually reserved for novice London Marathon runners dressed as Big Ben.

The clock was certainly ticking on Tottenham's top-four bid as they crawled over the finishing line, but Mauricio Pochettino's refreshed squad, boosted by the arrival of club-record signing Tanguy Ndombele, should lead the forlorn chasing pack.

Tottenham had no pre-season last year due to nine of their players competing in the World Cup semi-finals. They had no signings and no stadium but were still being spoken of as legitimate title hopefuls until defeat at Burnley in late-February saw Spurs collapse like one of Pochettino's favourite TV programmes, House of Cards.

Heung-Min Son was drained from playing in two international tournaments during the season and there were injuries galore, with Harry Kane missing ten matches.

Spurs should uphold their north London supremacy over Arsenal and Pochettino staying in situ gives them a clear advantage on United's and Chelsea's dicey coaching choices.

Manchester United unlikely to qualify for the Champions League

United are easiest to rule out of Champions League qualification.

The Red Devils were deplorable at times last season, starting in woeful fashion and putting in equally pitiful performances at the finish as the impetus gained by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's injection of enthusiasm following Jose Mourinho's sacking swiftly evaporated.

A more humble dressing-room is likely following the arrival of Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Dan James but since Sir Alex Ferguson retired United's have finished seventh, fourth, fifth, sixth, second (Mourinho's greatest achievement according to himself) and sixth.

Arsenal's moniker is apt considering the firepower at Unai Emery's disposal and the front pairing of Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette will give opponents nightmares.

Unfortunately Emery will be kept awake at night by his own defensive problems.

Former Sevilla and Paris St-Germain boss Emery has a decent pedigree and organic improvement in performance is likely in his second term. However, that will need to come because on expected goals the Gunners were fortunate to finish with 70 points.

Arsenal were crushed 4-1 by Chelsea in the Europa League final as Real Madrid-bound Eden Hazard highlighted his talent in a one-sided showdown in Baku.

Inexperienced Frank Lampard has plenty to deal with at Chelsea

Maurizio Sarri has since joined Hazard on the departures board, handing a potential hospital pass to Chelsea legend Frank Lampard after one modest season of management at Derby.

No Hazard and no summer arrivals are concerns but it's not hopeless.

The defence remains in place, N'Golo Kante is set for a return to his favoured position alongside Jorginho and there are options out wide in Pedro, Willian, January capture Christian Pulisic and Callum Hudson-Odoi when he returns from injury.

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It's whether Chelsea possess the nous of a Sarri, Mourinho or Antonio Conte and are able to find tactical solutions to Hazard's exit but it may not be as bad as doomsayers have declared.

Rather than back Chelsea or Arsenal for the Champions League spots it may pay for punters to predict the exact finishing order of the top four with Spurs third and split stakes on their London rivals.

A predictable Premier League could be absolutely perfect.

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