Michael Owen has predicted that Arsenal, Tottenham and Everton will miss out on the top four this season.
If you’re playing prediction bingo this pre-season, cross off “Arsenal will finish outside the top four”.
It’s a prediction several years old, one that gets made every season and was only proven correct in 2016/17 when Arsenal missed out on the Champions League places by a measly point.
It’ll be a highly competitive season, with several big spending teams competing for a limited number of places in the Champions League, and pundit Michael Owen believes that it’ll be Arsenal, Tottenham and Everton who will miss out.
Speaking to the Premier League‘s official website, Owen said: “Everton have certainly spent over this summer window and could still add more, but it’s going to be hard to break into the top four this season. In previous years we have seen the top four move away from the rest of the league, but now there is a ‘big seven’ who will push each other all the way.
“Tottenham Hotspur are a side I really rate. I have been impressed with Mauricio Pochettino since his move into the Premier League and he has assembled a strong squad, but they have lost a world-class full-back in Kyle Walker and not added. Their home form was near perfect last season and the move to Wembley will affect that.
“Arsenal should be concerned that a bad start to the season will have a negative impact. The signing of Alexandre Lacazette has been a positive, but they will need to keep hold of Alexis Sanchez to really signal their intent.”
At the very least, Owen will be one of the few pundits this summer to predict Spurs finishing outside the top four. The so-called best starting eleven in the league has been predicted to win the Premier League, but I feel they may struggle given the stadium change.
Arsenal haven’t lost any key players this summer and have added two good players in Sead Kolasinac and Alexandre Lacazette. They could well miss out on the top-four, just as they could potentially challenge the title. The only certainty is that they aren’t worse off than they were last season.