Gary Neville feels that Chelsea are the Premier League favourites, while Man United will beat Liverpool in the race for the Champions League.
After a thrilling 2013/14 season where Manchester City pipped Liverpool to the Premier League title after the lead changed a remarkable 25 times in all, Chelsea and Arsenal secured Champions League football again, Spurs and Everton battled to a European place and Manchester United collapsed under David Moyes, the 2014/15 season promises just as many twists and turns.
Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville runs the rule over the contenders at the top of the table, where he tips a team in blue as his favourites, and sees one of last season's top 4 falling short this time around.
Manchester City
Having spent just 14 days at the top of the Premier League last season, Manuel Pellegrini's men ensured the Chilean's first season in English football was a successful one, winning their second title in three years by just two points.
Bacary Sagna, Fernando, Willy Caballero, Eliaqum Mangala and Frank Lampard have all been drafted in, but can City hold onto their title this season?
"The questions over City are: Can they go again? Can they deliver the performances that they can deliver consistently year in and year out?", Neville told Sky Sports.
"I thought City would strengthen again. I thought they would buy three or four and really go again and go for the Champions League. That's what they need. The reason I don't think they can win the Champions League is that I don't see massive improvement from last year in what they are bringing in.
"If they were to sign three or four top players then you would say they are a real force to be reckoned with."
Despite impressing with a record-breaking 103 Premier League goals last season, City continued to be criticised for their lack of homegrown players coming through the system. Last season, just four players who appeared in the first-team (Micah Richards, Dedryck Boyata, Emyr Huws and Marcos Lopes) came through the City academy, with 21 games in all competitions and just 3 Premier League appearances altogether.
Neville believes this is still City's main weak point, telling Sky Sports: "There will come a point with Manchester City when they will have to start looking at bringing players through.
"I know that's probably the wish of the chairman and the owners; they've got this academy that they've built and it is going to be one of the best in the world.
"Maybe it's a time whereby they are going to bring young players through and bed them in. I don't know."
Liverpool
After finishing 7th the season before, few had tipped Liverpool to launch a title challenge last campaign, least of all Brendan Rodgers.
However, the Reds nearly claimed their first title in over 20 years, falling just short after having the title in their grasp heading into the final three games.
Top goalscorer and assist provider Luis Suarez has since left for Barcelona, with Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren, Lazar Markovic, Emre Can and Javi Manquillo brought in so far by Rodgers.
Manchester United legend Neville envisages the Reds falling out of the top four though, due to not replacing the controversial Uruguayan adeptly enough.
"I don't agree with the theory that Liverpool have bought a lot of players to replace Luis Suarez," Neville told Sky Sports.
"Liverpool needed to sign a lot of players if they hadn't sold Luis Suarez because they needed to get the squad up to 17, 18 or 19 quality players for the Champions League. They only had 12 or 13 last year.
"I don't think that was something that happened just because Luis Suarez was sold; I think they had to do it anyway, irrespective of him being sold.
"You can't replace somebody like Suarez, though. You've got to do it in different ways, find a new solution and a new way of doing it.
Liverpool's pre-season has been somewhat of a mixed bag, but promising for fans nonetheless, crowned by a thrilling victory over Borussia Dortmund last weekend. Philippe Coutinho in particular stood out for the Reds, and is a player tipped by many to fill Suarez's void.
Neville feels Rodgers will keep the spine of last season's exciting side; avoiding what many have labelled 'doing a Spurs' in the aftermath of the sale of Gareth Bale.
"That's what Rodgers will be working on in pre-season.
"I think early on he'll be trying to keep as much of the team that he had last year to keep continuity and not put seven or eight new signings in - which is what Tottenham did. I think Brendan Rodgers has got the nucleus of a team from last year and phase one or two in from the start and keep dripping them in bit by bit, rather than thinking he has got to get six or seven players in all at once.
"I'm sure he won't do that - that's why Tottenham struggled last year."
Chelsea
Despite spending the second-longest at the top of the 2013/14 table, Chelsea finished in a disappointing third place in Jose Mourinho's first season back in the hotseat.
A strong summer has seen them tipped by many to reclaim their crown however, with Cesc Fabregas, Diego Costa, Filipe Luis and Didier Drogba coming in, all for a meagre net spend as David Luiz, Romelu Lukaku and Demba Ba have been shifted out for huge fees.
One of the many tipping Chelsea for the title includes Neville, who feels the additions of Fabregas and Costa in particular will solve many problems they faced last season.
"Chelsea are the favourites for me," Neville says.
"I think that Chelsea will look back at the games towards the end of last year when they certainly lacked forwards.
They've now got a proven goalscoring midfield player in the Premier League in Cesc Fabregas and they've got Diego Costa. If Costa hits the ground running then I'd say Chelsea are going to win the league.
"Last year, not having a centre-forward of great note cost them.
"I expect Fabregas to bed in straight away because he's been in the Premier League before and has lived in London before."
The lack of a standout striker appeared to be Chelsea's main flaw last season, with Eden Hazard encapsulating the reliance on a goalscoring squad, with his tally of 17 in all competitions leading the way.
Their trio of strikers last season, Samuel Eto'o, Fernando Torres and Demba Ba, plundered just 31 goals in 105 appearances in all competitions, with just 19 coming in the league.
But Neville believes the addition of Costa, who finished third behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi with 27 goals in the 2013/14 La Liga season, will prove the difference for Mourinho's men.
"Costa is interesting; when you watch him play, he looks the type that is going to work his backside off for the team.
"Even if he's not at his best in terms of goalscoring you just feel as though he's going to be a massive threat and a handful for teams to deal with.
"He's aggressive, he runs the sides, he holds it up, has presence, brings other players into play and will certainly thrive on little knock-downs into the box to pick up little pieces and get across defenders.
"From that point of view they'll have something they didn't have last year, even if he's not settling in immediately."
Arsenal
With years of perceived penny-pinching gone and the tag of being 'a selling club' now shed - according to boss Arsene Wenger - this season may herald a new dawn for Arsenal.
Last season's FA Cup win brought their first trophy in nearly a decade, with Alexis Sanchez headlining a promising summer of buys, including Mathieu Debuchy, Calum Chambers and David Ospina so far.
It's the move for Sanchez from Barcelona which Neville is most impressed by, though the Sky Sports pundit still feels that they may fall short if more players do not come in.
"Alexis Sanchez can be a striker. He's aggressive in his style and he runs in behind," says Neville.
"Last year Arsenal really lacked, especially when Theo Walcott got injured, that challenge in behind defences.
Giroud, Ozil, Cazorla were all coming to the ball but what Sanchez will do is run in behind and challenge the space behind defenders.
"I think it's something they desperately needed and Arsene Wenger has identified that and they've got a top-quality player there. I'm surprised that more clubs didn't go in for him."
Arsenal led the 2013/14 Premier League for exactly double what the next best team managed (128 days), but eventually succumbed to injuries and a heavier schedule in the close-season.Neville feels that they are still not strong enough to maintain a title challenge until a midfield general is brought in.
"They probably need two or three more to go with him to make it, if you like, a more complete team but I think that's a really good signing and somebody they lacked at times last year.
"Are Arsenal realistic title contenders? I don't think so.
"For me, until I see a real strong and powerful presence in midfield and potentially another centre-forward and maybe a centre-back I'm not sure."
Everton
Roberto Martinez and his men impressed many last season in the Spaniard's first campaign at Goodison Park.
This summer has been somewhat of a consolidation for the Toffees, with loan stars Romelu Lukaku - for a club-record fee - and Gareth Barry signed permanently. Exciting youngster Muhamed Besic represents their only other high-profile signing so far.
Neville identifies this as both Everton's main positive and negative from their summer's business, but feels they will still improve after signing Ross Barkley to a long-term deal.
"It will be difficult to improve because of what other teams are doing.
"The question last year was would losing the players they had on loan - Deulofeu, Lukaku, Barry - take a huge amount away from them? So to retain those players would have been a big part of Roberto Martinez's plan for this summer.
"To get Barkley signed on a contract as well is another one. I think they can improve; I don't know whether they can improve their position but they can improve their performance."
Despite some astute business, Neville can't see Everton pushing into the Champions League places, however.
"Roberto Martinez is a performance manager; he'll want to get them up the league, of course he will, but to get them into the top four would be asking too much of them in terms of what other teams are doing.
"What he's done is protected what he had last year, which was a fantastic squad and if he can get a couple more players in during the last next few weeks then they will do well again because they've got a good group there."
Tottenham
A tumultuous season saw Andre Villas-Boas sacked before Tim Sherwood was also shown the door, though Spurs still managed to finish sixth.
A far more low-key summer compared to last season may stand them in good stead however, with Mauricio Pochettino's installation as manager perhaps their most important piece of business. Ben Davies, Michel Vorm and Eric Dier are the only players brought in so far.
After impressing at Southampton, Pochettino has a far more difficult job on his hands this season, Neville believes, which will be key to their season.
"I like Mauricio Pochettino as a coach and he made a big impact on everybody last year," Neville said.
"Southampton last year were the surprise of the season, not because they did well but generally in the way they approached the games, the way in which they played and the style of play.
"I think what he had last year at Southampton was a real good group, but he has a bigger challenge at Tottenham. There's more egos to work with and can he get them to work in the same relentless manner that he did with Southampton? You'd watch Southampton press teams last year, particularly in the first 45 minutes of matches and they were fantastic to watch.
"Getting some of those lads at Tottenham to do that relentlessly for 45 minutes will be the challenge that Pochettino has.
Pochettino, Spurs' seventh manager in just 10 years, will also need time to deliver at White Hart Lane says Neville.
"It will obviously be a bigger challenge for him because it's a bigger football club and they've got more aspirations to do well than Southampton. I'm not sure he'll enjoy working with the group as much as he would have done at Southampton. They were a real pure and honest group - you could see that when he worked with them and there will be more difficulties for him this year. It will be interesting to see how he does.
"Tottenham are going to need to give managers time; Pochettino needs time to be able to put his own philosophy and his own stamp on that team.
"They are not thinking his way, certainly not watching them last year."
Manchester United
Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement at the end of the 2012/13 season not only beckoned a new era for Manchester United, it thrust the club, players and fans into the unknown without the Scot at the helm.
David Moyes was cherry-picked from Everton to replace him; a test that failed miserably by most standards, with club legend Ryan Giggs taking over at the end of the campaign to lead them to 7th, with no European football whatsoever.
Louis van Gaal has since come in and envigorated the club however, while Ander Herrera and Luke Shaw have both come in for close to £30million each.
Neville admits that the Red Devils were 'terrible' last season, but feels van Gaal's aura could be a huge influence on the players this time around.
"As a Manchester United fan I'm obviously looking forward to seeing what they do with a new manager.
"It was a terrible season last season finishing seventh and I'm looking forward to seeing how they cope with the new manager.
"I think it will work with Louis van Gaal. They're not in the Champions League and that will give him the time to be able work on his philosophies and his systems in the periods in between the matches when other teams are playing. The most intriguing thing for me is how he does.
Although the excitement around Old Trafford is palpable however, Neville is far more cautious over a potential title challenge, believing that the club are not well-equipped enough just yet.
"United are the most interesting for me as a United fan, thinking about how a new manager and a new system can cope and get back into the Champions League.
"That seems crazy to say when you drop your expectations. It's been Premier League or nothing for 20 years and now the Champions League would be a success this season.
"Unless two or three players come in I don't think it's realistic that he can win the league this year."
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