WHY SAY ANYTHING?

After only two games of the new season we are already into the debate about who will finish in the top six, who will win the title and who will be relegated.

Whilst these are fair questions it is a little early to provide any concrete answers just yet. What we can do, however, is check the evidence we have so far and then do what the national press do all the time, indulge in wild speculation.

The advantage here is that, if we are right, we can say that we told you so and, if we are wrong then it was only wild speculation anyway and never intended to be taken seriously. That would seem to be a no-lose situation which is just the kind we like.

So what is the evidence so far? Well, taking the teams in alphabetical order, Arsenal were lucky to pick up three points at home against Leicester City and then deservedly lost away to Stoke City. The fact that Stoke only scored one goal at home somewhat papered over the Arsenal defensive cracks which were more in evidence when Leicester put three past them.

As we keep saying, Arsenal will miss out on the top four for the second year running if they don’t buy a top quality defender and if they insist on sticking with their current manager, which they will.

Chelsea need new players. Who says so? Antonio Conte says so, that’s who. In this case we happen to agree with him. Losing at home to Burnley with a shambolic performance, particularly in the first half, and having two players sent off was certainly not the start he was looking for.

They were better in their second game when they beat Tottenham at White Hart Wembley but this should not be considered a major turning point. A number of teams will beat Spurs at Wembley this season purely because Spurs haven’t yet worked out how to play there!

With a return to the Champion’s League, Chelsea do look short of players but should still have enough to make it into the top four even if they sign nobody else.

Liverpool have also now qualified for the Champion’s League and will have to strengthen in certain areas. Their draw away at Watford showed them to be less than cohesive defensively and their goalkeeper hardly inspires confidence.

Having said that they then beat Crystal Palace at Anfield but again were unconvincing, the 1-0 scoreline making it a much closer contest than it should have been. At least they managed a clean sheet which is more than can be said for their other three games and defence is the main area of concern because, similar to Arsenal, they are good going forward.

They may struggle to make the top four if they don’t strengthen that defence.

Manchester City, although playing well against Brighton, struggled for long periods to break them down. They then had virtually the same problems against Everton at The Etihad and their net result from their two opening games is three goals and seven points.

City still have players to return from injury and do not necessarily need to strengthen any further. That does not mean that they won’t make any more signings though!

Without any additions this team is still good enough to win the Premier League and will certainly finish in the top four.

Manchester United are the early pace-setters and two 4-0 victories is all the explanation that is needed as to why.

They are another team who may add a player before the transfer window closes but not much sleep will be lost at Old Trafford if this fails to happen.

At present they look sound in defence, midfield and attack so there is really nothing else to say other than they too have a team capable of winning the title and will definitely finish in the top four.

Finally Tottenham Hotspur. Poor Mauricio Pochettino has to deal with playing at Wembley, begging Dastardly Dan for signings and not being very good at European competitions.

The latter should ensure that Spurs can have a tilt at the title this time out as their involvement in Europe’s two major competitions is usually fleeting so they will soon be able to concentrate all of their efforts on the domestic league.

This being the case we would expect them to scrape into the top four providing they work out how to win at Wembley.

So the top four will be the two Manchester Clubs at one and two, followed by Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur. Liverpool will just miss out and Arsenal will struggle to make the top six.