Ian Wright has named his dark horses to challenge Arsenal this season as Mikel Arteta’s side prepare to begin their Premier League title defence.
After an emphatic victory over Manchester City in the Community Shield last weekend, the Gunners now turn their attention to beginning the defence of their league title.
Arsenal will kick off the new campaign at the Emirates against newly-promoted Coventry City on Friday as they look to lay down an early marker for the season ahead.
New summer signings Christos Tzolis and Bruno Guimaraes are expected to feature, but Wright still wants to see Arsenal bring in more marquee signings before the end of the transfer window.
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‘Arsenal still have a lot of business to do and things have been slow up to this point,’ Wright told Metro.
‘I know the World Cup would have had a big effect on that, but as we know how important it is to start this league strong, the sooner those new players can come in, the better.
‘We heard what the manager said after the Champions League final defeat about what was needed for the next level for this club so that’s what we are going to hold the club to.
‘The window of opportunity is now so I’m hopeful we end the window with a much stronger squad.’
Arsenal will head into the season as favourites, but predicting their closest rivals could prove difficult after a summer of overhaul for much of the ‘Big Six’.
Enzo Maresca, Xabi Alonso and Andoni Iraola have taken over at City, Chelsea and Liverpool, respectively, while Michael Carrick is preparing for his first full season in charge at Old Trafford.
And despite their dismal tenth-place finish last season, Wright believes that a lack of European football could see Chelsea vault straight back into title contention under Alonso this time out.
‘City, Chelsea and Liverpool all have new managers, which makes all of them a bit unknown,’ he said.
‘It’s a huge transition season for City: no Bernardo Silva, Stones, Pep and Rodri. But they have Haaland, and that’ll take you far regardless of other issues.
‘I fancy Chelsea to challenge if Alonso gets a good start and is able to make them more solid defensively.
‘He’s brought in some experienced players, which they’ve needed for a while. I can see them getting into a good rhythm without European football.’
And asked who else could cause a surprise this season, Wright added: ‘I’ll have my eye on Nottingham Forest now that Oliver Glasner has come in.
‘They have a lot of talent which they have held onto, Glasner is a very good coach, and they have made a couple of good signings.
‘Teams like Brighton, Bournemouth and Sunderland have Europe to contend with, which could affect them in the league to Forest’s advantage.
‘Spurs also have one game a week and have made big improvements. They probably still need a goalscorer but I’d expect them to shoot up the league.’
Wright backs new campaign to change football rule
Wright was speaking to Metro after throwing his support behind Gillette’s campaign to stop footballers getting booked for taking their shirt off as a celebration.
Recalling his favourite shirt-off celebration, the Gunners legend said: ‘I’d say the one when we played Aston Villa, with my “I love the lads” t-shirt.
‘Things were just starting to happen, we were making great moves as a team and I was having a great time with the boys; it was brilliant. That’s probably my best one.
‘Every time I see the picture I get the feeling of the dressing room and the joy we shared. Patrick was coming through, it was a great time.’
Gillette and Ian Wright are calling for an end to yellow cards for shirt-off goal celebrations. Think it should be celebrated, not punished? Sign the petition at Gillette.co.uk.
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