Troy Deeney predicts where Arsenal, Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool will finish this season

Troy Deeney has backed Arsenal to win the Premier League again this season and revealed his top-four prediction.

Following three successive second-place finishes, Mikel Arteta finally guided Arsenal to their first league title in 22 years last season.

And with the World Cup finished and pre-season back underway, the Gunners will now turn their attention to defending their title this season.

It has been a quiet start in the transfer market for the north London club, who have only added Christos Tzolis and Illan Meslier to their squad after confirming Piero Hincapie’s permanent move from Bayer Leverkusen following his successful loan last campaign.

Arsenal are still keen to add reinforcements in central midfield, left wing and up front, while a back injury to William Saliba may force them to consider defensive reinforcements.

However, former Premier League striker Deeney believes Arteta is still blessed with the league’s deepest squad and believes Arsenal should be considered favourites to win the title again this season.

‘They should win the Premier League,’ he told talkSPORT. ‘They have still got the best squad; they haven’t lost anybody as of yet, other than Trossard, but then they’ve replaced him with a younger version of him from Club Brugge as well.

‘They’ve still got the best squad, still got the deepest squad rotation available. So I think Arsenal should still be the favourites, but I actually think there’s more pressure on them now than last year.

‘I think they’re outright favourites now; everyone’s expecting them to win it. This should mean there’s more expectation now on the style of play and on dominating lesser teams.

‘But I think they win it and it’s everybody else to try and catch them.’

It has been a busy off-season for virtually all of Arsenal’s potential title rivals, with a slew of managerial changes ahead of the new season.

Enzo Maresca is back at Manchester City as he takes on the daunting task of replacing Pep Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium.

Meanwhile, Liverpool have replaced Arne Slot with Andoni Iraola, who will look to bring a renewed energy to the Merseyside club having guided Bournemouth into Europe for the first time last season.

And in London, Xabi Alonso is in the door at Chelsea after a dismal season for the Blues, which saw them miss out on European football entirely.

Having come in midway through last season as an interim, Michael Carrick is also preparing for his first full season in charge at Manchester United.

But Deeney fears that the added demands of Champions League football will cost the Red Devils in the league this time around.

‘I don’t think they’ll make the Champions League places right now,’ he said. ‘The reason is we don’t know what Carrick’s like with three games in a week at this level. Obviously, we saw a bit of Championship, but not at this level.

‘Now, having to look at the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cups, Carabao Cups, you can’t go out as early as you have done in previous years.

‘There’s an expectation now to do more. Bruno Fernandes, do you really think he’s going to have the season he had last season again this season?

‘I just think that with the squad currently constructed as is, I don’t think there’s enough depth to get through all of those competitions, which I think will ultimately leave them short.’

And with United potentially falling out of the top four, Deeney thinks that Chelsea could capitalise.

Asked for his top-four prediction, he said: ‘Arsenal first, City second, Liverpool third, and just to annoy most people, I’m going to say Chelsea fourth.’

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