Premier League Title Contenders for the 2022-23 Season: An Early Look

We make Manchester City the favourites to win a third consecutive Premier League title next season after signing superstar striker Erling Braut Haaland.

Pep Guardiola’s men played the entire 2021-22 campaign without a recognised striker, having failed to lure Harry Kane to the Etihad last summer. However, they still finished a point clear of Liverpool to seize the trophy.

They are expected to be even more formidable next term after snapping up one of the most exciting attackers in world soccer. Yet they will face fierce competition from Liverpool once again, while a few other teams cannot be counted out.

There is still a lot of transfer business to be done before the 2022-23 season gets underway, but these are the leading early contenders as things currently stand:

 

Manchester City

Man City have now won the Premier League title four times in the past five years. They may be lavishly bankrolled by Emirati owners, but that is still a remarkable achievement in such a fiercely competitive league.

Their success is underpinned by Guardiola’s visionary management. He has made several shrewd acquisitions each summer throughout this period of dominance, but certain players have been there since the start of the 2017-18 campaign: Ederson, John Stones, Aymeric Laporte, Kyle Walker, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Fernandinho, Ilkay Gündoğan, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, Raheem Sterling and the conductor of the orchestra, Kevin De Bruyne,

Fernandinho is leaving this summer, and Sterling, Gündogan and Silva have been linked with moves away, but there is still a strong sense of consistency at the club. It often takes players a year to flourish under Guardiola, so we could expect big things from Jack Grealish next season, while Foden continues to go from strength-to-strength and De Bruyne remains as peerless as ever. The likes of Rodri, João Cancelo and Riyad Mahrez are now firmly in the groove too.

City were the top scoring team in the Premier League in the 2021-22 season, and they also had the joint-best defensive record. Adding Haaland into the mix is positively terrifying for their rivals. The Norwegian forward banged in 85 goals in 88 games for Borussia Dortmund, and he has the pace, power, movement and finishing ability to terrorise Premier League defences, so it is easy to see why Man City are the 1.62 favourites for the crown.

 

Liverpool

We make Liverpool the 3.00 second favourites to win the Premier League title next season. It could prove to be another titanic battle between Jurgen Klopp’s men and Man City.

The Reds amassed 97 points in 2018-19, the third highest tally in the history of the competition, but they still finished a point behind Man City. The following season, they ended a 30-year drought by finally seizing the Premier League title, finishing 18 points clear of an out-of-sorts Man City team.

The 2020-21 season was a write-off due to an injury crisis, but Liverpool were back to their best in 2021-22. Yet they still finished one point behind City. Klopp has now earned at least 92 points in three seasons, but he has just one Premier League title to his name. Sir Alex Ferguson never managed to earn 92 points during his time as Manchester United manager, but he won 13 titles.

Liverpool’s season ended in disappointment, as they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League final. However, they were remarkably consistent throughout the campaign, losing just four times in 63 games in all competitions and clinching the FA Cup and the EFL Cup. Alisson, Virgil Van Dijk, Fabinho, Thiago Alcântara, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané are world-class players, while full-backs Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson are terrific and there is impressive depth in the squad. Liverpool should push Man City all the way next season.

 

Chelsea

There is a renewed sense of optimism at Chelsea after Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly completed a £4.25 billion (A$7.5 million) takeover. The club had been in limbo for several months after sanctions were placed upon previous owner Roman Abramovich following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

A BBC report revealed that the new owners have “big ambitions” in the transfer market as they seek to close the gap on Manchester City and Liverpool at the top of the Premier League. Manager Thomas Tuchel is likely to be handed a large transfer budget to bolster his squad ahead of the new campaign.

The defence will be a priority. Central defensive lynchpin Antonio Rüdiger is moving to Real Madrid on a free-transfer, while captain César Azpilicueta and veteran Marcos Alonso are both expected to return to Spain. The Blues could welcome Ben Chilwell back from a long-term injury, which would provide a major boost, but reinforcements are clearly needed.

Yet it is worth remembering that this is still a team that won the Champions League last year. They underperformed in 2021-22, but they were unlucky to lose to Liverpool on penalties in both the FA Cup final and the EFL Cup final. They can also feel aggrieved by their Champions League exit to Real Madrid after dominating the second leg of that clash.

We have priced Chelsea as 17.00 outsiders in the early Premier League futures. Yet you cannot write them off. The Blues will be organised and solid at the back next season, and the likes of Mason Mount and Kai Havertz will provide flair in attack. It remains to be seen if Romelu Lukaku will lead the line, as his move from Inter Milan has not worked out as planned, but Chelsea should be formidable with a few marquee signings.

 

Tottenham Hotspur

Spurs have already pulled off a significant coup by convincing manager Antonio Conte to remain at the club next season. They were languishing in ninth place when he took the reins in November following a disastrous start to the campaign. Conte quickly turned things around and dragged Tottenham to an impressive fourth-place finish.

His cause was undoubtedly aided by the outstanding form of Kane and Son Heung-Min, but Conte’s impact was clear. There were suggestions that he would move to PSG to replace former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino this summer, but he has reportedly assured the club’s hierarchy that he will remain at the helm.

There is a lot of work to do. First, Kane must be persuaded to stay. He appeared devastated after the club denied him a move to Man City last summer, and Spurs could do without another summer dominated by rumours of their star striker seeking an exit.

Conte will also need to rebuild the defence. He likes to play with three at the back and wing-backs down each flank, and he does not currently have the personnel to play that system properly. The January signings of Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski were promising, and the Italian manager could be poised to raid Serie A again this summer. We make Spurs 21.00 outsiders, but Conte is a born winner and he could give Guardiola and Klopp a run for their money.

 

Manchester United

A brave new era gets underway at Old Trafford this summer after Erik ten Hag was appointed as the club’s new manager. The task facing the Dutchman is enormous.

Man Utd finished sixth last season, 35 points behind Man City. It was punctuated by hugely embarrassing defeats, including the 5-0 loss to Liverpool, the 4-0 defeat to Brighton and the shock FA Cup exit at the hands of Middlesbrough.

Yet there are some highly talented individuals within the squad, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, Raphaël Varane, Jadon Sancho and David De Gea. If ten Hag can inject some youthful dynamism into proceedings by making sensible investments in the transfer market this summer, the Red Devils could be back in contention.

We make them 26.00 underdogs, but those odds could change if they embark upon a major spending spree this summer. Ten Hag earned rave reviews at Ajax, and he could be the man to lead Man Utd back to glory.

 

Arsenal

The Gunners finished fifth last season after their young squad ran out of steam in the closing weeks of the campaign. That was a tough blow, as a lack of Champions League football next season will make it harder to recruit high-quality reinforcements in the summer.

There were flashes of brilliance from Arsenal last season, particularly when Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard and Gabriel Martinelli were in full flow, but it is hard to see them closing a 24-point gap on Man City – particularly when they are being linked with City’s fringe players in the transfer market.

For that reason, we make them 46.00 outsiders. However, it is worth noting that they had the youngest average starting XI in the Premier League last season, so they could improve as the players mature next time around.

 

Newcastle United

Nouveau riche Newcastle ended the season with six wins from their final eight games, losing only to Man City and Liverpool. They shattered Arsenal’s top-four dreams and condemned Burnley to relegation in ruthless fashion, with the magnificent Bruno Guimarães leading the charge.

They were relegation candidates when the Saudi Arabian Sovereign Wealth Fund took control of the club in October, but a major splurge during the January transfer window changed all that. The Saudi owners are far wealthier than Man City’s owners, and they could turn Newcastle into a force to be reckoned with soon.

Next season may be a little too early, which is why we have priced them at 67.00, but you never know what might happen if they bring in some superstars this summer.