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Peter Schmeichel has backed Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur to challenge Liverpool and Manchester City for the Premier League title in the upcoming season. The former Manchester United goalkeeper believes his former side and Arsenal have done well in pre-season but still have a long way to go.
Manchester City sealed the Premier League title on the final day of last season in dramatic fashion. They defeated Aston Villa 3-2 after going 2-0 down with less than 20 minutes to go and won the title by a point.
Writing in his The Times column, Schmeichel claimed both top sides are in a transition with Darwin Nunez and Erling Haaland added to their attack. He believes that could play in favor of Chelsea and Tottenham and said:
"It is not going to be as plain sailing for Manchester City and Liverpool as people think. For both, it's going to be a very different season. A massive transition, in terms of the playing style, is taking place at City. Look at Pep Guardiola's transfer business: signing Erling Haaland and letting Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus go. That tells you how committed he is to playing with a No 9 and we haven't seen that with Pep before."
He added:
"How's that going to play out? How long is that going to take to bed in? Will Haaland be as good in the Premier League as in Germany? I'm not sure. Will he score 25 goals? Yes, if the team service him. But City are not used to playing that way. Liverpool are also changing. They signed Darwin Nunez but lost Sadio Mane. Is Nunez going to be as good as Mane? I wonder."
While backing Chelsea and Tottenham to do well, the Premier League legend claimed Arsenal finally look like a side capable of challenging for the top four.
"The competition will come from Chelsea, and from Spurs, who have signed well and in Antonio Conte have a very clever manager who is so good at getting the maximum out of his players. I'm also looking Arsenal and for the first time in a long time thinking 'top four'."
Premier League kicks off this week
Arsenal take on Crystal Palace on Friday night in the first match of the season.
The Gunners kicked off the previous season as well when they faced Brentford and lost on the opening day. Manchester City take on West Ham United over the weekend, while Liverpool travel to face Fulham.
