Premier League 2019-20: The best available lineups for the top 6 teams

Manchester City players
Manchester City players

All top 6 clubs in the Premier League have been busy this summer transfer window. Manchester City broke their club record fee by signing the highly-rated defensive midfielder Rodri from Atletico Madrid. Liverpool signed some young and talented players in Harvey Elliot and Sepp van der Berg. Arsenal broke their club record fee by signing one of the best wingers in the world Nicolas Pepe whilst signing talented Real Madrid midfielder Dani Ceballos on a loan deal. Tottenham Hotspur also broke their club record fee by signing 22-year-old French central midfielder Tanguy Ndombele from Lyon.

Manchester United broke their club record with the massive signing of Leicester centre-back Harry Maguire, while also bringing one of the best right-backs in the league Aaron Wan-Bissaka. New on their attack line is the rapid young Welsh winger, Daniel James.

Even Chelsea, despite their 2-window transfer ban, have been busy as they finally see young American winger Christian Pulisic join the club after a year of waiting. The Blues also welcome numerous loanees back to the club including strikers Mitchy Batshuayi and Tammy Abraham, and defender Kurt Zouma.

Therefore, let's take each team one by one and analyze their options at each position in order to come up with their respective best starting eleven ahead of the 19-20 PL Season.


#6 Manchester United

Manchester United's Marcus Rashford
Manchester United's Marcus Rashford

4-2-3-1 is the formation United will also likely be suited best in. David de Gea had a poor season by his standards last year, however, when he gets back to form, the Spaniard is one of the best in the world at his position. In defence, new signings Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka will definitely start. Victor Lindelof has been the team's best centre-back for the last couple of seasons so he should pair up with Maguire to form what could be an excellent partnership and United's reigning player of the season Luke Shaw will be the first choice left-back without a doubt.

In midfield, assuming Paul Pogba stays which is very likely, the club must make full use of him because he is their most important player. Nemanja Matic used to be one of the best defensive midfielders in the league but he has regressed a lot since then, which was evident in last season's poor campaign. The Serbian's tackling, passing and pace of play were all below average. The young, talented Scott McTominay will replace him this season as Paul Pogba's main midfield partner.

In attack, a lot depends on what happens with Romelu Lukaku and a potential swap deal that could bring either Mandzukic/Dybala to the club. Without any of these 3 players, United's best attack would be Martial on the left, Mata on the right, Lingard in the middle and Rashford up front. Some may argue that the incredibly talented Mason Greenwood deserves a place in the starting eleven, but right now he is only 17 years old so he's not a finished product. He should be integrated gradually into the first team instead of being thrown straight into the very physically demanding Premier League.

Man United formation
Man United formation

#5 Arsenal

Arsenal players
Arsenal players

The Gunners would also find their best form in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Bernd Leno who saved their embarrassing defence on numerous occasions last season will be the number 1 without a doubt. Sokratis is their best centre-back and with Holding's eventual return, they should reignite what was looking like a very strong centre-half pair at the beginning of last season before the latter was ruled out with a torn achilles. For now, Monreal will probably be the Greek's partner in defence ahead of the error-prone Shkodran Mustafi.

Hector Bellerin will eventually be the first-choice right back once again but until he returns, Ainsley Maitland-Niles should continue to start. However, he must increase his focus and effort because his talent is unquestionable. First choice for left back will most likely be Bosnian Sead Kolasinac .

In central midfield, Arsenal have more options now with the signing of Dani Ceballos. Torreira is the club's best defensive midfielder so he will definitely be Unai Emery's first choice as their weak defence needs support and that is what the Uruguayan provides. Granit Xhaka is the player who controls the possession for Arsenal and is always amongst the league leaders in passes completed; he's also virtually the captain of the club since Laurent Koscielny is on the verge of leaving. Hence, the Swiss should be in the starting lineup. Having Ceballos and Guendouzi to back up Xhaka and Torreira gives the midfield much-needed depth.

The attacking 4 is the easiest bit as Arsenal can compete with any side in the world in terms of the potential goals and assists. With Aubameyang on the left, club record signing Pépé on the right, Özil in the middle and Lacazette up front, the Gunners will never struggle for chances being created and goals being scored. There have been reports that Ozil may be moving to DC United in the MLS, but the Gunners would have Ceballos fill that spot if need be.

Arsenal formation
Arsenal formation

#4 Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur players
Tottenham Hotspur players

Mauricio Pochettino has experimented with his formation in the preseason but it's likely that he too will operate with a 4-2-3-1 setup rather than 4-1-2-1-2. Captain Hugo Lloris will remain as the starting keeper, however the full-backs and centre-halves are harder to choose. Although Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen have been the main pair at the back for so long, their partnership has weakened over the past couple of seasons. Davinson Sanchez deserves to start as Vertonghen's partner instead of Alderweireld as he is quicker, stronger and younger.

Kyle Walker-Peters should replace the departing Kieran Trippier at right-back; meanwhile, should Danny Rose stay, then he will keep his place. For now, we'll leave Rose in there because nothing is confirmed. In midfield, even when Dier is fit, record signing Tanguy Ndombele will be preferred over him alongside Moussa Sissoko who was great for the second half of last season. The very powerful attack should consist of Eriksen on the right, Dele Alli in the middle, Heung-min Son on the left and Harry Kane up front. Lucas Moura can be used as a super sub.

Spurs formation
Spurs formation

#3 Chelsea

Chelsea players
Chelsea players

Lampard has played a 4-2-3-1 formation in preseason so let's go with that.

Club record signing in goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga will surely start whenever available. Experienced defenders Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz and Marcos Alonso will almost certainly keep their place. However the injury to Antoino Rudiger means that Kurt Zouma or Andreas Christensen will be deployed alongside Luiz as his centre-back partner. Zouma was very impressive last season for Everton whereas Christensen struggled for playing time due to his error-prone reputation, so it's fair to say that Frank Lampard will prefer Zouma to start alongside David Luiz.

In midfield, when N'Golo Kante returns from injury, he will be the first name on the team sheet. However, for now, Jorginho and Kovacic will play the role of connecting the defence to attack. Wingers will be Pulisic and Willian, however if one of them are injured then Pedro is a great option to have as a backup. The CAM position is where Englishman Ross Barkley has impressed a lot at in preseason so he should be the first choice for this position.

Finally, Olivier Giroud should be the main striker up front as he tends to play very well when supported by very quick, skilled wingers who are expert crossers- traits that Willian and Pulisic possess without a doubt.

Chelsea formation
Chelsea formation

#2 Liverpool

Liverpool's ace Mohamed Salah
Liverpool's ace Mohamed Salah

Let's go with a 4-3-3 formation that has brought the club so much success in recent years as they have won the Champions League and took the title race to the last day of the Premier League season with this formation. Goalkeeper Alisson will definitely be first choice over new signing Adrian as the Brazilian has developed into one of the best at his position in the world. Van Dijk is the best centre back in the league whilst Andrew Robertson plus Trent Alexander-Arnold are the best full-backs in Premier League football. Therefore, the only arguable position is Virgil van Dijk's centre back partner. Joe Gomez should get the nod ahead of Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren because he is the youngest and most talented out of the three defenders.

In midfield, captain Jordan Henderson and Dutchman Georginio Wijnaldum will definitely form two out of the best three-man midfield combination. In Champions League games, Milner is usually picked by manager Jurgen Klopp because of his incredible fitness and defensive effort. However, in league games, Fabinho is a better option as he is fantastic in the air, possesses great technical ability and can intercept the ball with ease.

Finally, for the last couple of seasons, the front 3 of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino has made Liverpool's attack one of the most successful and lethal in world football. Salah and Mane were joint top scorers last season along with Arsenal's Aubameyang, yet Firmino is their literal striker. The reason why the African pair score more than the Brazilian is due to the fact that Firmino drops deeper and makes fantastic passes to either winger/fullback which very often creates a goalscoring chance.

Liverpool formation
Liverpool formation

#1 Manchester City

Man City have already won a trophy this season
Man City have already won a trophy this season

Finally, we have the reigning champions in Manchester City, who, whichever side they put out on the pitch, are likely to consist of mostly world-class players as a result of the fact that they have multiple world class players at almost every position in a 4-3-3 formation. Ederson is one of the best goalies in the league due to his elite ability to play out from the back and make acrobatic saves. At right-back, Kyle Walker has been amongst the best in the league for the last 5 years. Centre-back pair Aymeric Laporte and John Stones were phenomenal last season and if one of them are injured, they have Otamendi or Fernandinho to fill in for them.

Left-back Benjamin Mendy would be in their ideal starting eleven due to his pace and power, however he has struggled with injuries ever since his arrival from AS Monaco so City went out in the transfer market and signed Angelino. However, the more settled-in Oleksandr Zinchenko will likely be Guardiola's regular left-back at the moment.

Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva are 2 of the best creative attacking midfielders in the league so they're a no-brainer to include in the starting eleven. On the other hand, CDM is a difficult choice between Fernandinho and Rodri. I believe Guardiola will opt for record-signing Rodri as he is a decade younger and has so much potential to be world-class, or in other words, fulfill his destiny as 'the next Sergio Busquets'.

Sane is linked with a move away and anyways, he wouldn't be City's first choice as a winger because of how incredible Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva were for the whole of last season. Up front, as promising and talented as Gabriel Jesus is, there is no better goalscorer in the whole league than the club's greatest ever player Sergio Aguero.

Man City formation
Man City formation

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Edited by Nnanna Mba