1. Manchester City
It would be rude not starting with Manchester City's name first as the are the reigning/defending champions of the premier league.
Last season, talk around Manchester City quickly shifted from 'if they were going to win the league' to when they were actually going to. Pep Guardiola proved that his style could successfully be implemented in England, supplementary to that he achieved record breaking feats.( First team to reach a century of points,broke the record for most consecutive premier league wins, most goals scored in a season and lastly having the most away fixture wins).
Manchester City were great in possession and were lethal on the counter-attack most teams just couldn't deal with the pace and precision that they offered on the ball. Kevin de bruyne's long diagonal pass to Leroy Sane bypassing two lines of four Stoke players in their 7-2 home win against stoke was a personal highlight for me of his passing ability. KDB ( Kevin De Bruyne ) has really excelled under Pep the last season who transitioned him from a attacking midfielder to a well rounded central midfielder and has certainly gotten the best out of him, whats's scary for the rest of the Premier League title contenders is that Pep states that this crop of players can still improve...
What made Manchester City such a formidable side was not only how good they were on the ball but also how good they were off it. Pep Guardiola employed his counter-pressing system which was as good as his great Barcelona (2008/09) team that had won the treble.The consistent drive that each and every city player showed to regain possession off the ball throughout the season was unmatched.Part of Manchester City achieving the same heights this season will depend on Pep Guardiola's ability to convince/motivate his players to put in the same if not more efforts this season.
When it comes to having league winning campaigns the most consistent side in the league always wins,there's still lots of catching up to do for the rest of the contenders who are still way behind city and it's hard to look past city as strong favorites ahead of this season as well.
Key player : Kevin De Bruyne.
