MICHAEL OWEN’S PREMIER LEAGUE PREVIEW FOR 2015-16

A lot of people seem worried by the lack of new additions to the Chelsea squad in the summer – just four, with Begovic the costliest arrival at £8m – but they won the league in a canter last season and I’m with Jose Mourinho here.

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is clearly his reasoning, and I expect Chelsea to retain the title. I see one bookmaker is offering them at 15-8 to do so, and that looks a decent enough bet to me.

I look at the other squads and genuinely struggle to name any players who would get into this Chelsea side.

One of the few who would possibly make it into Chelsea’s team is Sergio Aguero, and I accept that the forward line is one possible area of concern for Chelsea, with Diego Costa’s hamstring injuries and combative style of play likely to see him miss games and pick up suspensions. And Remy doesn’t totally convince as a number one striker.

But what can Mourinho do? Unless you can get hold of a Messi, Ronaldo or a Suarez – and you can’t – then not many players from around the world are going to improve his side and I am backing him to get the best out of Falcao.

Yes, he didn’t look too sharp on Sunday but Mourinho is the best manager in the league and I think Falcao could be one of his special “I am going to prove the doubters wrong” projects this season.

Elsewhere, you have solidity and class all around the pitch. They have a monster called Matic protecting the back four and a genius in Hazard. And Hazard underlines what I said about Chelsea holding many of the aces in this league.

I am big fan of Alexis Sanchez – in fact, I think he is one of the league’s top players – but he plays on the left and he wouldn’t be ousting Hazard out of the Chelsea side any time soon.

Of course, Chelsea are vulnerable if the likes of Terry, Matic, Hazard and Costa get injured, but I’d argue other teams are more reliant on their star players. No, it’s Chelsea for me.

I can only really see Man Utd as the potential fly in the ointment, mainly because of the managerial angle, again.

Van Gaal always seems to find a way, eventually, wherever he has gone, and the arrival of Schweinsteiger and Schneiderlin, combined with keeping one of the league’s best goalkeepers in de Gea (second only to Courtois in my book, and a close one at that), will help him achieve that goal, as will the fact that Rooney is now the undisputed number one up front.

I see them as big improvers, but I think it will be pretty much more of the same for Arsenal, however much they are being talked up in certain quarters.

They probably do have their best squad in a long while, I’ll give you that, and Cech in goal will give them more solidity. And I think their forward line is good enough for a domestic title challenge, if not the Champions League.

I like Giroud – though I am not sure Walcott is a centre forward just yet – but I look at their squad, and the opposition, and I just don’t see them as title winners.

The managerial situation at Man City worries me, and that is why I see them only finishing fourth.

Whenever you return from your summer break, you should be looking around the dressing room and feeling positive.

But I just think that when the City players look at Pellegrini in the middle then they will see a dead-man walking – Guardiola has probably been pencilled in for next season already – and that can affect players. It shouldn’t, but it does.

Don’t get me wrong, Sterling’s signing is an obvious positive and Aguero is probably the best forward in the league on his day. And I still have a lot of time for Kompany, too.

City’s back four are incredibly exposed with Toure consistently neglecting his defensive duties and I bet Kompany looks at the way Chelsea set up, and would give his right arm to have Matic in front of him. With that level of protection and screening, I think we would all be viewing the Belgian as still the best centre-half in the league.

In fact, Kompany and Aguero would probably be only the two players that would get into the Chelsea side. Elsewhere, with City, I see too many weaknesses for a sustained title challenge, though. They were clearly the best team a couple of seasons ago, and only just fell over the line. The opposition is stronger now, and they may not be.

If there is one manager under serious pressure going into the new season, then it is Brendan Rodgers. Don’t get me wrong, I think he deserves another full campaign at least but Liverpool have a tricky set of opening fixtures and he will be under the cosh if they struggle early doors.

They look to have bought well though, and I have always rated Benteke. It is just a question of whether he will fit into their system if Liverpool want to play a fast and fluid game that nearly won them the title two seasons ago.

But he is a class act, Milner and Clyne are good purchases, and they have obviously paid big money for Firmino, too.

It will be interesting to see if Tim Sherwood can build upon last season. His managerial style and attitude is always likely to bring him instant results when jettisoned into an underperforming team, but can he progress this Villa side? The loss of star players Benteke and Delph won’t make it easy for him.

My three for relegation are Watford, Leicester and Bournemouth.

I’m not sure Claudio Ranieri’s appointment at Leicester is the right one to be honest – Nigel Pearson may have had his faults but he worked miracles to get that side to 14th last season – but I think Steve McClaren could do well at Newcastle.

I do like him as a manager and he is one of the best coaches I worked with in my career, and Newcastle have paid big money for three players in the summer. I wouldn’t rule out a top-10 placing for my old club.

MICHAEL’S TOP FOUR

1. CHELSEA

2. MAN UTD

3. ARSENAL

4. MAN CITY

MICHAEL’S BOTTOM THREE

18. BOURNEMOUTH

19. LEICESTER

20. WATFORD

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