Pundits Alan Shearer, Micah Richards and Gary Lineker are all in agreement over who will win the Premier League title next season.
Manchester City made history as they won the Premier League title for a fourth consecutive time, while Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal finished two points behind them. It was the second time that Arsenal finished as runners-up in the title race, while Liverpool finished third.
Liverpool will be in the Champions League next season after getting knocked out of the Europa League quarter-final to Atalanta, who went on to win the competition. While the Reds are expected to compete for top-flight silverware, Shearer, Richards and Lineker believe Arsenal will end a two-decade-long wait trophy drought.
The Gunners haven’t won the league title since their Invincibles campaign in the 2003/04 season.
Speaking on the Rest is Football podcast, Shearer said: “They pushed City all the way last season and the title race obviously went right down to the final day. They definitely improved from the previous season, Declan Rice helped a lot.
“I think big things are coming for Arsenal. If they can get in two more top-quality [players] and add them to what they’ve already got, I think they could do it next season.”
Richards replied: “Agreed, agreed. There’s been massive improvement from Arsenal. You just go back to that Aston Villa game when Unai Emery got it spot on tactically. That was disappointing for them but I think they will win it next year.”
Host Lineker then added: “Yeah, I think they might. It depends on who they bring in but Mikel Arteta has done a brilliant job.
“You can see the gradual improvement every season and it’s still a young team buying in to what he believes in. They’re improving and they’re definitely on the right track. I think they will go very close next season.”