Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher both predicted Arsenal will retain the Premier League title this season, as the pair delivered their annual predictions on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football. The two former players, now pundits, gave their verdicts after analysing Chelsea's 3-2 win at Fulham.
"One hundred per cent Arsenal," said Neville. "They're way out in front and the squad they have assembled with the signings of Ezri Konsa, Bruno Guimaraes, Christos Tzolis and maybe one more, what a squad they have."
Battle for the top four
Neville and Carragher agreed that Manchester City and Chelsea would finish in the top four alongside Arsenal, but disagreed on the final Champions League spot. Neville backed his own club, Manchester United, while Carragher went with Liverpool.
Neville placed Arsenal first, Chelsea second, City third and United fourth. Carragher had City as runners-up, Chelsea third and Liverpool fourth.
"If I'm being honest I can't separate United and Liverpool in fourth place, I have no idea," Neville admitted. He said Chelsea's absence from European competition would give them a big edge, and that he felt City were in a better position than United, before adding that he was going for United fourth "purely as a fan."
Fifth place and the European contenders
For fifth spot, Carragher went for United while Neville chose Liverpool. Carragher placed Tottenham Hotspur sixth and tipped Brentford, who thumped their London rivals 3-0 on Saturday, as his European contender.
Neville went the other way, predicting Brighton and Hove Albion for sixth, pointing to the continuity under manager Fabian Hurzeler, and naming Tottenham as his pick for Europe.
Promoted clubs and relegation calls
Neville predicted all three promoted clubs, Coventry City, Hull City and Ipswich Town, would go straight back down, while Carragher believes Coventry will survive.
Carragher's pick to go down is Sunderland, who finished seventh last season to qualify for the Europa League. He said their European commitments would prove costly domestically.
"They're going to be doing a lot of Thursday-Sunday," Carragher explained. "I think Sunderland last season reminded me a little bit of Sheffield United under Chris Wilder when they came up and finished high up the table. But a lot of the games, like Sunderland last season, were won by the odd goal. When you look at their underlying numbers last season they were pretty close to relegation, and I think with the European football it could be a problem for them."
Both pundits see Fulham at risk of relegation, and Carragher also added Crystal Palace to that group.
Top scorer and best signing
Neville and Carragher agreed that Manchester City striker Erling Haaland would finish as the league's top goalscorer.
On impact signings, both picked players from north London clubs. Carragher went for Tottenham's Mateus Fernandes, while Neville named Arsenal's Bruno Guimaraes.
"I think it's the best signing by a mile," Neville said of the Brazil midfielder. "If you take an outfield player out of Arsenal's team there wasn't a massive drop-off between the first and second team apart from Declan Rice. If Rice gets injured for three months that would be a risk to Arsenal, but the signing of Guimaraes removes that. He is a massive personality and believes he can win every single match for his team. He's somebody you would want alongside you. For £75million that is value in this market."
For player to watch, Carragher chose Jeremy Jacquet, while Neville opted for Morgan Rogers. On manager to watch, Carragher named Newcastle United boss Matthias Jaissle, while Neville picked Xabi Alonso.
