Thursday 8 August 2013 09:03, UK
Charlie Nicholas reckons City will win the title and says Suarez will be top scorer - if he joins Arsenal.
The new Premier League season is just a couple of weeks away so skysports.com caught up with the Soccer Saturday pundits to get their predictions for the new campaign. Charlie Nicholas will once again be joining Jeff Stelling and the boys every Saturday afternoon on Sky Sports News to bring you live updates from the big games - and the former Celtic and Arsenal forward continues our series... Who will win the title? It is difficult to answer that until everyone has done their business but at the minute I would have to say Man City. They have made the strongest purchases so far and have better choices on the bench than anybody else, while I think Manuel Pellegrini's attacking style will benefit the players that they already have. Who will finish in the top four? Manchester United, Chelsea and, even though they haven't managed to sign anybody yet, Arsenal will join City in the top four. It was announced that Arsene Wenger had a big war chest this summer and fans would have expected at least two top signings, so I'm sure they, like me, are very disappointed. However, I do think two signings will materialise and that Arsenal will be a much more formidable side this term. Who will get relegated? Crystal Palace and Hull look the most vulnerable and have a lot of work to do and while Cardiff are giving themselves a chance with the signings they are making, I would still have to go with the three that came up. They just don't look like they have quite enough at the moment. Who will be the surprise package? I think it will continue to be Swansea - if you can call them a surprise package anymore. Aston Villa and Sunderland interest me and I think they will do better than last year, but they will have ups and downs, while Swansea look groomed to carry on progressing under Michael Laudrup. Who will be top scorer? I know Luis Suarez will miss the first six games, but if he signs for Arsenal I think he will score 30 goals. If he stays at Liverpool, though, I think he will fall just short of that and I would then have to go for Edin Dzeko, who should play more as he seems to have impressed Pellegrini. Who is the best signing so far? I like the look of the lad Wilfried Bony who has joined Swansea from Vitesse Arnhem, but Cardiff are doing everything they can to get the right standard of player in and Steven Caulker, who they signed from Tottenham, will be a massive player for them. Who is your player to watch? I am a little biased but I'm going for Jack Wilshere. He is the true world-class player that Arsenal have and I think the injury lay-off he had has made him hungry again. Jack's time is just around the corner and I would like to see him in a more advanced role and add more goals to his game. With the passing ability of Santi Cazorla and Mikel Arteta and the supply of Walcott, I think Wilshere could get a double-figure goal return. Which young player should we look out for? Like Le Tiss, I am a big fan of Luke Shaw and think he is an excellent player but Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho really catches my attention and I think he is going to be a really exciting player to watch this season. Wish for the season? Arsenal to win a trophy! To see Matt Le Tissier's predictions click here. To check out Phil Thompson's predictions click here.
