Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool’s odds of competing with Manchester City for the Premier League championship next season have been appraised by Robbie Keane.
Even though Man City trailed Arsenal for the majority of the 2022–23 season, they finally swept to a third consecutive championship and fifth in six years.
After defeating Manchester United in the FA Cup final on Saturday, Pep Guardiola’s team is one victory away from a historic treble and will play Serie A powerhouse Inter Milan in this weekend’s Champions League final. Former Premier League striker Keane believes that if Manchester City wins the treble, they will be remembered as “one of the best teams in history.”
While Keane had nothing but admiration for City and Guardiola, he predicts a “closer” title competition for the following season, picking Arsenal to make a comeback and Liverpool to mount a title assault after a disappointing season.
The former Republic of Ireland player believes Chelsea will improve under Mauricio Pochettino as well, but he thinks it may take ‘a year or two’ for the Blues to truly bounce back from a disastrous season in which they ended 12th.
‘It’s really tough to predict where Man City go from here, because if you win the triple, what players do you need,’ Keane said in a statement to Betway. Depending on which players are eliminated.
I’m sure they’ll be eager to sign some players if you have a few players leave.
“I don’t think it will be a two-horse race with Arsenal next year,” I said. I genuinely believe that Liverpool will rejoin the fold.
I believe Chelsea might be successful with the addition of Mauricio Pochettino, although they could need a year or two.
If Tottenham makes a few new additions, I definitely hope they will be as well, but it all hinges on whether Harry Kane stays.
I think it will be a lot closer next year, in terms of teams challenging.’
On Manchester City, Keane added: ‘I’ve said it from the start about Man City, I really believed they were going to go on and do really good things because of the team that they have.
‘They always peak at a certain time, and we’ve seen how well they’ve done over the last couple of months.
That treble-winning Man United team was a really top, top team. It’s very hard to compare then and now, but if you look at the way that City play the game, how they want to dominate teams and really put on a show, it’s incredible to watch.
‘For me, Pep is one of the greatest managers that we’ve seen. What he did with Barcelona, it was incredible football to watch, probably the best team I’ve seen play.
‘And now this Man City team is doing the exact same. He’ll go down as one of the greatest managers of all time.
