Former Liverpool striker Emile Heskey expects his old club to bounce back and finish third in the Premier League next season, while Arsenal will drop to fourth.
The Gunners have just won the title for the first time in 22 years, whilst also reaching the finals of the Champions League and Carabao Cup, but it seems Heskey doesn’t expect them to be nearly as good next season.
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The pundit, speaking to Hajper, as quoted by the Metro, believes Manchester City will win the league again even without Pep Guardiola as manager.
Heskey has his top six as 1. Man City 2. Man Utd 3. Liverpool 4. Arsenal 5. Aston Villa and 6. Newcastle, so it could be another nightmare ahead for Chelsea and Tottenham, who would both hope to be in there.
Emile Heskey on his 2026/27 Premier League predictions
“Manchester City will be champions with or without Pep Guardiola,” Heskey said. “They look good now but they’re really going to come together as a team next season.”
He added: “Top four I’ll say Man City, Man United, Liverpool and Arsenal. Then Aston Villa fifth and Newcastle United in sixth.”
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It will be interesting to see if next season’s final table looks anything like this, but strange things can happen in football.
Heskey’s old club Liverpool won the title in 2024/25 but then dropped to fifth in the season just gone, so perhaps Arsenal could quite conceivably drop from first to fourth.
It seems foolish to rule out City bouncing back even without Guardiola, as they have so many world class players in their squad, though who they appoint to replace the legendary Spaniard will also surely be crucial.
Chelsea would hope to be up there at least challenging for the top four again under new manager Xabi Alonso, while Tottenham also need to be getting back there or thereabouts after finishing 17th two years in a row.
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