Former Manchester United star Dimitar Berbatov names the 4 teams that can challenge Manchester City for PL title next season
Former Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov believes United, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Arsenal can challenge Manchester City for the Premier League title next season.
The Cityzens have won five out of the previous six Premier League titles, including the last three. Only Liverpool has been able to break their dominance, winning the title in the 2019-20 season.
Former Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov, however, believes Manchester United can be amongst the teams that challenge City next season. He told BetFred that manager Erik ten Hag should expect to improve further from the third-place finish from last season.
"They need to be because Erik ten Hag is now fully knowledgeable about everything that’s going on at the club and his debut season is now over. Erik’s expectation, the club’s expectation and the fan’s expectation should be to win the Premier League title next season," Berbatov said.
"Of course it’s going to be tough with what Manchester City have done this year, but Manchester United’s motivation should be to stop their domination," he added.
Berbatov claimed that Arsenal, Liverpool, and Chelsea could also challenge for the Premier League title next season.
"I believe it will be difficult for Manchester City next season because not only Manchester United, but the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool will be competing with them also," he said.
"I know Chelsea had a difficult campaign, but they’ll be better next season under Mauricio Pochettino. It’s going to be very interesting to see which club presents Manchester City with the biggest challenge," he added.
Arsenal gave the Cityzens a big challenge last season, topping the table for 248 days. However, they won only two of their final nine games, effectively handing the title to Pep Guardiola's side.
Taking a look at Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool's 2022-23 campaign
Manchester City completed an iconic European treble last season, as they won the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, and the FA Cup. They finished above Arsenal in the league and beat Inter Milan and Manchester United in the finals of the UCL and FA Cup, respectively.
United, meanwhile, finished third in the league table and won the Carabao Cup in Erik ten Hag's first season at Old Trafford.
Arsenal, Liverpool, and Chelsea, meanwhile, finished the season trophyless. The Gunners finished second in the table while the Reds were fifth, being outside the top four for the first time under Jurgen Klopp.
Chelsea had an abysmal season as they finished 12th in the Premier League table with their worst-ever points tally (44).