Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel believes that Manchester City and Liverpool will face a stern test for the Premier League title.
The new season gets underway on Friday night when Arsenal travel to Crystal Palace. The Reds get their campaign underway with a trip to Fulham a day later, before City face West Ham at the London Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Having been the two challengers for the title last term, Liverpool and City are expected to battle it out once again to be crowned England's best team. But Schmeichel has poured cold water over the idea that the duo will be as dominant as they were last season.
The former 'keeper won five Premier League titles during his 22-year career, all with United. And he believes that City and Liverpool's summer transfer business may allow their rivals to catch up.
"It is not going to be as plain sailing for Manchester City and Liverpool as people think. For both, it’s going to be a very different season. A massive transition, in terms of the playing style, is taking place at City," Schmeichel told The Times.
"Look at Pep Guardiola’s transfer business: signing Erling Haaland and letting Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus go. That tells you how committed he is to playing with a No 9 and we haven’t seen that with Pep before. How’s that going to play out? How long is that going to take to bed in?
HAVE YOUR SAY! Who do you think will win the Premier League title? Comment below.
"Will Haaland be as good in the Premier League as in Germany? I’m not sure. Will he score 25 goals? Yes, if the team service him. But City are not used to playing that way. Liverpool are also changing. They signed Darwin Nunez but lost Sadio Mane. Is Nunez going to be as good as Mane? I wonder."
While he predicts that Liverpool and City could come under renewed pressure, Schmeichel does not believe that United will be one of the clubs challenging them. The Red Devils have endured a difficult summer, with Cristiano Ronaldo agitating to leave and a move for Frenkie de Jong stalling.
As a result, the United legend thinks it could be a "fascinating" debut campaign for new boss Erik ten Hag. Instead of the Red Devils, the Dane believes Chelsea and Tottenham will push Liverpool and City the closest for the title.
He said: "The competition will come from Chelsea and from Spurs, who have signed well and in Antonio Conte have a very clever manager who is so good at getting the maximum out of his players. I’m also looking Arsenal and for the first time in a long time thinking 'top four'.
"Manchester United? Pre-season has been promising but the reality is that a long process of transition is required. The club have backed Erik ten Hag in recruiting players he knows and wanted to work worth, and his first season will be fascinating."
United host Brighton on the opening day of their campaign, with Ten Hag hoping he can prove Schmeichel wrong. Chelsea, meanwhile, will travel to Everton, while Conte's Spurs take on Southampton.
