Former Manchester United defender turned football pundit, Rio Ferdinand, has predicted the probable winners of the 2022–23 Premier League campaign.
The Manchester United legend expects the league’s reigning champions, Manchester City to win the Premier League title three times in a row next year.
According to Rio Ferdinand, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City will win the Premier League, with Liverpool finishing in second place once more. Tottenham and Manchester United will finish third and fourth, respectively, with Arsenal and Chelsea coming in fifth and sixth.
Last season, Pep Guardiola’s team successfully defended their title, giving them four championships in as many years as they have dominated English football.
Liverpool finished just one point behind them and are predicted to be City’s main rival in the upcoming season.
This term, adjustments have been made below them which means that Chelsea might not finish third like they did the previous season.
While Erik ten Hag, who is expected to make significant changes at Manchester United, is welcomed at Manchester United, Antonio Conte has established himself at Tottenham.
Despite being an ex-Manchester United player, Ferdinand has refrained from naming the Red Devils as potential contenders for the upcoming season.
Due to their Champions League victory a year prior, many people picked Chelsea to win the championship. Although Thomas Tuchel had an immediate impact, his inconsistent Blues team struggled to build a comeback and ultimately finished 19 points behind City, with Ferdinand believing they had regressed.
He offered his 2022/23 predictions on his Vibe with FIVE YouTube show saying: “It depends on Man United’s recruitment. Jokes! No, no, no. Listen, I said at the beginning of this season that Chelsea would win it after winning the Champions League and what Tuchel had done but they went backwards.
“I’m going to go for City. I think they’ll get the three in a row they’re looking for. I think that will happen. But I think what Klopp’s done has been nothing short of remarkable, to come in and change that club around. Where they were is almost like where Man United are at now.
“Therefore, if Ten Hag can enter and accomplish what Klopp did, we will consider him to be the Messiah. We should thus do that with Klopp, in my opinion. The addition of Erling Haaland, who will come from Borussia Dortmund, has only strengthened City’s team.”
Ferdinand is curious to see how Guardiola, who has been playing without a striker for almost two seasons, works the Norwegian into the starting lineup. “I’m excited to watch how this plays out because I believe it has a tactical component”, he said. “What role does Haaland play in this group?”
“Because usually their number nine from the previous season or two comes in. Haaland won’t stand up like that; instead, he wants the ball behind the opposing team or in and near the box so he can run onto it. I’m interested to see how Pep handles that.”
The former center-back for the English national team, Rio Gavin Ferdinand OBE, now works as a television analyst for BT Sport. Between 1997 and 2011, he participated 81 times for England’s national team and was a part of three FIFA World Cup teams.
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