Will Arsenal be the top London club again in 2023/24 or can Chelsea or Spurs topple them?

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Arsenal reigned supreme in London last season as they comfortably finished well ahead of their local rivals. However, with the new 2023/24 campaign on the horizon, can the Gunners keep their crown as kings of the capital? We take a look at the London-based clubs who’ll be competing in the Premier League next season and try to predict who’ll finish highest.

Arsenal

There is only one place to start and that’s with last season’s runners-up, Arsenal. The Gunners were one of the surprise packages of last season. Many expected Mikel Arteta’s men to struggle to even finish in the top four but they proved everyone wrong by putting together a sustained title challenge.

Arsenal were top of the table for 248 days and at one stage it looked as though they were going to go on and win the Premier League for the first time since 2004. In March, they held an eight-point lead over Man City and were installed as the bookmakers favourites to win the title. However, a monumental collapse in April saw them win just three points from four games and City took full advantage to reclaim top spot. They didn’t look back and Pep Guardiola’s men went on to win their fifth title in six years en route to an historic treble.

Arsenal fans were distraught at blowing the title race but on reflection they did extremely well just to go toe-to-toe with Man City. The young squad will be another year older and the Gunners have strengthened the squad with the signing of Declan Rice this summer. Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber have also arrived to add more depth while Arteta is expected to bring in one or two further additions later in the window. So Arsenal look in great shape heading into the new season and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them challenging City for the title once again. They may fall short given the quality of Guardiola’s squad, but Arsenal are the firm favourites to retain their title of the king of London next season.

Chelsea

The 2022/23 campaign was a complete and utter disaster for Chelsea. Managerial issues didn’t help, but owner Todd Boehly’s bold plan to spend over £600m on new players in just 6 months backfired in spectacular fashion. Chelsea were left with a bloated squad and with the club going through three managers last season, they were like a rudderless ship at times.

New players struggled to settle due to the circus that was going on within the club, seasoned pro’s had one eye on leaving at the end of the season and it was left to the youngsters to carry the can towards the end of the campaign. It was a complete mess, and Chelsea ended up finishing 12th in the table – there worst finish in over 20 years – missing out on European qualification altogether.

Mauricio Pochettino has arrived this summer to overhaul the squad. The likes of Kai Havertz, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, Mason Mount, Cesar Azpilicueta, Kalidou Koulibaly, Edouard Mendy, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Christian Pulisic have all left the club. Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson have arrived to freshen up the attack while youngsters like Angelo and Diego Moreira have also been signed for the future.

However, Pochettino is expected to bring in several new players over the coming weeks and he has a huge task to build a squad capable of competing for the top four this coming season. With so many changes in playing personnel, it will take time for Poch to build the team he wants and get them playing to his style of football. I think it will be a success if Chelsea can finish fifth or sixth this year, and a top four finish would be a terrific achievement.

Tottenham

Last season was also a year to forget for Tottenham fans. At one stage, they were in the mix to finish in the top four. However, Antonio Conte publicly criticised the players and the clubs hierarchy, and there season went downhill from there. Spurs ended up using three managers last season and none could get the players motivated enough to make a sustained push for Europe. Not even Harry Kane’s goals could save them this time.

Tottenham drifted away towards the end of the campaign and they ended up finishing eighth, therefore missing out on European qualification. Demand for Tottenham tickets dried up during the closing games as supporters knew there was nothing to play for. Unbelievably, Spurs were actually the second highest London based club last season, despite their lowly position in the table. I think the best they can hope for this year is to be the second best London club again, although they’ll hope to finish in the top six at least this time around.

New boss Ange Postecoglou has come in and made it clear he won’t take any rubbish, so fans will hope his no-nonsense approach will finally bring a winning mentality to the club. But they also need quality players and Tottenham have signed James Maddison, Guglielmo Vicario and Manor Solomon this summer to strengthen their squad. More new additions are expected but the key will be keeping hold of Harry Kane. The England hitman is being linked with Bayern Munich and it would be a disaster to lose him. If Spurs can keep Kane, they could make a push for the top six, but without him they will struggle to qualify for Europe again.

The rest

Brentford enjoyed an excellent 2022/23 season as they finished ninth, just behind Spurs, while Fulham also did superbly well to finish 10th. They’ll want to maintain those positions this coming campaign by finishing in the top half of the table again, but it will be extremely tough for either Brentford or Fulham to break into the top eight. Brentford in particular may struggle given they’ll be without star striker Ivan Toney until January 2024.

Crystal Palace finished 11th last season and they’d probably bite your hand off if you offered them that again for the coming year. Roy Hodgson did an unbelievable job to steer them clear of relegation but he’ll know how tough it’s going to be to push even higher up the table. West Ham enjoyed a memorable 2022/23 season as they won the Conference League, ending their long trophy drought. However, domestically, the Hammers struggled and finished 14th – which will be disappointing for David Moyes. The Hammers will hope to push for at least a mid-table position this season as long as they can cope with the extra games in the Europa League.

So it’s promising to be another fascinating season for the seven London based clubs in the Premier League. However, as it stands, you’d bet your house that Arsenal will once again be top dogs in the capital this coming campaign.

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