Which teams will make the Premier League top-four next season?
The 2024/2025 Premier League season starts in less than two months, and we will be watching some pre-season games soon.
Players have either been away with their families on holiday or have been representing their countries at Euro 2024 or Copa America 2024.
While their players are busy in the off-season, every club is working hard behind the scenes to make some signings this summer.
Some have to offload deadwood to balance the books, and we watched as Aston Villa and Newcastle United rushed to complete some deals before the end of June.
More transfer activities will happen in July, and we will witness some of the juiciest, including some blockbuster pre-season games.
Liverpool, Arsenal, and Manchester United will face each other in America as they prepare for the new campaign.
When the term begins, several battles will occur at different ends of the table, with some clubs fighting to avoid relegation, others fighting for a place in midtable, and the most exciting race being for a place in Europe.
Traditionally, the top-four spot is reserved for the best clubs in the country, and it helps them qualify for the Champions League in the next campaign.
That is an essential goal for all the top clubs in the competition, and their fans buy Premier League tickets to watch their beloved team play so they can win enough games to make it to the top four.
As the new season approaches, we discuss the clubs we believe can make the top four at the end of the 2024/2025 season.
Arsenal
In the last two campaigns, Arsenal has emerged as the team most likely to unseat Manchester City as the champions of England.
For several seasons under Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool was that team. The Reds ensured City was at their very best in every campaign before they could win the league title.
In 2024, Arsenal won all but two games in the Premier League and lost only one of those fixtures, which shows Mikel Arteta’s side is now mature enough to deal with pressure and maintain a winning run.
These are recipes for success, and the Gunners have them already, which means they might be champions next term and certainly will finish inside the top four.
Manchester City
This will likely be Pep Guardiola’s final season as Manchester City manager and his final in the Premier League; it cannot go wrong.
The Spanish manager has proven over and over again that he might be the best manager we have ever seen alive.
His team defied the odds to win the Premier League for a fourth consecutive season in 2024, and they remain one of the best-equipped sides in the league.
Arsenal is the one club that can stop them from winning the Premier League in 2025, but the Citizens will undoubtedly finish inside the top four as a worst-case scenario.
Liverpool
Jurgen Klopp’s decision to leave Liverpool at the end of last season was a bitter pill to swallow, but the Reds acted fast to replace him with Arne Slot as soon as they could.
The Dutch manager arrives as one of the best in the business in his native, having won the league with Feyenoord and reaching the final of the first-ever European Conference League, where they lost to Jose Mourinho’s AS Roma.
He steps into a big shoe, and Liverpool fans are keeping their fingers crossed that his team can do well this season.
Since Klopp came to town, the Liverpool fans have expected success in every campaign, and they have rarely been let down by their team.
This means Slot has a lot of work to do, but he meets a team filled with some of the best talents in the Premier League.
One of the best things Klopp did for him was to leave him with a quality group of players, and this will be useful in helping him start well. We expect Liverpool to make the top four in his first season.
Manchester United
Manchester United was one of the most exciting teams to watch in Europe in 2022/2023 as they finished inside the top four and reached the final of the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup.
The Red Devils made their fans dream that the Premier League trophy will return to Old Trafford sooner rather than later under Erik Ten Hag.
However, last term was a catastrophe for them as the performance of their key players was terrible, with Casemiro and Marcus Rashford losing form ridiculously.
This translated to bad performance on the pitch and was compounded by several injury problems, especially at the back.
United surprisingly ended the campaign by winning the FA Cup trophy and they have supported Ten Hag with new coaching staff this summer.
United fans expect so much more from their team in the next campaign; a lot will depend on how they prepare this summer.
However, they are not currently one of the clubs that can make the top four comfortably.
Tottenham
Tottenham impressed at the beginning of last season, taking advantage of a lack of European football to storm to the top of the Premier League table.
The arrival of James Maddison greatly improved them, and his form at the start of the campaign propelled them to greater heights.
However, as soon as he got injured, Tottenham’s form dropped, and they also suffered from their manager’s decision not to adapt his strategies and improve things.
The Lilywhites play with a high line, and sometimes, even the most attacking teams adjust and become a little defensive.
However, Tottenham did not, and that made it easy for teams to score a lot of goals against them.
Ange Postecoglou has vowed to maintain that approach, which will cost them a top-four place again at the end of this season.
Unless the Lilywhites buy a lot of players with the speed and capabilities to make them defend well with the Highline, they will struggle again.
Aston Villa
Villa was the most improved club in the Premier League last season as Unai Emery’s men clinched a surprise place in the top four.
They had battled against Tottenham for that spot at the end of the season and won the race impressively.
They had lost some form when the term was ending, and everyone understood because they had run out of steam following an overperforming campaign.
Emery is a manager who does well as an underdog, and he achieved that last season. However, the Premier League is not La Liga, and the extra commitment of Champions League football next term will make Villa crash out of the top four.
Newcastle United
Newcastle United replaced Liverpool in the top four at the end of the 2022/2023 season, and they played in the Champions League in the last campaign.
Playing in Europe and three domestic competitions took a toll on them, and the Magpies could not make the European spots in 2024.
They had a good end to the season as Eddie Howe continues to show that he is one of the best managers in England.
Next term, they will not have European football and Sandro Tonali will be back from his long suspension, so it will be a good season for them.
The Magpies have some of the best players in the Premier League, and keeping both Bruno Guimaraes and Alexander Isak is worth more than any signings they will make.
We expect them to challenge for the top four again in the 2024/2025 campaign, and they will earn a place there if one of the top clubs struggle.
Chelsea
Chelsea’s recruitment drive might be exciting, but it is clearly not what they need to break into the top four.
The Blues have just replaced Mauricio Pochettino, who worked hard for them to finish in a European spot last season, with a manager with no successful experience in a top European league.
Enzo Maresca deserves credit for helping Leicester City to return to the Premier League, but they had the best team in the Championship.
He will make Chelsea better, but he will need time, and it does not help that the Blues are focused on signing mostly young players.
Chelsea is one team who will certainly not make the top four next season, but they can spring a surprise.
Conclusion
Next season’s top-four race will be as tough as they come, so we expect every team competing for those spots to prepare well. However, only four of them will earn a spot.
