Former England manager Sam Allardyce has revised his prediction for the Premier League title following the opening weekend of the new season.
Defending champions Arsenal entered this season as the favourites according to bookmakers, starting off with a strong 3-0 victory over Coventry City on Friday.
However, the rest of the ‘Big Six’ experienced a tumultuous weekend, with Manchester United and Tottenham suffering disappointing losses to Hull City and Brentford, respectively.
Liverpool required a late equaliser to secure a draw against Newcastle United, while Chelsea managed to hold on for a victory against Fulham.
Additionally, Manchester City salvaged a 2-1 win over Bournemouth with two late goals in Enzo Maresca’s first league match at the helm.
Prior to the season’s commencement, Allardyce had predicted that City would emerge as the title winners, even after their 3-0 loss to Arsenal in the Community Shield.
However, the seasoned Premier League manager has since changed his stance, now expressing confidence that Mikel Arteta’s team will successfully defend their title by the season’s conclusion.
“There’s no guarantee Arsenal will win the Premier League, but there’s no challenger to them this season,” Allardyce said on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast.
“I initially said Manchester City would win the title, but thinking about it a little bit more, it’s a big change of manager that they’ve had to go through. I now think Arsenal will do it.”
City have experienced a summer of turmoil following the exit of Pep Guardiola, along with the departure of seasoned players such as Rodri, Bernardo Silva, and John Stones.
Furthermore, attacking players Savinho and Omar Marmoush are set to join Spurs, while midfielder Nico Gonzalez is nearing a transfer to Newcastle.
EPL: ‘They’ll do it’ – Sam Allardyce changes title prediction after first week