Top 5: 2016/17 Premier League title contenders

With only two weeks to go until the start of the new Premier League season, excitement is already building in the run up to the opening fixtures.

Champions Leicester City begin their season away at Hull City and will face fierce competition for their title, with new managers Pep Guardiola and Antonio Conte looking to make their first mark on English football in style.

Guardiola’s Manchester City have been listed as favourites for the upcoming campaign, with Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United shortly behind.

Photo: Simon Stacpoole / Offside.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham follow the two Manchester clubs, with Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester some way behind.

The Italian’s team, of course, will not look unkindly on the underdogs tag after winning the Premier League last year having started with odds at 5,000-1.

Following this most remarkable title win, there is no doubt that the Premier League will be different this time around. Every club will be imagining what it would be like to repeat Leicester’s fate – no game too difficult, no challenge too big, no dream too unattainable.

The 2016/17 Premier League season is already shaping up to be another extraordinary one – here are five of the top contenders for the title…

Leicester City

Will wing wizard Riyad Mahrez still be a Foxes player come the close of the summer transfer window? – Photo: Simon Stacpoole / Offside.

How could you exclude Leicester from any title contenders list after what happened last season?

Yes, what they achieved was remarkable. Yes, it is probable that this was a once in a lifetime achievement. And yes, they are likely to lose some of their key players… But, they are still the Premier League champions and they should be taken seriously this time around.

There is no doubt that Ranieri’s team will be looking to build on their success and the signings of Ahmed Musa, Nampalys Mendy and Ron Zieler show that they will mean business once again.

The question on everyone’s lips will be whether the Foxes can rise to the challenge once again and claim back-to-back Premier League crowns for the first time in seven years.

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