Three wise men divided on which Manchester side will rule in Premier League

It hardly qualifies as a scientific survey but the consensus among three wise football men is that the Premier League trophy will return to Manchester at the end of this season.

Ah, but will it be Jose Mourinho or his bosom buddy Pep Guardiola celebrating? On that point, a division emerged in the pre-kick-off views of John Hartson, Kevin Kilbane and Pat Nevin as they engaged in lively discussion in Dublin yesterday to help launch Newstalk’s coverage of the new season in England.

For the record, Hartson and Kilbane are going with City and Nevin with United but, after last season’s spectacular turn-up for the books and this season’s changing of the managerial guard, there’s general agreement that this will be an open title race, albeit one likely to be dominated by a more familiar cast.

“What Leicester did was absolutely remarkable but I don’t think it will ever happen again,” says former Wales, Arsenal, West Ham and Celtic striker Hartson.

“Man City have added Sane, Gundogan, Stones. Put them in there with Aguero, Silva, De Bruyne and I think City have got the strongest group. And they’ve got a wonderful manager in Pep Guardiola. There’s five or six teams in it, I think, but maybe City because they’ve got the players.”

Pat Nevin, however, is not so quick to rule out the underdogs. “Oddly enough, I think it can happen again, that an unexpected team can emerge and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was West Ham,” the ex-Chelsea and Everton Scottish international offers.

“Bilic is a fantastic coach. Everton are another if they spend well. But it is going to be tough purely because of the managers John mentioned. The coaches are phenomenal and as exciting as any of the players. I don’t actually think there’s a top four any more. City, United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham — I don’t think there is a clear top four and if they all batter the hell out of each other, someone else could sneak in.”

However, former Ireland international Kevin Kilbane, to the agreement of the other two, ruled out the chances of champions Leicester doing, well, another Leicester.

“The pressure will be on the players and the manager now, to an extent,” he observes. “I don’t think they will finish in the top four but a good season for them would be a top six, even a top-eight finish. I’ll go with City to win it.

“I also think Chelsea will do much better this season, Conte will get a lot more out of them. United? I watched them in the pre-season against Everton and it was pretty much the same as it was last season. Ibrahimovic does make a difference — he gives them a presence and character in the side. But I think City will win it.”

In the battle of the supergaffers, Nevin thinks Mourinho will have the edge.

“Pep is fantastic and I adore him and I adore his football more than I adore Mourinho’s but this is his biggest challenge by a million miles. I would probably slightly edge towards United this season, purely due to Mourinho’s knowledge of the Premier League.

“He knows how to win things ugly. And how good is he in his first year, wherever he goes? Now, whether players keep buying into that for a second or third year has always been a question. But it won’t be a question this year.”

Hartson, however, minced no words in begging to differ.

“I’m not sure Man United will even finish in the top-three,” he declares.

“Yes, they have added new players and Pogba is a great signing, but in terms of the way they were playing last season, it was dreadful, awful football to watch.

“The Mourinho factor, yes, that will add to it but I certainly wouldn’t put them as title contenders. They’ve an awful lot of do.”

It took a fair bit of cajoling, provocation, prevarication and wind-up but, in the end, we dragged the following top four predictions from our three wise men: Man City, Arsenal, Man United, Liverpool (Hartson); Man City, Man United, Spurs, Chelsea (Kilbane) and Man United, Man City, Arsenal, Chelsea (Nevin) — although the latter insisted on the caveat that Chelsea’s chances could be revised upwards or downwards depending on whether Conte can strengthen his defence before the transfer window closes.