David James backs Liverpool to finish above Manchester City this season

The Gunners have earned a reputation as poor starters to the season – with last term a chief example – but having won three trophies out of three in pre-season, they look in poised to hit the ground running at the weekend.

Critics have suggested Pellegrini faced the sack if City did not regain the league title from Chelsea but the Chilean, who joined the club in 2013, believes they will have “a very good” season.

“They have had to restructure the side and financially they can afford that”.

Ronald Koeman will have to accommodate for the loss of Nathaniel Clyne and Morgan Schneiderlin this time around – as well as the addition of Europa League football – but, as they showed last year, Southampton can not be underestimated. Chelsea were so far ahead in every meaningful way that it was barely a contest. We had to replace a manager [Roberto Mancini] that the fans loved who had won titles.

There is certainly a lot more optimism surrounding the latest crop of Anfield arrivals, with James Milner arriving on a free seen as a coup by many.

James, now a pundit for BT Sport, said: “I can see Liverpool qualifying for the Champions League at the expense of City this season”.

City start their league programme away to West Bromwich Albion on Monday and play champions Chelsea in their first home game.

Arsenal were the in-form team in the second half of the 2014/15 season – can they maintain that level for an entire campaign?

Have Manchester United finally found their centre? A win over Mourinho is the one result Wenger has been striving for long as the two dynamic managers continue their coloured relationship. That’s what makes this league so fun.

Since 2010, Vincent Kompany, Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero have been the spine of a City team that has catapulted from drifting underachiever to formidable heavyweight, in England if not yet in Europe.

One of the most talked about clubs in the Premier League this summer, Liverpool FC have had news about their incoming and outgoing transfer policy continuously published while also continuing to fight the backlash of retaining Brendan Rodgers as manager. After a cameo in a 6-0 win over Lyon, he started the decisive game against Wolfsburg and created the only goal of the match with a forward dart followed by a measured through ball for Theo Walcott.

However, Louis van Gaal will need this season’s summer recruits – including rising Dutch star Memphis Depay, Germany stalwart Bastian Schweinsteiger and talented Frenchman Morgan Schneiderlin – to deliver.

Quique Sanchez Flores has become the club’s sixth manager in two years, despite Slavisa Jokanovic’s efforts last season, and 11 new signings have been made to date.

However, boss Tim Sherwood will hope that after a full pre-season working with his squad he can inspire them to a more successful campaign.