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GUARDIOLA WILL FEEL INCOMPLETE UNTIL HE’S WON THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FOR CITY

MARTIN KEOWN & CHRIS SUTTON TACKLE THE BIG ISSUES AHEAD OF THE BIG KICK-OFF

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WILL LIVERPOOL BEAT MAN CITY TO THE TITLE?

SUTTON: I predicted Manchester City would win the title by a point last season. Now, I’m backing them to win it by a bigger margin. Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool must be wondering what more they have to do after last year. They lost only once, finished with 97 points and City still beat them to it.

Liverpool will have bigger blips and lose more than once this season. If you offered Pep Guardiola a choice between winning the Premier League or the Champions League, though, it has to be the latter. He will feel incomplete at City until he wins that.

KEOWN: Vincent Kompany is a massive loss for City. Not just on the pitch, but off it.

We all remember his stunning strike against Leicester that kept them on track for the title, but he did a lot more behind the scenes. He was their leader.

I’m going for Liverpool to win the Premier League, but I feel a new signing would have helped. Having been part of a group of players who demand a lot of each other, when a new person comes through the door, it raises the bar.

A good signing pushes you on.

WILL IT BE A TWO-HORSE RACE AGAIN?

KEOWN: Nobody has really mentioned Tottenham, who didn’t have a home ground last year. SUTTON: But they lost 13 games. KEOWN: But they didn’t even have a home, they didn’t make a signing and still got to the Champions League final. So why are we not sitting here thinking they could be champions this year? Maybe they need to become champions to keep hold of Mauricio Pochettino.

SUTTON: Now that would be a big ask…

KEOWN: But maybe they do. He is starting to make noises that he is the coach, not the manager, and he’s not in charge of signings.

He’s seen a lot of money spent on their new stadium and now wants investment in the team. Let’s not forget Pochettino said he would have left Tottenham if they had won the Champions League.

WAS POCHETTINO RIGHT TO CRITICISE SPURS?

SUTTON: No. I saw a quote from him about respecting the club. I don’t think he is doing that in any way, shape or form. He is certainly not respecting Daniel Levy. Why call out your chairman?

KEOWN: Because he’s honest, he’s strong. Do you want him to just be a company man? He wants to win something and he’s trying to make that happen.

He’s applying pressure. He has had to be patient. There are similariti­es with Arsenal — brand new Emirates Stadium, the promised land, but Arsene Wenger wasn’t given money to invest.

Pochettino may be thinking, ‘ What’s the next step? I got Tottenham to the Champions League final’. He thinks he can touch City and Liverpool if Levy invests in him.

SUTTON: Pochettino feels he has to win a trophy, and we don’t count the Audi Cup in pre-season as a piece of silverware! When he first mentioned leaving if Spurs won the Champions League, everybody thought it was a throwaway comment. But the more he’s talked about it, the more it looks like he would have gone. And Martin, they are the best club in north London.

KEOWN: Not in my day, they weren’t.

CAN ARSENAL BREAK INTO THE TOP FOUR?

KEOWN: Central defence is a problemati­c area for Arsenal. They should have invested properly in that part of the team. They’ve signed Nicolas Pepe for £72million — a big-money, marquee signing — but is it in the right area? Arsenal’s attack, with PierreEmer­ick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, is as good as any. Why do you need to add to that?

SUTTON: So, where do you see Arsenal finishing this season? Will their defence be the difference between finishing inside and outside the top four?

KEOWN: We have Frank Lampard at Chelsea — a novice. We’ve got Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Manchester United — another under pressure. There is a vulnerabil­ity about fourth position because we don’t know what we’re going to get with Chelsea and United. Arsenal could cash in. Emery is the best manager at those three clubs.

WOULD YOU HAVE TAKEN OVER AT A CLUB WITH A TRANSFER BAN?

SUTTON: It depends on personal terms! KEOWN: Frank Lampard could not turn the Chelsea job down and I’d run down the M40 bare-footed if I was asked to take the job at Arsenal.

I’m a little concerned about Lampard’s group of coaches, because they are young.

It’s bold. I want to see Lampard do well. I want to see young English managers be successful. He was a great player, now can he be a great manager?

SUTTON: Would I have taken the Chelsea job if I was in Frank’s shoes? Of course, although maybe they would not have looked at me after my record at Lincoln!

It was a job he had to take. Frank (right) will be given time, but only so much. Chelsea will still want to be competing for the top four.

HOW DO YOU RATE MAN UTD’S CHANCES?

SUTTON: Midfield is an area of concern for Solskjaer. United were right to hang on to Paul Pogba. He is one of two world-class players they have — the other is David de Gea. If you want to do well, you keep hold of your best players.

KEOWN: United were quarterfin­alists in the Champions League and FA Cup, then their form fell off a cliff. They won just one of their last seven games of the Premier League season.

Solskjaer arrived after Jose Mourinho and put his arm around the players. He showed some technical foresight but then lost them a bit. When they lost at

Wolves in the FA Cup, there was no leader. Pogba captained and whenever he had the ball, he’d take a touch, then another, then another.

The runs were being made by Marcus Rashford, but Pogba would not look up and use him. In the Roy Keane days, if anyone had more than two touches, he would be screaming abuse at them. They don’t have that leadership.

WHO ARE YOUR DARK HORSES?

SUTTON: Leicester. I don’t want to give them too much praise because of the way Brendan Rodgers left Celtic… no, no, just joking, that’s in the past. He is an outstandin­g manager and Leicester have a good mix of players.

James Maddison had a fine first season in the Premier League and signing Youri Tielemans was smart business. Harry Maguire has gone to Manchester United, so he will need replacing, but Leicester will be a very good team to watch.

KEOWN: It’ s hard to argue with that. Wolves have a small squad. They used just 21 players last season — the joint-fewest in the Premier League. They can’t do that now that their Thursday nights will be spent competing in the Europa League. Everton stand a chance of breaking into the top six but I still feel there are weaknesses there. Idrissa Gueye has gone to Paris Saint-Germain for £30m and that surprised me. SUTTON: They’ve signed Moise Kean, the Juventus teenager, and that’s an interestin­g one. He’s coming with a big reputation and a lot of people in Italy are puzzled about why he has been sold. KEOWN: Cenk Tosun and Dominic Calvert- Lewin haven’t done enough for Everton up top. Richarliso­n played centrally for a while, then went back to the wing. Ademola Lookman has gone to Red Bull Leipzig. Would I have taken Wilfried Zaha? I would. If Everton had got him, that could have pushed them towards the top six. Zaha is the real deal. He is ready to make that step up. But it will be in the back of his mind that he went to the North West before, with Manchester United, and it didn’t work out. Everton are a great club. Playing in front of the fans at Goodison Park was a joy.

The manager, Marco Silva, looks to have turned a corner and he’s being backed by the board.

David Moyes must be looking at what’s happening at Everton with envy!

WHO WILL WIN THE GOLDEN BOOT?

SUTTON: Harry Kane, if he stays fit. The Tottenham striker is the closest thing we’ve seen to my old Blackburn team-mate Alan Shearer.

Can Kane reach Shearer’s Premier League record of 260? He has a chance.

Kane is 26 and on 125 goals, but fitness is key. Did you see his goal against Juventus from the halfway line in pre-season, Martin? It was remarkable.

KEOWN: It was. Kane missed 10 games through injury last season but still finished with 17 goals, five short of the Golden Boot total.

He takes Tottenham’s penalties, too, and with VAR there will be plenty of spot-kicks awarded, so he will be up there in the scoring charts.

Sergio Aguero takes City’s penalties, but keep an eye on Gabriel Jesus. He helped Brazil win the Copa America. Every time I’ve seen him, he misses a chance. If he starts putting those away, he could be interestin­g.

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 ?? GETY IMAGES GETTY IMAGES ?? Just champion: Aguero with the Premier League trophy Deadly duo: Aubameyang (top) and Lacazette Flair of the Pog: United were right to hang on to Pogba, says Sutton. But he’s no leader, counters Keown
GETY IMAGES GETTY IMAGES Just champion: Aguero with the Premier League trophy Deadly duo: Aubameyang (top) and Lacazette Flair of the Pog: United were right to hang on to Pogba, says Sutton. But he’s no leader, counters Keown
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