Jamie Carragher, Gary Neville and Karen Carney have made their predictions for the 2023/24 Premier League season on Monday Night Football.

The trio, unsurprisingly, disagreed over several categories, including who might lift the title at the end of the campaign.

Teams have made remarkable improvements over the course of the transfer window. The two title contenders from last season have made several big signings, with Pep Guardiola bringing in the likes of Josko Gvardiol and Mateo Kovacic for Manchester City. Arsenal, meanwhile, have added Declan Rice and Kai Havertz to their talented squad.

There are also the chasing pack to factor in as well, with Chelsea looking to bounce back after a poor 2022/23 campaign by bringing Moises Caicedo, Nicolas Jackson, and many more to Stamford Bridge. Newcastle have signed Sandro Tonali in their attempts to qualify for the Champions League once again. And Manchester United have bolstered their ranks too, signing Mason Mount, Andre Onana and Rasmus Hojlund.

Champions

The first disagreement came on who would be crowned champions at the end of the season. While Carney and Carragher both backed Manchester City to lift the title for another year, Neville believed that Arsenal would end their Premier League title drought.

After their incredible treble-winning season last year, Guardiola’s side have strengthened in the transfer market and have added quality to their experienced squad. The additions and the know-how are the reasons why both Carney and Carragher believe they are nailed on for the title.

“I think too strong and experienced,” Carney said. “I do think it’ll be a problem if Haaland was to get injured. Kevin De Bruyne is now out injured, but I just think the squad has got enough.”

Neville, meanwhile, believes that three things need to happen for Arsenal to beat City to the title, including a drop-off after winning the treble, which appears unlikely given their 3-0 thumping of Burnley.

“The difficulties and challenges of a season when you’re playing in Super Cups and World Club championships,” Neville added as another reason why City might not win the title. “They haven’t got the biggest squad.

“And I just thought last year with Haaland, he only missed three matches. If he was to miss the 10 or 15 that he did miss at Borussia Dortmund on average over the last two seasons before he came, I think that would be enough to give Arsenal a real chance.”

Top Four

Interestingly, while there was a disagreement over who might lift the title, all three pundits believed that the same four teams will make up the top four: Arsenal, Liverpool, Man City, and Man United.

United have bought several quality players in key positions, adding to Erik ten Hag's stacked squad. None of the three believe they will be in a title race, but they all back the Red Devils for a top four spot once again.

Liverpool are perhaps less certain, with Carragher slamming the club for their pursuit of Caicedo and Romeo Lavia earlier in the night. However, each pundit believes that they will have enough quality to get back into the Champions League spots.

Each pundit believed that Chelsea would finish in the top five, but, despite all the improvements over the summer, they were not seen as top four contenders because of a lack of goals.

“I think Chelsea when you look at both ends of the pitch, obviously we talk about goals but also the goalkeeper they’ve just brought in,” Carragher added, referring to new shot-stopper Robert Sanchez. “I think Brighton were happy to move him on. So I still don’t think that’s quite enough.

“I still think Chelsea are a work in progress between now and the end of the season. I don’t expect them to get top four, but I think Pochettino will improve them.”

The only disagreement over the European qualification spots was over who would be sixth, with Carragher and Carney backing Newcastle while Neville went for Aston Villa.

Relegation

Neville again stood apart from the pack when discussing who would finish in the bottom three next season, opting for Bournemouth to finish in the relegation zone along with Luton and Sheffield United. Carragher and Carney instead thought Burnley would be the third team to join the other two at the foot of the table.

“I love what Kompany’s done, the shift in what he’s done to that side in 12 months, extraordinary,” Carney said when asked about her choice. “I just think if he sometimes doesn’t change his philosophy, you’ll see big scorelines like we did [against Man City].”

“There’s probably four teams. You’re talking about Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth, Burnley,” Neville added before forgetting the fourth side. “There’s probably three or four teams that you think could possibly go down.”

Top goalscorer, impact signing and one to watch

The final three categories were individual awards, the first being the Premier League’s top scorer. Both Carragher and Neville went for Erling Haaland to retain his crown, while Carney thought Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah would have a good shot at the Golden Boot this year.

The first category where all three disagreed, however, was the biggest impact signing this year. Carney went for United goalkeeper Onana. Neville believes that Rice will help Arsenal in their title charge. Carragher, meanwhile, believes that James Maddison will have a big impact on Spurs after Harry Kane’s departure.

"It almost feels like he's one of the main players at Spurs and he's only had one game," Carragher said. "He loves that responsibility."

And all three put forward a different for one to watch, with the Premier League blessed with an abundance of talent. Neville went for Onana to stand out as David de Gea's replacement, while Carney put down Brighton’s Kaoru Mitoma as one to keep an eye on after an excellent breakthrough season.

“His decision-making is exceptional,” Carney said. “His dribbling ability is second to none. And I think he’s just the next one, it’ll be a matter of time before he’s off to someone else and Brighton are getting a massive paycheque for him."

Carragher, however, went down a different route, picking out Bournemouth’s new manager Andoni Iraola and backing him to succeed after the Cherries got rid of Gary O’Neil.

“He’s got a great reputation coming out of Spain where he got Rayo Vallecano promoted and then finished in the middle of La Liga,” the former Liverpool man said when asked about his pick.

“A lot of people will tip them to go down but I think they’ve got a manager who a lot of clubs are looking at as one of the up and coming managers who could have a really bright future.”

Only time will tell if their shouts age well. But based on what fans got to see from the first matches of the season, there is definitely lots of drama yet to come.