Michael Owen makes shock Premier League title prediction with a big drop for Man City and Aston Villa among those finishing above the champions

Michael Owen has made one of the boldest Premier League predictions that will be seen ahead of the new season. 

The new campaign gets underway in just over two weeks time, with Manchester City looking to become the first side in history to win five straight league titles. 

Arsenal and Liverpool are expected to be among the challengers, while the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham will hope to get back into contention. 

Owen, speaking to Casino Hawks, has backed Arsenal to finally end their Premier League title drought. 

He predicts that Manchester City will not only fail to defend their title, but will actually drop three positions, with Liverpool and Aston Villa also finishing ahead of them. 

Michael Owen has predicted Manchester City will drop to fourth in the table this season

The ex-Liverpool and Manchester United striker believes Aston Villa will be among the teams to finish ahead of City – who have won the last four titles on the bounce

Arsenal will end their two decade title drought according to the former Liverpool striker

He said: ‘Arsenal and Manchester City will go in virtually everybody’s top four predictions and I think Liverpool will probably be in there as well despite there being some questions over how well Arne Slot will fit in. 

‘I had a thought about Newcastle but Aston Villa are solid and look to be still improving.

‘In terms of the order, my thought process is if City are not gonna win it, they could actually drop away a little bit. 

‘It’s almost like if City are not gonna be really in the race after 10 games then their priority could go elsewhere – I think there could be a big surprise this season. 

‘I’m going to go for Arsenal first, Liverpool second, Aston Villa third and Manchester City fourth.’

It would be the lowest finish Guardiola has ever had in his managerial career, with City’s third place finish in 2016-17 the only year one of his sides has placed outside the top two. 

Arsenal have just missed out on the title to Man City over the past two seasons, and it would be their first Premier League triumph since the 2004 Invincibles if they managed to lift the trophy. 

A second-place finish would be a strong start for Slot as the replacement for Jurgen Klopp, while it would also be an improvement for Villa who finished fourth last season under Unai Emery.

Owen has predicted Arne Slot will get a strong second place finish in his first season at Liverpool

Owen feels the three promoted sides including Leicester will all go straight back down

A fourth placed finish would be the lowest that Guardiola has had during his managerial career

Villa have the extra pressure of Champions League football this season, and will hope to avoid what happened to Newcastle, who finished seventh after previously qualifying for Europe’s most prestigious competition. 

Meanwhile, Owen has predicted a repeat of last season, in that the three promoted sides – Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton- will all immediately return to the Championship.