
Chelsea
Go into the season as Premier League champions, and they will be feeling confident of being able to retain their crown. One big advantage they had last season was not having European football so one question certainly is: can they cope with the demands of both the Premier League and Champions League? One could argue that they are short on numbers and lack a bit of squad depth, compared to for example Manchester City. Conte has strengthened wisely; bringing in a backup goalkeeper in Willy Caballero after Begovic left, a top quality defender in Antonio Rudiger, a top defensive midfielder in Tiemoue Bakayoko, and a top striker in Alvaro Morata (although he arguably was not Conte's preferred signing), who's certainly less moody and disruptive than Diego Costa. One question is up top: if you assume that Diego Costa does leave, that leaves them with only 2 strikers in Morata and Batshuayi, and whilst last season Chelsea coped with just 2 strikers, with extra games, will they be able to do so, and if one of them for example gets injured, that just leaves them with 1 option, and will they cope? It's certainly questionable and only time will tell. An argument which could be put forward is that the likes of Hazard would be able to deliver the goods (in such circumstances), and so could Pedro, but of course that is no guarantee. Therefore, potentially adding some depth up front would not go amiss. The expectation should be, that they will put up certainly a much stronger defense of their title than 2 years ago, and certainly be right up there challenging for the top prize.
Tottenham Hotspur
Last season was a highly successful year for the team, finishing runners-up to champions Chelsea. They also carried out a good piece of transfer business during the summer, earning £50m on defender Kyle Walker who moved to Manchester City, who was arguably not even first-choice full-back by the end of last season. Admittedly, you could question the choice of club: logically thinking; why would you sell to a Premier League rival and potentially strengthen them. A replacement would not go amiss, however, Pochettino has demonstrated in the past that he is never afraid to use a youngster instead, but it is a huge ask and with Kieran Trippier suffering an injury scare in their final pre-season friendly, another option would surely ease some potential concerns. One area in which they struggled last season was in attack whenever Harry Kane got injured, so targeting a reliable back-up option (no disrespect to Vincent Janssen, but there are better options than him in my opinion) wouldn't go amiss, even if towards the end of last season when Kane was injured goals were coming from the likes of Dele Alli and Heung-min Son. It must be remembered that Kane won last season's Golden Boot, therefore his contribution will always be missed whenever he's injured. Also, another area which should be targeted at addressing is the depth out-wide, a top quality wider midfielder to complement what they've already got will certainly be useful. One major question about Tottenham this season: how will they adapt to playing at Wembley? If they can adapt, then they should certainly be able to make the top 4 if not possibly challenge for the title, otherwise it could well be a struggle.
Arsenal
For the first time in 20 years, Arsenal will not be in Champions League. So one question already lies: how will they adapt to the Europa League schedule which is highly demanding given that they will be playing on Thursdays and again on Sundays. The signing of Sead Kolasinac at left-back should prove to be a useful addition, whilst the addition of Alexandre Lacazette as a striker will help offer something different in attack. However, Arsene Wenger faces a dilemma over what to do with Alexis Sanchez: keep him for one year and risk losing him for nothing in 2018 or sell him and have to find a replacement (which is not at all that easy) with just 3 weeks of the transfer window remaining? It's certainly another major question mark concerning Arsenal going into the season, and whether Alexis Sanchez stays or not will have a big bearing on their season. If they keep Sanchez, then a top 4 challenge will be likely, if not then they might well be put under pressure from someone who finished outside the top 6 last season.