Premier League 2019/20: Opinion - Predicted final standings

#5 Arsenal

Arsenal

Players In: Gabriel Martinelli, Dani Ceballos, William Saliba, Nicolas Pepe, Kieran Tierney, David Luiz.

Players Out: Aaron Ramsey, Petr Cech, Danny Welbeck, Cohen Bramall, Charlie Gilmour, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Julio Pleguezuelo, David Ospina, Vontae Daley-Campbell, Xavier Amaechi, Krystian Bielik, Takuma Asano, Laurent Koscielny, Carl Jenkinson, Dominic Thompson, Alex Iwobi.

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Arsenal have always been laughed at for finishing fourth so many times, but I think that this season they're going to drop out of the top four entirely - not by much, as you can see, but just enough to see them excluded from Champions League football next season.

They may have superb strikers in Aubameyang and Lacazette, but the rest of the team - particularly the defence - can look vulnerable at times. It's all very well scoring up one end, but if you're leaking just as many, or more, through a terrible defence, the effort the strikers put in is quickly canceled out.

Unai Emery is still growing his bond with the team and his tactics are still being developed. Comparisons to Arsene Wenger are futile, as he had about twenty years to get things right; Emery has had just a couple.

I don't think Arsenal fans can be too surprised with this placement, as fifth place is actually somewhat generous, given their propensity to concede goals in important matches. The teams that I predict will end up just behind them (Everton, Wolves, Leicester) could easily surpass the Gunners if they aren't careful.