Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness doesn’t think Arsenal will be strong enough to challenge at the top end of the table this season.

Asked to predict his top four, the ex-Liverpool player believes his former club will retain the title, with the Gunners missing out on the Champions League places:

“People are making noises about Arsenal, but I don’t see them being strong enough. If you’re asking me now, that’s my top four for next May: Liverpool, City, United and Chelsea.”

Souness’s prediction is unsurprising considering Arsenal are very much an unknown quantity. There are likely to be more changes to the playing squad over the next month, while it will be head coach Mikel Arteta‘s first full season in charge.

The FA Cup triumph will certainly have boosted confidence, but their inconsistency will need to be stamped out if the Gunners are to improve on their eighth-place finish last campaign.

Arteta has had a brief preseason in order to work on the team’s shape and it will be interesting to see whether the Spaniard has managed to create a more competitive team.