Spurs to shock, Neto to shine and Strictly hopes – Merson's predictions

The Premier League is back and so is Paul Merson, who is looking ahead to an exciting new season on Sky Sports.

We put ‘The Magic Man’ firmly to the test ahead of the opening week of the season as he picks his champions, predicts a top-four surprise and names his signings of the summer

There is even some dancing chat as we ask the newly-announced Strictly Come Dancing star about his dancefloor credentials!

Read on for Merson’s season predictions in full…

Who will win the Premier League title?

I can’t see past Manchester City.

If Arsenal do bring in a centre-forward, I can see them pushing City all the way, potentially even winning it. They definitely need a 20-goal merchant.

However, it’s difficult to back against City doing it again.

Will there be any top-four surprises?

I do [think there will be a surprise]. Tottenham will finish in the top four.

Dominic Solanke is a really good buy. They needed an out-and-out striker with pace, and he’s that. He’s a presence up there leading the line and he will suit the way Spurs play under Ange Postecoglou.

Spurs were unlucky last season. They started brilliantly and then lost to Chelsea. They had two players sent off that day but they lost so many to injury as well that week. We just talked about Arsenal winning the league, if you took the key players Spurs lost away from Arsenal, or anybody else bar Man City, it would be a struggle.

So, if Spurs can keep their players fit, I think they can spring a surprise or two this season.

Which summer signing do you think will have the most impact?

I’ve pretty much answered that in Solanke. At Spurs, Richarlison is a good player on his day, but you need more than on your day.

Solanke could be that difference because teams were starting to push up on Spurs and suffocate them, but Solanke’s pace and his threat in behind, that can help stretch the game for Postecoglou’s side.

That could in turn help James Maddison, who didn’t get much space at all when he returned to the team after his injury. But Solanke will help him get space and, with time and space, Maddison can pick out anybody.

Is there any other transfer business that has impressed you?

The fee Man City got for Julian Alvarez. Wow, that was impressive.

Player to watch out for this season?

Someone else who I think can do really well is Pedro Neto at Chelsea.

At the start of the summer, I thought he’d be a great signing for Arsenal. He suits them down to the ground and is a player that could have taken the load off Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli.

So, that deal shocked me. If Chelsea can keep him fit, I think it is an incredible signing.

With transfers like Matthijs de Ligt to Man Utd, I think that’s a deal you have to wait and see on before judging. Is he going to be a ‘Rolls Royce’ defender or another signing where we question why United got him? Only time will tell on that one. The jury is definitely still out.

Who will be the top goalscorer in the Premier League?

No one will be looking any further down the list than Erling Haaland.

What did he miss last season? Two months? He still won it.

He’s the only striker in the league who can score three, four, five goals a game regularly.

Which team will be this season’s underachiever?

What are Man Utd’s achievements meant to be? I’m not sure anymore.

I think it is definitely ‘watch this space’ in regards to Chelsea and Man Utd. At the moment, I can’t see anything but them being cup teams this season. They both have players that can turn it on on any given day, but I’m not sure they can do it on a consistent basis.

For both teams, we are now talking about top four being a success, but it is not long ago that top four would have been a disaster.

It will be interesting to see where both clubs end up come May. You never know what could happen with a fast start.

Will the newly-promoted teams stay up this season?

All three newly-promoted teams played in a certain way last season. The style of football from Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton was very good on the eye.

However, coming into the Premier League, they now have to be flexible. They have got to be able to change things up when needed.

The way they played last season worked a treat but they were playing against a different calibre of opposition.

Last season, look at Burnley, we all know what they have to do and we know they have to get the ball away from their goal and not keep on playing it out from the back. However, they kept doing it and they ended up being relegated.

Vincent Kompany got the Bayern Munich job by playing in the right way but it didn’t help Burnley. The new managers in the Premier League need to look at that and be flexible. You cannot open the game up every week. Sometimes you need to sit in and be disciplined.

The difficulty might be the fact that I expect a team like Everton to be more competitive this season. They were fighting relegation last season but I don’t expect that to be the case this year. That rules out a potential team to go down so it will be difficult because it’s a ruthless league.

But start well, build some confidence and you never know.

And finally, will you make it to Blackpool on Strictly?

Who knows! It won’t be for a lack of trying or a lack of effort.

I try not to look that far forward. That’s not how I look at my life. I try and just take things for how they come and see where that takes me.

But it’s going to be interesting, that’s for sure. Let’s give it a go and see where we get to!