6th: Arsenal
Mikel Arteta‘s side actually looked very good in the second half of last season. The Gunners recorded the 4th most points in 2021 showing a lot of promise for the season to come. The past two years have generally been viewed as a disappointment by Arsenal supports. I think that stops this year.
Pierre-Emrick Aubameyeng heavily struggled last season scoring the fewest amount of goals since he joined Arsenal in the 2017/18 winter transfer window. If Aubameyeng can find any sort of form close to his past 3 seasons then that is already a huge plus for Arsenal.
With the bad comes the good because youngsters Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith-Rowe really broke out for the Gunners last year. With these two only getting better it should already be an improvement. Another player that really hit form in the 2020/21 campaign was Nicolas Pepe. Arsenal’s big money move that didn’t quite adapt to the league in 2019/20 but came to play in 2020/21. Doubling his goal tally from his previous season, I see nothing but the same for this year. Watch out for Pepe who I think could be the Gunners leading scorer this season.
The Gunners shaky defense also found a big improvement this summer with athletic center back Ben White joining from Brighton. The young England international was arguably Brighton’s best player last season in a solid defense. He is exactly what Arsenal needed especially with David Luiz leaving this summer.