Defending champions Manchester City are gunning for a hat-trick of titles this season

The real question is - can anyone stop them from winning three in a row?

Analyst Egeonu Ifeanyichukwu takes a look at Manchester City's first game of the season and other top four teams.

This is certainly the next goal for Pep Guardiola, who has already achieved this feat in Spain with FC Barcelona & in Germany with FC Bayern Munich.

Liverpool ran City close last time out, finishing a point behind Guardiola's men, but will others mount a serious title challenge this time?

City go into this season with a lot resting on players who haven't done it for them yet & judging by history we know it'll take a while for all the pieces in the puzzle to fit in..

But in Erling Haaland & Julian Alvarez, they have got some exciting young talents in the final third of the pitch.. That could end up the difference this season between them & Liverpool. It's going to be that close once again.

Manchester City kick-off their title defence at the London Stadium against the Hammers who themselves have added to their squad with the signings of Gianluca Scamacca from Sampdoria, who might not be up to speed yet. 

Defensively, the Hammers could struggle a bit this season. Defender, Nayef Aguerd, who they signed earlier in the summer, is out injured.

So I don't see David Moyes' men causing City problems like they did when both teams played out a stalemate at the London Stadium at the end of last season.

Pep Guardiola's men weren't at their best in the against Liverpool in the Community Shield but I'm expecting an improved performance this time, and also it could be a perfect fixture for Erling Haaland to open his goalscoring account.

Prediction: Manchester City 2-1 West ham

Liverpool - 'Spurred by the memories of missing out'

Jurgen Klopps's men are going to miss Sadio Mane badly because he brought so much to the team with his closing down as well as his goals. Losing him could be big, but his replacement could even be bigger. We just don't know yet. Whatever happens with Darwin Nunez, a front of three of Salah, Diaz & Jota will be difficult to stop, but I still see them coming behind City.

As for their opening fixture against Fulham on Saturday lunch time, Liverpool were very good in the Community Shield last weekend & tomorrow is going to be a difficult day for Fulham on their return to the top flight. I think they'll struggle throughout the season too..

Prediction: Fulham 0-3 Liverpool

Chelsea have a little bit of uncertainty around them - they are in the middle of a rebuild with a change of ownership and quite a lot movement in their squad. Antonio Rudiger is a massive loss at the back. Yes, they have brought in Kalidou Koulibaly, but for them to be even more competitive this season, they need to bring in another center-back to go with the Senegalese captain. 

Sterling is a smart signing & gives them something different.. They also need a striker & their full-backs have to stay fit - Recce James and Ben Chilwell were out for long periods last season and they were badly missed because that is where a lot of their creativity come from.

As for the game at Goodison Park, it's strange that Chelsea don't seem to be properly prepared for the start of the season - they are still trying to get signings through the door and their squad is ready.

Everton on the other hand have problems of their own too. Dominic Calvert-Lewin is injured & could be out for as long as 6 weeks, Salomon Rondon is suspended and Richarlison has left for Tottenham - so they have no-one to lead their attack on Saturday.

They are going to rely on the Goodison Park crowd to give them a lift, like they did last season, but they can't help them scoring goals.

Prediction: Everton 0-2 Chelsea

Tottenham Hotspur - 'They going to be difficult to beat'

We have already seen Tottenham's progress since Conte took charge in November and I'm sure he's going to get them working hard again. 

Their firepower is almost unrivaled and his style of play is very organized - they wouldn't let in that many goals.They have brought in a lot of aggressive players so they will have a lot of steel this season. Can they last the haul? I guess we will all have to wait & see.

There's usually a lot of excitement around Tottenham at the start of a new season. Richarlison is suspended for their opener against Southampton but it's going to be interesting to see how he fits into Conte's team after joining from Everton. Dejan Kulusevski did really well after arriving in January, same as Bentancur and we know how good Son Heung-Min and Harry Kane are, so I wait to see to how Conte will fit them all into his team. Still, it's not such a bad headache to have as a manager as it gives you a variety of options.

In contrast to what is expected from Spurs, a lot of people seem to be predicting  Southampton will get relegated. But Saints seem to get written off every season and then prove people wrong.

As for my prediction for the game, I expect Spurs to hit the ground running.

Prediction 3-0 Southampton