Speaking exclusively with BOYLE Sports , former England defender Danny Mills has backed Arsenal to remain the team to beat in the Premier League .
Mills has explained why he sees no clear challenger to Arsenal , how well Fabian Hurzeler has Brighton playing, and why the league table rarely strays far from what clubs spend.
The former right-back has also weighed up Alex Scott 's hundred-million-pound price tag and Estevao 's future at Chelsea .
The Title Race
How Likely Are Arsenal to Retain the Premier League Title?
I still think Arsenal have to be the favourites. They had a bad result against Brighton , but that doesn't make them the worst team in the world; that's going to happen in the Premier League . They're a well-drilled machine with very strong strength in depth, so I think they will be absolutely fine.
They've got one or two injuries, but that's the same with all teams. Who is likely to compete with them? Chelsea have their issues in the way they score goals and can't always defend, and have lost games already.
Manchester City , who knows what's going to happen to them? I think we're all going to expect some kind of sanction, and they've also lost games so far. Realistically, who can challenge Arsenal ? Everybody below them is very fallible, so there's no clear challenger you can point to as the one that pushes them all the way.
What Would Brighton Need to Do to Pull a Leicester and Stun the World?
Brighton would need a little bit of luck, possibly with injuries, but that's part and parcel of football, and we've seen Leicester do it in the past. Are they likely to win it? Probably not. But is Europa League or Champions League football a possibility with the league the way it is at the moment? Absolutely.
They are incredibly well coached. If you listen to some of the best players I've been around, the likes of Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt , who have seen the coaching Fabian Hürzeler is doing first-hand, it's exceptional. It's clear, it's concise; they have a specific plan that they work to, and it's working for them.
They will be tested at some point, and undoubtedly there will be a dip, but at the moment they're playing with great confidence and belief in their manager. Consistency of doing the right things over and over is really important, and they seem to be doing that.
Chelsea's Decisions
Alex Scott Has Been Linked With Chelsea and Liverpool; Which Would Be Best?
The fee for Alex Scott has been reported to be over a hundred million that Bournemouth would want for him, and that's a massive fee. Where does he go into those teams? He wants to play, and you don't want to move for a hundred million and sit on the bench, so he has to be careful; he's almost stuck in a difficult place.
He's playing very well and is clearly a fantastic player, but does he walk straight into those teams and become first choice immediately? He'll have options, I'm sure. Are teams in January going to pay over a hundred million? Debatable, I would say. It may well be next summer, when one or two players move on, and there's a gap in their squads.
Did Estevao's Performance Against Manchester United Show He Has a Future?
Players always want to start and play every single game; that's in every player's nature. The front players at Chelsea at the moment have done very well, the way they play, with Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer , probably Joao Pedro playing up front.
So it's difficult. If Estevao wants to play straight down the middle, do Chelsea need another out-and-out striker to hold the ball up and play a little differently at times? But it's a squad game in this day and age.
Where would Chelsea let him go? They're not going to let him go to a rival. Is he going to drop down to a mid-table side? Probably not. So unless it was somebody big from abroad, I think it's unlikely he'll be leaving and going somewhere in the Premier League .
The Bigger Picture
You Played With Michael Carrick for England; Can He Turn Things Around?
There are lots of turning points in football; they could do another 180 and go back the other way very quickly. You have to look at the people he's got around him. Steve Holland is a very good coach, and Jonathan Woodgate is a very good coach as well, so there are some good people in there.
This is not just about Michael Carrick . If you give him time, he showed last season what he can do. To really compete, it comes down to identification and recruitment; if you don't get that, it's very difficult. Some teams punch above their weight, but not every team can do that.
The general rule is that the teams with the best players win the league, and to have the best players, you spend the most money. There's always the anomaly where one team does exceptionally well, and on the flip side there's always one that does exceptionally badly, but within reason, if you look at the quality of players and the budget spent, the league table is never a million miles away from that.
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