Cesc Fabregas gives his assessment of Arsenal's chances for the Premier League title and makes predictions for the top four finishes

Cesc Fabregas is optimistic about the future of his former club Arsenal under Mikel Arteta's leadership. He believes that the team is continually improving and progressing, and anticipates that they will ultimately dethrone Manchester City as the dominant force in the Premier League this season.

City were taken all the way by Arsenal last season but defeated West Ham on the final day of the campaign to get their hands on the Premier League trophy for a fourth year in succession.

The Gunners are determined to go one better this term and have added Riccardo Calafiori to their squad, with David Raya joining on a permanent basis, as they look to win a first top-flight title in over two decades.

But they know it will be no mean feat against Guardiola’s men, who got their campaign off to the perfect start with victory over Manchester United in the Community Shield last weekend.

City have also strengthened in attack with the signing of young Brazilian winger Savinho and reports this week indicate the English champions have agreed with Liverpool forward Luis Diaz.

However, Fabregas – speaking on the Planet Premier League podcast – appeared confident that it would finally be Arsenal’s year as he could only envisage City ‘going down or staying the same’.

‘I really like Mikel because he’s a hungry manager, a very smart boy, intelligent and tactically he’s good. He has people around him that work very, very well,’ the ex-Arsenal and Spain midfielder said.

‘The thing that I see between City and Arsenal is that Arsenal is a young team, full of hunger and they just keep growing. You can see they are getting better, getting better every year.

‘With Man City, I just feel that it’s very, very difficult to get better than what they did with winning the treble, four times in the the Premier League in a row, so I can see them only going down.

‘I can only see them going down or staying the same and this is the thing that makes me feel that Arsenal could potentially make it happen. I have to be honest, I said the same thing that I’m saying now last year.

‘But I just see, continuously, Arsenal growing and growing and I can feel that this could be the year for them.’

Fabregas believes Arsenal will finish at the top of the tree come next May, with City, Liverpool and Chelsea making up the remainder of the top four.

Asked to predict his top four, the former Arsenal captain replied: ‘Arsenal, City, Liverpool, Chelsea.’

Fabregas was saddened by Emile Smith Rowe’s departure from Arsenal but is confident the attacking midfielder has joined a well-suited club in Fulham and can ‘come back to the top’.

‘I really like this player. I’m a big fan of him,’ the 2010 World Cup winner continued.

‘He’s so powerful when he drives the ball, he has this eye, the smell, to score goals and to be in the right position at the right time. He does passing, he understands the third man very well.

‘You can see that he has been brought up the Arsenal way. He’s super smart, he’s competitive, he has a really good engine.

‘It’s terrible that he needs to leave Arsenal because of injuries and then struggling to come back.

‘And of course, with Arteta being so demanding and he already made his team in a certain way. They are very competitive and he struggled to get his way back.

‘But he’ll come back, he’ll come back to the top. I think Fulham is the right step.

‘He’s been very smart. Fulham play good football, they have a good coach, they have stability, that had a good season last year, good footballers.

‘I believe having one or two seasons playing well at Fulham… he’s still young and he will come back to the top.’

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