Amazing how quickly you've dismissed Liverpool and Swansea.

They were 7th and 9th last season - 11 and 25 points adrift from 5th :?

Thy're both going to be strong this year.

Man, I love Tottenham fans. Spurs went from relegation candidates to on the cusp of Europe in the space of a season but the idea that a team could give them a run for their money this season is too outlandish.

Now, realistically it means that it's a 3 horse race between Chelsea, Utd and city - but spurs and arsenal will be more competitive than last year.

I don't think you can say there is a 'top 5' to be honest. It hasn't been consistent enough, that's gotta be established over a period of 6-8 years IMO. Every chance someone will break into it this year.

The only people who think there's a 'top 5' are Tottenham fans.

Yeah, that's why you said "the top 5 teams" and not "last season's top 5". :lol:

Again, I wasn't saying there is 'a' top 5 - I was talking about 'the' top 5 of the epl last season.

I feel dirty agreeing with you, but this is how I read it.

The only people who think there's a 'top 5' are Tottenham fans.

Talks break down over Gareth Bale as Tottenham question Real Madrid's ability to fund world-record transfer
Daniel Levy refused to meet Real Madrid for a second time this week, on Thursday, after the Tottenham Hotspur chairman expressed serious reservations over whether the Spanish club possess the funds to buy Gareth Bale.
Talks break down over Gareth Bale as Tottenham question Real Madrid's ability to fund world-record transfer. Spurs have grown increasingly frustrated with Real’s confused stance with strong suggestions that their president, Florentino Pérez, has not even made a formal offer for the Wales international.
There is also a sense at Spurs that Real are involved in a crude game of brinkmanship and might be hoping to take the deal down to the end of the transfer window, on Sept 2, in the hope that Bale can force a move.
However, this will lead Levy to become only more entrenched, as he did when Luka Modric tried to agitate for a move to Chelsea two years ago.
Figures of £80 million-plus have been suggested by Real sources for Bale, who Spurs are believed to value at £104 million, but no formal bid has been received.
More pressingly, Spurs are now convinced that Real do not have the money to buy Bale and certainly not on the terms that they would demand.
Spurs are not interested in the suggestion that payments could be stretched over the term of the six-year contract Real are proposing for Bale.
Levy was persuaded to meet Pérez on Tuesday after the Real president suggested he was prepared to adjust the informal bid he had put in for Bale last month to reflect a cash-plus-players deal.
The talks broke down quickly, however, with Spurs judging that the significant valuations that Real were placing on their players – striker Álvaro Morata, winger Ángel di María and left-back Fabio Coentrao – were inflated.
Spurs would want at least two of the players discussed should they sell Bale, having decided that simply having money in the bank is of no benefit to them.
The Premier League club are anxious that if the 24-year-old is sold then they do not want to weaken themselves on the pitch.
Despite the breakdown of Tuesday’s meeting, Real requested more talks to take place in Miami on Thursday.
The offer was flatly refused by Levy, who is not sure about the seriousness of Real’s intent to sign Bale.
Pérez appeared to claim, on Thursday, that Real had cooled their interest although, evidently, his words were a bargaining position, given he has promised coach Carlo Ancelotti that Bale will be signed this summer.
“We talk with lots of people and will see what happens in all our negotiations with Bale,” he said.
“We do not usually talk about other players out of respect to the player, the club and the president with whom I have a good relationship.
"If I do talk about names, I do not talk about money, but £100 million seems a lot to me.”
At the same time, Pérez is under increasing pressure in Spain, where there is nervousness at the scale of the offer for Bale and also how he would fit into the Real team and a powerful dressing room.
Despite Bale’s desire to leave – and he is unlikely to feature in tomorrow’s final pre-season friendly at home to Spanish club Espanyol, citing injury – and Real’s interest, Levy remains determined to obtain his valuation.
Even if Spurs did agree a players-plus-cash deal, Real would still have to persuade their players to leave. Coentrao is understood to be keen to join Spurs but it is less clear that either Di Marií or Morata, a Spain Under-21 international striker, would want to go.
Tottenham head coach Andre Villas-Boas could also attempt to capitalise on the uncertainty at Anzhi Makhachkala to finally sign the Brazilian attacking midfielder Willian, whom he has twice previously tried to bring to the Premier League.
Willian is believed to want to leave the troubled Russian club who he joined only in January, although Spurs may have to bid close to the £35 million that was demanded earlier this year by his previous club, Shakhtar Donetsk.
Spurs’ latest signing is French international Étienne Capoue, with the midfielder’s current club, Toulouse, having revealed that a fee of £8.6  million has been agreed for the 24-year-old.
His signing will add to the acquisition of striker Roberto Soldado, from Valencia, for a fee that could rise to a record £26 million, the £17 million capture of Brazilian international midfielder Paulinho and the signing of Belgium international midfielder Nacer Chadli from Dutch club FC Twente for £7 million.
Having sold Steven Caulker to Cardiff City for £8 million Spurs are also quoting clubs £10 million should they want to acquire winger Andros Townsend and £8 million for midfielder Jake Livermore.
More realistically, it is likely that Scott Parker and Benoît Assou-Ekotto could be among the departures.

Some big rumours coming out over the past few days about us signing Etiene Capoue.

I wouldn't mind it because we haven't really got an out and out DM sub, plus he can cover at CB.

That looks really good for Spain though doesn't it? Their economy is in the toilet but Madrid are allegedly willing to spend 100m on a player??

Also, Milan, if you're going to post an article it's internetiquette to post the url to the source.

None of those are particularly challenging teams, but you probably don't want to be travelling to Georgia or Romania the same week as the Derby.