Analyzing the midfield options of the Premier League's 'Big six' clubs | Premier League news | Premier league clubs in depth analysis

The 2021-22 Premier League season is set to begin this weekend at 'Brentford Community Stadium' on Friday.

On Friday, Arsenal will play their first away match of the season against newly promoted club 'Brentford' to kick-off the Premier League season. Manchester united will host Leeds united while Chelsea will face Crystal Palace at Stamford bridge on opening Matchday. Liverpool will lock up with another newly promoted side Norwich city. Tottenham and Manchester city are the top six clubs who will compete with each other in the last match of the week.

We will analyze the midfield options of these top six clubs who are potentially title contenders for Premier League 2021-22 season.

Manchester City:

Manchester City had once again claimed the premier league title last season comfortably under the leadership of Pep Guardiola by beating rival club Manchester united with 12 point margin. They won most number of matches last season after a dodgy start. 

Despite star midfielder 'Kevin de Bruyne' missing a significant portion of the season, their midfield was a standout in the previous season, providing a plethora of assists and goals. This season, they were successful in bringing in English midfielder Jack Grealish to add to their midfield dominance in the Premier League. The midfield options that Pep will use this season are listed below.

• Kevin de bruyne
• Jack Grealish
• Phil Foden
• Ilkay Gundogan
• Bernardo Silva
• Rodri
• Oleksandr Zinchenko

Kevin de Bruyne is still out with an injury, so experienced midfielders such as Gundogan and Bernardo must step up like they did last season. Jack Grealish will not take long to settle in at Manchester City and will provide the club with more creative options.

Manchester United:

Manchester United finished second in the Premier League last season, with their rivals finishing ahead of them. The Red Devils, like Manchester City, had an exciting season, scoring the second most goals in the league but conceding far too many.

Bruno Fernandes is a Manchester-based midfielder who has helped the club turn around its fortunes since his arrival by scoring the most goals and providing notable assists. Manchester United will be hoping he can bounce back after a poor Euro 2020 performance for Portugal. Last season, Paul Pogba also overcame his injury issues and performed admirably. 

Jesse lingard is another player who had a unbelievable season this year when he was on loan at West Ham United. If given proper chances he can continue his form here too.

Jadon Sancho is another newcomer to Manchester United's midfield this season who will have to step up quickly if the Red Devils are to have a successful season. Ole's midfield options for next season are listed below.

• Bruno Fernandes
• Paul Pogba
• Jadon Sancho
• Van de beek
• Jesse lingard
• Daniel James
• Scott McTominay
• Matic
• Fred
• Andreas Perriera

Manchester United have a plethora of midfield options to consider this season, and if they can find the right combination, no one will be able to stop them from becoming champions.

Chelsea:

Chelsea won the UEFA Champions League and finished fourth in the Premier League last season after a thrilling season in which they beat Leicester City to the title. Their load of new signings began to click at the end of last season, propelling Chelsea to European champion status.

Last season, Kai Havertz was one of the most important midfielders, scoring some crucial goals in crucial finals. After the departure of Frank Lampard, Mason Mount has rediscovered his form under new manager 'Thomas Tuchel,' and he was the Premier League's most exciting young prospect last season. Last season, Kante dominated the midfield in both the Premier League and the Champions League.

Chelsea have loads of midfielders, and Thomas Tuchel will undoubtedly have difficulty selecting starting lineups this season. Here are the midfielders who are contenders to be in starting line-up this season.

• Kai Havertz
• Ngolo Kante
• Mason Mount
• Jorginho
• Christian Pulisic
• Mateo Kovacic
• Hakim Ziyech
• Loftus-Cheek

Pulisic and Ziyech must increase their ambitions to play regular football this season in order for Chelsea to have more competition in the midfield. They are strong contenders for the Premier League title this season.

Liverpool:

Liverpool had a good season last year, finishing in third place in the Premier League table and easily qualifying for the Champions League the following season. Under Jurgen Klopp's leadership, their front three dominated once again last season.

Liverpool has one of the weakest midfields among the top six teams, but they managed to get over the line last season. Last season, Thiago Alcantra was a welcome addition who took his time acclimating to the Premier League's fast pace, but there are no other reliable midfield options.

They desperately needs to sign some big name midfielder for this season as Henderson, Chamberlain and Fabinho have their injury issues. I guess they will not be as lucky as last season if they don not strengthen their midfield. With no sustainable options in the midfield Klopp needs to setup midfield as soon as possible. Otherwise they will be no different than Arsenal in coming years.

Here is the list of midfielders available to Jurgen Klopp.

• Jordan Henderson
• Thiago Alcantra
• Fabinho
• Xherdan Shaqiri
• Oxlade-Chamberlain
• Keita
• Milner
• Harvey Elliot

With this weak midfield, winning a competitive league like Premier League looks unlikely and they are not as strong title contenders as they were last season.

Tottenham Hotspurs:

Tottenham Hotspur had a horrible season as they finished out of European positions and have only qualified for newly made Europa Conference League and conceded 45 goals. Sacking Mourinho was also a disaster for the club as they looked direction less whole season.

Their inconsistency in midfield has played a crucial part in sacking of Jose Mourinho. Despite Harry Kane's outstanding performance last season their midfield failed to link-up with Son and Kane which resulted in downfall of  the club.

Ndombele and Lo Celso have failed to impress in yet another season with only positive performances coming from 'Hojberg'. Although they have plenty of midfielders like Alli, Son, Winks and Sissoko, they failed miserbly in finding a perfect combination and just finished above rivals Arsenal.

Nuno Espirito is appointed as the new head coach and he have already plenty to think about in midfield area. Here are the midfield options that Nuno Espirito have right now.

• Son Hueng-Min
• Dele Alli
• Lucas Moura
• Harry Winks
• Hojberg
• Ndombele
• Lo Celso
• Sissoko

They have a lot of talented midfielders, but their coach needs to find the right combination and try to make them more consistent in order to finish in the Premier League's top four positions this season.

Arsenal:

Arsenal is without a doubt the worst team in the Premier League big six right now, having failed to qualify for the top six in the last few seasons and not having played Champions League football in a long time due to their worst team combinations. After Wenger's departure, Arsnel hasn't been threatening title contenders.

When we look at their midfield options, it's clear that head coach Mikel Arteta doesn't have many reliable options. Saka made some notable contributions in the Premier League last season, and there is nothing else. Last summer, they signed 'Thomas Partey,' but he has done nothing to improve Arsenal's midfield.

Arsenal's board of directors showed a lot of grit and patience last summer by not sacking Arteta, but that will not happen this season. We fear that if Arsenal's situation does not improve soon, Arteta will be forced to leave the club. There aren't many midfield options for Arteta at the moment, but he can choose from the following players.

• Bukayo Saka
• Granit Xhaka
• Smith Rowe
• Thomas Partey
• Joe willock
• Mohamed Elneny
• Lucas Torreira
• Maitland-Niles

If Saka is Arsenal's best player, it's easy to see how they ended up in eighth place last season. If they want to play European football, they need to sign a top quality midfielder and a reliable defensive midfielder as soon as possible.