Which London side will finish highest in the Premier League?

Chelsea may have stormed to the Premier League title last season, but this year’s competition is shaping up to be fierce.

It’ll be a battle just to finish above the rest of the sides from the capital, let alone the Manchester clubs and Liverpool.

With Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, West Ham United, Crystal Palace and Watford in the mix, which London club will finish highest?

Chelsea

Memories of Chelsea’s disastrous title defence in 2015-16 are still fresh and Antonio Conte is well aware of the need to push on.

Alvaro Morata, Tiemoue Bakoyoko, Antonio Rudiger and Willy Caballero have all come in, but they’ve merely replaced outgoing players instead of adding numbers to the squad.

Chelsea were able to stay relatively injury-free last year, but they need to bolster their ranks to cope with the additional demands of Champions League football this term.

The Blues are still an excellent side at full strength though, as they demonstrated on their march to the title, and they are 5/6 to finish as the top London club.

Tottenham

Tottenham haven’t made a single signing this summer, but they’ve gone from strength to strength under Mauricio Pochettino, largely with players that the Argentine inherited and improved on the training ground.

Spurs need to fund their new stadium and after being burned with the big-money signing of Moussa Sissoko last summer, it’s hard to find players that can compete with Harry Kane, Deli Alli, Toby Alderweireld and the rest at reasonable prices.

Their biggest challenge could be playing all of their home games at Wembley – they only won one of four Champions League games there last season and also lost the FA Cup semi-final.

Do you think they can overcome those struggles to challenge for the title? Our traders have them at 5/2 to rule London this season.

Arsenal

Arsenal might have no Champions League football this season. But that could give them a chance to focus on the league, when competition for the title and the top four is arguably greater than ever.

Club-record signing Alexandre Lacazette could provide the cutting edge in attack they need and the Gunners are confident of holding on to Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil for at least one more season.

There are always questions about Arsenal’s mentality and defence, but the move to a back three has produced encouraging results so far.

If they manage to build some momentum, this might just be their year and Arsene Wenger’s side are 3/1 to finish ahead of their London rivals.

West Ham

We’re getting a little optimistic here, but West Ham have brought in plenty of Premier League experience this summer after a mixed first year at the London Stadium.

Joe Hart should help to tighten things up at the back, Pablo Zabaleta is a battle-hardened warrior, Marko Arnautovic can be a real threat on his day and Javier Hernandez has scored goals wherever he has been.

Are those additions enough to see them climb above Chelsea, Spurs and Arsenal? The Hammers are 80/1 to be the capital’s highest-finishing team.

Crystal Palace

It’s a long shot, but there have been plenty of changes at Crystal Palace this summer and it’ll be interesting to see how they do under new boss Frank De Boer.

De Boer had a disappointing spell at Inter Milan, but it’s worth remembering he ended Ajax’s seven-year wait for the title, winning it four times in total, and they haven’t lifted it since he left.

He looks set to bring in a 3-4-3 system, which should suit Wilfried Zaha and Christian Benteke, but it might expose their defenders – back them at 150/1 to cause a major surprise and finish as the highest London club.

Watford

After avoiding the drop last season, Watford will be looking to do more than just survive under new boss Marco Silva.

The Hornets have made some encouraging moves in the transfer market, bringing in young Brazilian striker Richarlison, Will Hughes, Nathaniel Chalobah and they’ve agreed a deal for Burnley’s Andre Gray.

However, the new arrivals would need to have an incredible impact for Watford to finish above the other London clubs and they’re priced at 250/1.

Click here for the latest Premier League odds.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing