Premier League fans are expecting a closely contested battle for the title between Manchester City and Manchester United this season, research has revealed.
A poll of 1,600 members of the Premier League Fan Panel last week found that 38% believe Man City will claim their third PL crown, only 1% more than those who say the Premier League Trophy will be at Old Trafford at the end of May.
Only 0.5% of the fans asked believed Leicester City will retain the title they surprisingly won last season, but the Foxes can take consolation that this is still higher than the number of panel members, who said they would be champions a year ago (0.1%).
After the Manchester clubs, the club with the most votes as prospective champions were Chelsea, with 9%.
As to which teams will make up the top four, after Man City (95%), Man Utd (91%) and Chelsea (73%), Arsenal (62%) were the most selected team to fill the final slot in the 2016/17 Premier League.
As for their manager of the season and top scorer, most votes went to Man City. Twenty-nine per cent of supporters believe Pep Guardiola will pick up the award, while 54% are backing Sergio Aguero to go one better than last season, when he finished runner-up to Harry Kane for the Golden Boot.
Where Manchester United do gain the most votes is for the most exciting signings of the summer. United's duo of Zlatan Ibrahimovic (35%) and Paul Pogba (18%) topped the poll in this category, with the latter set to feature for the first time since returning to the club at home to Southampton on Friday.
