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Arsenal, too, failed to pose a serious threat, even with City's dip in form.

Building from a position of dominance, Liverpool has been active in the transfer market this summer.

Hugo Ekitike is also on the verge of completing a move to Anfield, potentially adding another $105 million (£78 million) to their expenditure.

With City, Arsenal, and Chelsea all anticipated to be in contention and having invested heavily themselves, Hodgson believes the integration of these new players will be crucial to determining who comes out on top this season.

"I think you would really need a crystal ball to say which of these top five or six teams are gonna have a successful season," he commented during an interview with Hajper.

"The thing I think that really struck me last season was the teams below that five or six.

"Let's take Liverpool out of it, let's take City out of it, let's take Arsenal, let's take Chelsea, let's take Newcastle and Aston Villa.

Let's just take those out for a second because they are such widely established clubs.

.

I think those five teams I just mentioned, they've compacted the league even more and made it even more difficult for the top ones.

"As far as the top ones are concerned, in my opinion, it will be quite simply a case of how they start, how the new players settle in, how the Club World Cup will affect Chelsea and Man City, it might do slightly.



It's not a science football, it's a game.

"Things happen in the game that you just cannot predict, you cannot compensate for and that's why we will always be interested to see who comes out on top."

Hodgson took charge at Liverpool during the summer of 2010
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