Premier League Handicap: Which teams still have work to do? - ESPN

The start of the new Premier League season is just days away and clubs have been frantically trying to prepare themselves.

It's been a summer of transfer activity like no other among most of the Big Six. Manchester City's squad will look very different, while Arsenal have embarked on what they hope is an upgrade to their midfield as they look to challenge for the title again. Manchester United have got their business done early, but have they done enough to close the gap on City and Arsenal?

Chelsea are in full transition under new coach Mauricio Pochettino, while Liverpool have seen their squad significantly affected by the emergence of the Saudi Pro League. Tottenham Hotspur, too, are in the middle of a revolution of their own under new coach Ange Postecoglou.

Other teams in the Premier League have problems. West Ham United, fresh from winning the Europa Conference League, are yet to sign a single player, while both Nottingham Forest and Wolverhampton Wanderers look like they need another summer before they would be ready.

So what state are the Premier League's 20 teams in when compared to last year's champions? ESPN presents a preseason preview with a difference: The Handicap, in which a league table is created relative to strength of the best team, Man City, showing how many points behind every other team is.

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Is it a prediction article? Not quite yet. This is about how teams look with three weeks of the transfer window yet to go; squads may yet look very different. Importantly, we're not saying this is how the league table will finish — but rather how a team has managed to prepare for the season up to Aug. 7, when the article was published.

For instance, Wolves