Steve Nicol predicts Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham are the teams that will battle for the Premier League title this season after a dramatic start to the new campaign. Virgil van Dijk is confirmed to have suffered a major knee injury which could see him ruled out for at least five months. His lengthy lay-off has opened the door for title rivals to swoop in on their crown in what has already proven to be a competitive league season. Everton currently sit top of the table on 13 points having only dropped two points so far, while Aston Villa are second on 12 with a game in hand. "I think the only thing we can foresee is Liverpool struggling with teams countering against them," Nicol told ESPN FC. "Of course, you talk about Virgil van Dijk, you add Alisson to that because those two players were the catalysts for Liverpool stepping up to a completely different zone in terms of what the team was all about. It depends whether Liverpool can outscore teams every time they step on the field. "I would say there’s probably four teams that are going to fight it out and it’s difficult, you could find an argument for and against why one of these four teams could win. I still think Liverpool could still win the Premier League, but I’m certainly not anywhere near being as comfortable as I was this time last week. "Liverpool, City, Tottenham and Chelsea for me are the four sides that are going to be competing for this title. It’s tough to think that anybody else could join that four." "It’s far too early to talk about Everton competing for the Premier League," Nicol added. "If anything, I think we can talk about trying to challenge for the top five or six. At the end of the day, they have been impressive, but it’s four games, they’ll certainly be in the top half of the table."
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