Even if Arsenal and Liverpool do not meet your expectations, there is no way Aston Villa are finishing as league champions this season. The league is still fresh and more than 30 games yet to be played, it’s too early even to ascertain who will and will not finish first. The Manchester City you speak highly of even still gave a lot of tough fixtures ahead and it looks like their players are already getting tired or injured.
In my opinion, the opportunity for the EPL team to aim for the champion is very wide open, because the EPL is still very fresh, and City is also not in good condition with last week's draw and losing Rodri I think they are suffering enough, this shows anyone can compete at the top of the standings, be it Liverpool Villa Chelsea or Arsenal, and I see Chelsea is quite good in their last few matches even their mindset will compete with City this season, with a stable team condition with talented young players I think Chelsea must be watched out for.
Talking about all that Chelsea will face Brighton this week and in my opinion Chelsea is quite ready to get 3 additional points there with their confidence that is getting better day by day, no doubt they will make Brighton go home empty-handed this weekend.
Losing Rodri in my opinion could have a big impact on their performance, which could possibly lead to a decline in performance, although it is unlikely. Rodri is quite important because he is a midfielder who is quite reliable at Manchester City. With the loss of this midfielder, I think Pep Guardiola has to find a replacement and this is one of the challenges that Pep Guardiola must be able to handle well so that they can maintain their performance and also maintain their ranking.
With Chelsea themselves, they do have a greater chance of winning compared to Brighton, and of course with their condition which looks like there has been a better improvement, this must be watched out for because Chelsea could indeed rise. I predict Chelsea could win by one goal, or maybe more. However, they also cannot underestimate Brighton because they will definitely do their best to beat their opponents, and with their fairly good performance lately, it could be a difficulty for Chelsea to win.