See my take on whether Leicester City will make the top 4 this season

After most of the matches have been played this weekend, there's a question that everyone has been asking.

Will Leicester make the top four at the end of the season?

I heard Paul Merson ask it on Gillette Soccer Saturday, Jermain Jenas ask it on Match Of The Day and Martin Keown on MOTD2.

My answer really differs to most of what I've  heard recently. I don't think that they can keep this up. Just watching the intensity of their game against Everton and the amount of fight they had to put in, means for me that they will run out of steam.

An injury or two, a suspension or a player needing a test will put a bigger dent in their squad than any of their rivals. They don't have proven internationals on the bench or young starlets coming through the under-21 league. This means that they will struggle for quality if they hit a bad patch. It currently looks like Leicester will be competing with Manchester City, Arsenal, Spurs and Manchester United for a Champions League spot and all their squads run deeper.

Leicester could have some aces up their sleeves in the January transfer window, though and new signings will be easier to come by than last January when they were bottom of the league. But the pressure will be on Claudio Ranieri to make improvements without breaking the team spirit they have developed.

Whatever happens, it will be an interesting season. Keep watching and keep reading!

This is the season that has seen attacking intent paying dividends - I'm sure it will continue

A topsy-turvy Premier League season has taken another turn today, and it's not even reached the 3 o'clock kick-off time on a Saturday as I write this. The fact that Spurs have just beaten Manchester City 4-1 means that Manchester United can (and probably will) go top of the league today with a win over a very poor Sunderland team. If Manchester United trip up at home then either West Ham or Leicester City could take over at the top of the table with a big enough win.

I know it's early days and you could look back at several past seasons to see an unexpected team near to the top or the bottom of the league, but this feels different. Aside from the shocking starts of Sunderland, Stoke City and Newcastle and probably Aston Villa, it seems that teams are capable of beating each other far more than ever before. Chelsea currently only have the four teams I've already mentioned below them and Manchester City have lost to West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur in successive games.

But it's the more attacking style of the lower and middle teams rather than any failings of the big teams that is making the difference this season. West Ham have gone to Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City and played without fear - coming away with three wins from three. Leicester City have found that the best way to get themselves out of a hole is to attack and try to score more goals than the opposition - coming back from 2 goals down against Villa to win and scoring four on the opening day against Sunderland are two such examples.

Swansea, Everton, Crystal Palace and Watford have all already shown much attacking intent and (so far) have shown no ideas about parking the bus, as so many average teams have done in the past.

So, this comes to my predictions of how the season will go, in terms of the top and the bottom-

Champions League places
Manchester City
Manchester United
Chelsea
Arsenal

The next group
Spurs
West Ham
Swansea
Leicester City

Not good enough
Liverpool
Crystal Palace
Everton
Stoke City

Survival
Watford
Bournemouth
Norwich City

Relegation
Newcastle United
Aston Villa
Sunderland

I think that this is the season that attacking play will win over defensive play and that the perceived gulf between Premier League clubs and Championship clubs disappears. It's when three big clubs, in Newcastle, Sunderland and Villa, drop out of the top flight. Years of clinging on by their fingertips, a lack of serious investment, a failure to make their academies work and chronic mismanagement will catch up in the end. I predict that this is the year it happens.

My hopes for Sunderland's team next season

Assuming that we keep the same formation that we've played for the last two seasons (4-5-1 when defending, 4-3-3 when attacking) then this is the team I'd like to see us put together for the start of next season-

Pantillimon

NEW Right Back

Van Aanholt

NEW Centre Back

NEW Centre Back

Cattermole

Larsson

Rodwell

Defoe

Giaccherini or Adam Johnson

NEW Attacking Left Midfielder

In terms of the changes, some are players I don't see as having a future with the club and others are players that I only see as back up to the first team. For instance - Billy Jones and Steven Fletcher fit into the second category, Wes Brown and Connor Whickham fit into the first.

There is still the fact that the club haven't found a manager yet, but I believe that Lee Congerton should be looking at sounding out targets and getting the obvious gaps in out squad filled. Dick Advocaat reported to Congerton, Byrne and Short that the squad needs quality first team players, and I'd look at the following solutions-

Steven Caulker from QPR as a ball-winning centre half. He's a threat from attacking corners and has more pace than O'Shea or Brown.

Sebastian Coates from Liverpool as his central defensive partner. I think we saw enough from Coates during the run in to think that he can do a respectable job for us, on the basis that the transfer fee and wage demands aren't too high.

OR

Johnny Evans who has been told he's surplus to requirements at Man Utd. He's got form for Sunderland and would complement a Caulker-type centre back well.

Leroy Fer from QPR was one of the very few bright spots in their season and I think he's a quality player with Premier League experience at two clubs (although with 2 relegations under his belt.) He could play in one of the wide roles or in central midfield and scores a few as well.

Kieran Trippier looked solid defensively and reasonable going forward for Burnley last season. If the bookies are correct and Sean Dyche becomes manager then maybe he could persuade Trippier to come to us. I think he's better than Billy Jones, although Jones did end the season well and I'd keep him in the squad.

I've made the attacking right midfielder role in my team as shared between Giaccherini and Adam Johnson as I think Johnson may miss some of the season and Giaccherini's injury record is atrocious.

Any additions to this wish list would be in a loan basis from one of the big clubs. I'd live to take Patrick Bamford from Chelsea, Danny Wellbeck from Arsenal and either Adnan Januzaj or James Wilson from Manchester United.