Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has claimed that next season's Premier League title race will "be a little more balanced" as all of the big clubs are competing in Europe.
The Red Devils played more games than any other English side last term, running out 64 times in all as they competed on four fronts for most of the campaign.
That would prove to have a big impact on United's league campaign, which they ultimately sacrificed late on in the season to instead focus on the Europa League, eventually finishing in a lowly sixth place.
Mourinho believes that the advantage enjoyed by rivals Chelsea and Liverpool last time around has now been lost, however, as each of the sides likely to challenge for the title will have European football to contend with in 2017-18.
"There is one thing - this season is going to be a little more balanced because of the fact the top six are all in European competitions," he told ESPN. "Not like last season, when Chelsea and Liverpool played all season one match per week, with all the others playing in Europeans competitions – especially us, playing in Europa League.
"Next season, six teams, and also Everton, are going to play in Europe and that is going to create a new situation for Chelsea and Liverpool. I don't want to say it was 'key,' because if I say that, I don't want to take credit from the credit that [Chelsea] deserve. But obviously, to play one match per week and one, two or three days off during the week, have no injuries or no accumulation, the same with Liverpool, I think obviously it helps.
"Now they are going to face a different situation, but with the squad they have and the players they are signing, I think they are going to cope with it. Can we win it? We can, but maybe we don't. As I was saying, everything is good and strong, but some of them [other clubs] are really strong on the market, so it is going to be difficult. Normally, the second season should be better than the first, because you know the club, you know the players. The players, they know you, the club know you can affect in a positive way the structure.
"You can affect in a positive way the people that work around you. So normally the second season should be better than the first, but again, this is modern football. The reality is totally different. So when I see the way other clubs invest, when I see the way other clubs keep their best players, when I see the way other clubs refuse to sell their best players, when I see the economic power to do it, it is getting much harder. It's getting much harder for everyone, so we don't know."
United finished the 2016-17 season with two trophies to their name, prevailing in the EFL Cup and the Europa League.
Daniel Lewis
