Football
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Lampard tips Man City and Chelsea to remain atop Premier League

Frank Lampard has warned Manchester United and Arsenal that Chelsea and Manchester City can continue to be the Premier League's dominant duo for years.

The 36-year-old played his 609th and final Premier League game and scored his 177th and last goal as City beat Southampton 2-0 on Sunday.

Lampard is Chelsea's record goalscorer and won three league titles during his 13 years at Stamford Bridge and then helped City become runners-up to his former club in his sole season at the Etihad Stadium.

United were the biggest spenders in English football last summer, paying out £152 million, and have another large transfer budget while FA Cup finalists Arsenal have been in fine form for the final two-thirds of the season.

Lampard believes, however, City and Chelsea have the ability in their squads, the facilities and the structure to remain the top two.

"They are very much a replica of each other and I think they are going to be the top two clubs for the next few years in English football and hopefully going into Europe because they've got great foundations," he said.

While the average age of City's side has approached 30 at times this season, they reached the FA Youth Cup final, which was won by Chelsea for the fourth time in six years and Lampard said: "They are looking to the future with the training grounds, the academies, the squads as they are."

Lampard is expecting United and Arsenal to step up their challenge but believes City, who have recorded four consecutive top-two finishes, and Chelsea, who have become champions three times in five full seasons under Jose Mourinho, will remain the sides to beat.

"Man United are probably going to spend a lot of money, they've got a strong team, Arsenal are always there or thereabouts," he said. "From being inside the camps at Chelsea for such a long time and at City I know what they've got. I know the quality. I think Chelsea certainly deserved the title this year because of the way they played, their consistency level and it is all up for grabs again next year."

City were heavily criticised during a run of six defeats in eight games but they finished the season with six straight victories.

And while the attitude of their players was questioned, Lampard is adamant they are devoted to the club and could regain the title next season.

"For a team that people want to criticise, we still finished second," he said. "A lot of teams have had good seasons and come behind us. It shows you how far the club has come that you can be disappointed with a second place. I think there will be changes.

"It is a club that demands success and rightly so because of the squad but there is a great, great pool of players, a great atmosphere, there's some really big, big players who really care about the club and I think they will come back very strong."

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