Countdown to the Barclays Premier League

Another Barclays Premier League is nearly upon us after a pre-season of incredible spending and no shortage of drama (take a bow Mr. Tevez). The 2007-2008 promises another frantic race for the coveted League title with the usual suspects Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal each spending heavily to make sure they are in the driving seat once again for the top four Champions League positions.

Manchester United have spent big on Owen Hargreaves, Nani, Anderson and Carlos Tevez to help bolster their impressive squad in an effort to retain their Premiership title. The real strength of Sir Alex Ferguson's side lies in their ability to counter attack at pace and with frightening speed. Just look at their potential options up front: Rooney, Ronaldo, Nani, Tevez and the proven goal-scoring ability of Scholes and Giggs. There will be very few defences able to cope with such attacking prowess.

Despite all that, Chelsea are still my tip to win back the title because even without all of Man United's attacking options Jose Mourinho has gelled together a formidable unit that can grind out results even when playing well below-par. It is a commendable achievement to have instilled such a disciplined team-ethic and winning mentality in a squad full of millionaires like Mourinho has done. Cech, Carvalho, Terry, Lampard and Drogba are the best 'back-bone' of any of the title contenders. Add to that the pace of Malouda, the skill of Joe Cole as well as talented new recruits such as Sidwell, Tal Ben Haim and Pizzaro and you have a cocktail of serious talent hungry for success.

That is the key to Chelsea this season is hunger. The fact United have taken the title from them is the key motivational tool Mourinho should use to inspire his side to win back the Premier League. Injuries are the big worry for the self-proclaimed chosen one though. Any long term absence of Drogba or Terry will seriously hinder Chelsea's title aspirations. The African Cup in January will also take the likes of Drogba, Essien and Obi Mikel out of the first team for up to a month. Chelsea will look to their new recruits to fill the void until Easter when the title chase will begin in earnest.

Much of the pre-season talk about Arsenal naturally centred on the acrimonious departures of key first team players Thierry Henry and Freddie Ljungberg. Arsene Wenger has not spent much this summer but still managed to bring in Eduardo and Bakari Sagna to supplement the loss of two of his former talismanic players. Arsenal are not tipped to challenge for the title this season even by many of their own fans. This might not be a bad thing though and it could take a lot of the pressure off the younger players in their squad. Any team containing Van Persie, Fabregas, Toure and Lehmann should be expecting to make at least one of the Champions League positions. Should United or Chelsea slip up this season Arsenal have the raw talent to make a serious title challenge.

The big draw back with the Gunners is their insistence on playing beautiful football up to their opponent’s penalty area and then infuriatingly trying to walk the ball into the net. Arsene Wenger must marry the pretty approach play by his young charges with a more ruthless streak in front of goal. Arsenal must also learn to win tight games 1-0 like they once did with remarkable regularity back in their title winning days and then they will be serious title contenders.

Liverpool are the coming season’s great unknown. Rafael Benitez no longer has the excuse of not being able to match the ‘other big three’ in terms of spending as he has splashed out well over €30 million in transfer fees during the close season. The arrivals of Babel, Vorinin, Benayoun and especially Torres show the reds are potentially serious title candidates this season. Benitez knows that Liverpool will have to hit the ground running and away wins at Villa and Sunderland are expected in the first month.

It will be interesting to see the placement of Steven Gerrard in the reds midfield this season as Benitez seemed to favour the Alonso / Sissoko axis for long periods of last year’s campaign. If Liverpool can get the best out of their new signings and keep Gerrard fit for the majority of the season then there is every chance they can improve on last year’s points tally. However, should early results not match heightened expectations then Benitez may face his first back-lash from the Kop since his arrival at Anfield.


Of the clubs chasing the top four Tottenham Hotspur look the best placed to squeeze into a Champions League qualifying berth. The arrival of Darren Bent means Martin Jol now has four international strikers to choose from but also to keep happy. Blackburn have been steadily improving under the watchful of eye of Mark Hughes over the past three seasons. The signing of Roque Santa Cruz from Bayern will form an exciting partnership with Benni McCarthy who had a tremendous 06-07 season for the Ewood Park club. New manager’s such as Roy Keane at Sunderland, Sam Allardyce at Newcastle and Sven Goran Eriksson at Manchester City will keep the tabloid headline writers busy as the season progresses.


One thing is for certain with this year’s Premier League, it is going to be another roller-coaster of adrenalin, 100mph football with no shortage of thrills and spills.
Let battle commence…

Predicted final Premier League Table for 2007 -2008:

01 Chelsea
02 Man Utd
03 Arsenal
04 Liverpool
-----------
05 Tottenham
06 Everton
-----------
07 Blackburn
08 Aston Villa
09 Newcastle
10 Reading
11 Man City
12 Portsmouth
13 West Ham
14 Bolton
15 Fulham
16 Sunderland
17 Birmingham
-------------
18 Middlesbrough
19 Wigan
20 Derby