With the trophy case getting dusty, Arsenal placed 3rd last year and, as usual, stalled near the end of the season. With little significant movement this summer and this being the final year of manager Arsene Wenger’s contract, it should be an interesting one for the fans.

The gunners are in desperate need of a goal keeper, so much so that if they do not sign one, you cannot see them going any higher than 3rd. They also need central defenders. Then, there is Fabregas. His staying healthy is crucial for the gunners to stay in 3rd.

Wenger also needs to improve his record against the so-called top four. Last season, Arsenal had 2 wins, 4 loses and no ties against United, Chelsea and Liverpool. Speaking of Liverpool, they open their season against Arsenal at home. After that, Arsenal plays Blackpool, Blackburn, Bolton and Sunderland.

PREDICTION: Top 4 but will not crack top 2


 

 
The Villains placed 6th last season and are a hard to team to break down. While they played well against the top teams, their lack of squad depth seemed to hurt them late in the season, sometimes against much weaker opposition.

Last season, Villa also had 8 draws at home, something they need to improve. Whoever the manager is that replaces Martin O’Neil, he will have to rely on Abgonglaw for goals but the inevitable loss of James Milner to City might not hurt as much as people think. Villa needs funds as they spent 85% of their revenue on salaries last season. That means no players are coming in to help the thin squad and is probably the reasons O’Neil quit.

Villa starts the season against West Ham, Newcastle, Everton, Stoke and Bolton.

PREDICTION: depends on squad depth but 8th sounds about right.




 

 

Placing 9th last year, their best finish in 50 plus years, Birmingham shocked and surprised the writers and probably even the fans last year. In terms of transfers, their biggest move of the summer saw former Manchester United keeper Ben Foster come to the club.

Birmingham showed grit last year, winning a lot of close games. While winning is good, one could say that the season could have gone south just as easily. Birmingham has a strong defense with Joe Hart having a terrific 09-10 season and they had an incredible goal to point ratio with only 38 goals converted to 50 points.

Alex McLeish did a great job last season but a poor finish (3 loses, 1 win and 1 tie) to end the campaign can sometimes lead to a poor start. Birmingham’s first five games see Sunderland, Blackburn, Bolton, Liverpool and West Brom.

PREDICTION: hard to say but 13th or higher.



 

 

The steady mid-table Blackburn Rovers finished 10th last season. While the team only had three loses at home (Everton, Spurs and City), their away record can only be described as horrid with 14 points away from Ewood Park.

Blackburn can be a tough team to play: while they have a tough-as-nails mid-field, the team desperately needs a striker and a solution to their shaky defense. The club gave up 55 goals last season, the most in the top half. Expectations never seem very high with this team and little pressure seems to be on manager Sam Allardyce.

Tough first five games with Everton, Birmingham, Arsenal, City and Fulham.

PREDICTION: same as last year.



 

 

Honestly, this writer does not know much about Blackpool besides they won promotion with a play-off win. No significant moves in the summer and all signs point to going back down to the championship.

With no resources, a good start will not make a difference. The question is how bad will they be? 07-08 Derby bad? 11 points?

Blackpool begins its premier league return against Wigan, Arsenal, Fulham, Newcastle and Chelsea.

PREDICTION: last place


 

 

Not much to say about this 14th place team that has not seen the top half of the table since the 06-07 season (placing 7th).

To save off relegation last season, the club brought in Owen Cole and the reviews are mixed. If you look at the numbers, Cole did improve the home record last season but whether he “saved” them from relegation remains to seen. Bolton did not really improve so much as the teams below them got worse.

One other problem is goals conceded: only three teams gave up more goals than Bolton (Hull, Burnley and Wigan) and 3 of those were relegated to league championships.

The Trotters have Fulham, West Ham, Birmingham, Arsenal and Aston Villa to start the season.

PREDICTION: stay the same


 

 

Placing 1st place by a single point over Manchester United and winning the FA Cup, manager Carlo Ancelotti silenced his critics and handled controversy very well in his first season.

While some may say the team is getting older, the quality is still there and with returning Michael Essien along with new signings Yossi Benayoun arriving from Liverpool and Benfica's Brazilian midfielder Ramires, the title could stay at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea’s high power offense with 103 goals scored, 17 more than United in second, a 6-0 record against the so-called top 4 (with only 1 goal conceded in 6 games) and returning home dominance (only 1 loss and 1 draw at home last season) put the pressure on the opposition.

The only question marks are John Terry’s abilities and whether the exit from the Champion’s League last year to Inter Milan helped Chelsea win the league. Can they compete on the two big fronts and win?

The blues have a pretty good opening five games playing West Brom, Wigan, Stoke, West Ham and Blackpool.

PREDICTION: battle for 1st with Manchester United


 

 

Injuries plagued the Toffees’ to 8th place last season but nothing much has changed for the club.

No real signings or loses with only headline maybe being their horrid, pink away jerseys.

Always a tough team to play, Everton beat United and Chelsea late last season and David Mose has a reputation of being one the best managers in the league.

The club has Blackburn, Wolves, Villa, Manchester United and Newcastle United to start the season.

PREDICTION: 7th



 

 

The 12th place finish last season may be mis-leading as the Cottagers were focused on their tremendous Europa League campaign, finishing runners up.

New manager Mark Hughes must focus on improving perhaps the worst road record in the PL in the last three years. Fulham has only 7 away wins in the last three years while their away record in last year’s Europa league was outstanding.

Hughes was fired as coach of Manchester City last year but perhaps this was a good thing as leading a team like Fulham may be more to his liking. The team is old but not too old and can be explosive, just like Hughes was as a player.

The team from west London also has a manageable start to the season with Bolton, United, Blackpool, Wolves and Blackburn.

PREDICTION: with no Europa League, Fulham can move as high as 9th.



 

 

Placing 7th last year after finishing 2nd the year before, not qualifying for the Champions League and in ownership turmoil, Liverpool is a club in transition.

Gone is manager and “scrap merchant” Rafael Benitez to Inter Milan and in is Roy Hodgson from Fulham. The club made some moves in the summer: out is Yossi Benayoun and Alert Reira while Jole Cole comes to Anfield.

The key to this season, like previous, is a healthy Fernando Torres and a better road/full 3-point record. With only 33% of their points coming on the road, Liverpool, over the last two years, has had trouble converting 1 point to 3 points, especially in mid-season.

The team also has a tough start with Arsenal, City, West Brom, Birmingham and United in their first five games.

PREDICTION: same or little better as last year


 

 

Can money buy you a jump of 5 positions in the table? Yep. Last season, City went from 10th to 5th but not winning any silverware, extending their drought to 34 years.

Manager Roberto Mancini has a lot of resources and has brought in Boateng, Toure and Silva and James Milner seems to coming as well. So far the only significant name out is Petrov however Bellamy may be next.

The blue side of Manchester needs to put together a consistent stretch in March and threaten for silverware. Remember United and Chelsea in last ten years? They both won the Carling Cup before anything bigger. It instills belief. With City, they seem to setting their sights very high. Money may talk but belief and teamwork comes with time.

Expect more players to be let go before the end of the transfer window. City needs to improve their defense as well so get out that big checkbook.

City has a tough start with Spurs, Liverpool, Sunderland (away), Blackburn and Wigan.

PREDICTION: 4th place but it depends on how well Liverpool does


 

 

Placing 2nd by a point last season probably left a bad taste in manager Sir Alex Ferguson’s mouth along with the players and the fans. Always in the hunt for silverware, do not expect United to stay down long.

Last season saw a break-through campaign for striker Wayne Rooney scoring 34 goals in all competitions. Last season also saw injury devastation to United’s defense. So much so, there were weeks where mid-fielders Fletcher and Carrick were playing on the back-line and perhaps cost them the title.

Even with a healthy defense, there are many questions to be answered. First, does United have anyone to that can play even close to abilities of Paul Scholes? Second, Sir Alex has given a lot of younger players such as Rafeal and Gibson big game experience over the last two seasons so will that pay off. Third, can Berbatov step up in the big games where Rooney might not be around? Finally, are United fans asking too much of new signing Herdendez in his first ELP season?

One thing is certain, Sir Alex and United have a reputation of answering questions with silverware.

First up for United is Newcastle, then Fulham, West Ham, Everton and Liverpool.

PREDICTION: the fight is on with Chelsea for the title


 

 

Newly promoted Newcastle United dominated the championship last season with 102 points, the most since Reading in 05-06.

Newcastle also dominated at home with 18 wins, 5 draws and no loses in the championship. The same cannot be said for the Premiere League. Teams used to fear going to St. James Park but not in the last 3years. In the 05/06 season, Newcastle won 11, drew 5 and lost only 3. Since then, they have gotten consistently worse, winning only 5 games in their relegation season.

That being said, winning has a way of changing everything. Newcastle won the championship and with winning comes belief. Belief for the players and the fans.

Newcastle United start against that other United team from Manchester, then play Villa, Wolves, Blackpool and Everton.

PREDICTION: will not be relegated but no higher than 16th


 

 

Surviving the second season curse, Stoke City placed a respectable 11th last season.

With no real movement in the summer, arguments can be made on both sides whether Stoke need a goal scorer. Last season, Stoke only scored 34 goals, tied for the second lowest in the league with two relegated teams (only Wolves scored less goals) but their goal to point ratio is right up there with Birmingham. They keep winning with 14 different players scoring goals but can they keep up this kind of goal to point ratio?

Stoke also improved their home record with 20 points at home last year, double from the previous year.

If you are unfamiliar with Stoke, be sure to watch the Rory Delap throw-in show. It is quite entertaining.

Stroke has an up and down start to the season with Wolves, Spurs, Chelsea, Villa and West Ham.

PREDICTION: about the same


 

 

Rallying for 17 points in the last 11 rounds to move away from relegation, the Black Cats placed 13th last season.

While no big name movements, Sunderland has made a lot of summer moves with 4 new players in and 3 out.

Manager Steve Bruce must improve the away record with only 2 wins away from the Stadium of Light (Bolton and Hull) and only 10 points awarded on the road last season.

This writer cannot wait for the Sunderland/Newcastle derby matches. Who is the pride of the north?

Sunderland has a tough start to the season with Birmingham, West Brom, Manchester City, Wigan and Arsenal.

PREDICTION: 11th to 13th



 

 

With their highest ever PL finish, Spurs placed 4th to qualify for the Champions League; well, at least a play-off to get into the group stage.

Spurs have had an up and down campaign for the last couple years, winning the Carling Cup in 07-08, placing 11th in 08-09 to making to the Carling Cup final last season. A solid year last season, manager Harry Redknapp is a skipper who gives it a go and can provide a lot of entertaining football. Whether that entertaining football can compete in the CL (provided they get in the group stage) and the PL is a question soon to be answered.

With not a lot of quality new faces, Spurs face the pressure of signing new blood to contend which may be at the expense of players such as Keane, Bentley and Jenas.

Redknapp recently said they can contend for the PL title. Well, they have to win at home to City to start the season and take full points from bottom half teams such as Stoke, Wigan, West Brom and Wolves to prove it.

PREDICTION: Not in the top 4


 

 

While Wigan placed 16th year, the end may be near for the Latics.

Manager Roberto Martinez has done little in the transfer market, bringing in Paraguay star Antolin Alcaraz while losing three defenders. Losing defenders might not matter as those same defenders helped Wigan let in 79 goals. Only relegated Burnley let in more with 82.

Wigan’s 6 year run in PL may be over as all signs are pointing to the Championship.

Wigan has a real rough start to the season. While they start against Blackpool, a must win, they then welcome Chelsea, Spurs, Sunderland and Manchester City.

PREDICTION: Relegated



 

 

Struggling to stay in the PL, West Ham placed just above relegation in 17th place. Whether West Ham improved or Burnley and Hull just got worse is up for debate.

Either way, West Ham is once again in danger of relegation this season if something does not change. That something could be new manager Avram Grant. The former Chelsea manager gets a lot of criticism however it needs to be said that while Grant did not win any trophies at Chelsea (as manager), he had them battling right to the end in three competitions, losing in the Carling Cup final, finishing second to Manchester United in the PL and was a John Terry slip away from winning the Champions League.

Grant is the “X-Factor” in this team and a marked improvement over Zola.

The east London team has Villa, Bolton, Manchester United, Chelsea and Stoke to begin the season.

PREDICTION: 16 or lower, perhaps relegation


 

 

Crawling into 15th last season and avoiding the last two week relegation panic, Wolves need to improve in many areas or face another stressful season.

With the least amount of goals scored (32), Wolves need a goal scorer desperately. Manager Mick McCarthy needs to improve their dismal home record and be more consistent again bottom half teams.

Wolves start the season against Stoke, Everton, Newcastle, Fulham and Spurs.

PREDICTION: Even closer to relegation.


 

 

A financially minded team in a mad financial world, West Brom is a good example of how to run a business.

Coming up to the PL, then falling back to the Championship, the returning, West Brom does not break the bank and put the club in financial jeopardy by signing huge players for huge money whether it means relegation or not. They know their club size and resources and protect the team. Refreshing in today’s society.

West Brom came in second to Newcastle in the Championship last year but whether they can survive remains to be seen.

West Brom might have one of the toughest starts with Chelsea, Sunderland, Liverpool, Spurs and Birmingham.

PREDICTION: Right back down sounds likely.