Who do we think is going to win the English Premier League this season?
For the first time in a while it is not possible to suggest that the winners of the Premier League will come from the usual group of four top clubs. I’m sure that Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal will all be in the top five but there is another team that may be able to upset the normal course of events.
Claim
Clubs like Everton, Aston Villa and Tottenham will all stake a claim and they will all be challenging for Europa Cup qualification, but they won’t have a realistic chance of breaking into that top four.
The team that has the potential to break up the gang of four is of course Manchester City. The moneybags club have brought in Gareth Barry, Roque Santa Cruz, Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure. They look to have a side capable of making a serious challenge.
If
If they can get Robinho to turn up when they play away from home, keep Santa Cruz fit, stop Adebayor from being disruptive, get Kolo Toure and Micah Richards to play like they were a couple of seasons ago and have Stephen Ireland in the same exceptional form as last season they could just about do it. You will see that there an awful lot of ‘ifs’ and I fear that there are just too many for them to succeed.
So if Manchester City are discounted that just leaves the normal four. Can Arsenal win the Premier League title for the first time in six seasons? Can Arsenal overcome the loss of Toure and Adebayor and the fact that their manager seems unwilling to spend the money that he allegedly has? I think the answer to both of those questions is no.
I shall enjoy watching the exquisite football that Wenger’s young team always play, but I think they will have to settle for fourth place at best again.
Determined
What of Chelsea? They have a new man at the helm as Carlo Ancelotti bids to emulate Jose Mourinho and take the Blues to the Premier League title. They won the battle to keep their inspirational captain John Terry against a very determined bid from Manchester City. That was great news for the club, but new faces are few and far between.
Zhirkov looks like a decent addition but many of the others are clearly reserve players or players for the future.
Gone
Chelsea will still have a spine to their team consisting of John Terry, Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack, Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka. At twenty-nine years old this year, Terry is the only one of those players under the age of thirty. They are all fine players but I can’t help but feel that the best opportunities for this basic group of players have probably already been and gone.
The current champions Manchester United have, of course, lost Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo. The incoming players are Gabriel Obertan and Antonio Valencia as well as the gamble on Michael Owen.
Beyond
It would seem that Sir Alex is looking to the likes of the Rafael twins, Macheda, Nani and Tosic to come to the fore this season. It looks as though he is trying to build yet another team at Old Trafford. That building process is likely to mean that the Premier League may well be beyond them this season.
There we have it then, if I’m discounting Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United, by the process of elimination I am left with Liverpool winning the top tier of English football for the first time since 1990.
With Glen Johnson to strengthen the defence, if they can keep Torres and Gerrard together and fit, there is no reason why they can’t build on last season’s brave runners-up spot and go one better this time around.
What do you think?
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