da betsul： With the beginning of the new Premier League season merely hours away, it is the time for predictions. 2011-2012 promises to be one of the most exciting Premiership campaigns in many years. At the top end of the table it appears that there will be six teams challenging for honours and competing for that all important top four finish. But who will finish where? Let’s take a closer look at each of the “big six” and consider their prospects for the upcoming season.
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Tottenham Hotspur
Major summer signings: Brad Friedel
Prediction: 6th
Spurs have had a fantastic couple of seasons under manager Harry Redknapp. The gaffer has transformed Tottenham from a midtable club to a team who lit up the Champions League with some phenomenal performances against the likes of Inter Milan and AC Milan last season.
Unfortunately, their prospects for the upcoming season do not look as bright. Much of Spurs’ success in the 2011-2011 period (on the pitch) has been attributed to winger Gareth Bale and midfield playmaker Luka Modric . Although Bale has committed his future to the club, Modric has taken much more persuasion to remain at White Hart Lane as tempting offers came in from Manchester United and Chelsea. The fact that Modric looks unsettled is a worrying sign for the club and its fans. It also doesn’t speak well of what the diminutive Croatian thinks Spurs’ future prospects are, as if he felt they could challenge for Champions League once again then he would surely not want to leave the club.
Nevertheless, Tottenham still have Modric and as long as he plays at his full potential then Spurs are still a threat to the top four. The addition of solid goalkeeper Brad Friedel to the team is a positive move as a safe pair of hands between the sticks was something that Tottenham were sorely lacking last season and it often cost them valuable points. However, Redknapp has still yet to purchase a big centre forward as he hoped and may be very reliant on the dynamic Rafael Van Der Vaart again this season.
Tottenham will have another good season but I think that they are unlikely to crack the top four again. Several of the other big clubs have a lot of money available to them, which Harry Redknapp simply does not. Spurs will fight all season but I reckon they’ll end up at the back of the “big six” pack.
Arsenal
Major summer signings: Gervinho, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Prediction: 5th
Arsenal had a fantastic first half of the 2010-2011 season and looked like a genuine threat to the Premier League title. However, after they lost in the dying moments of the Carling Cup final to Birmingham City, it all fell apart for the Gunners. They began to drop points everywhere they went and ended up outside the top 3 and automatic qualification for the Champions League.
It has been a turbulent summer transfer window for Arsene Wenger too. With Cesc Fabregas , Samir Nasri and others looking very unsettled, a lot of the manager’s time has been dedicated to persuading big players to remain at The Emirates. The signing of Ivorian wide attacker Gervinho is a promising one on paper, and adds a little more width and pace to the team but it really doesn’t strengthen Arsenal where they need it.
With an unproven goalkeeper and a back four which looks increasingly vulnerable, Wenger would have done well to buy big players to fill these positions. As it is, Arsenal will play beautiful football at one end of the pitch, but could lose games at the back due to a lack of organisation and security.
I believe that it will be a close run battle between Arsenal and Liverpool for who secures that all important fourth place. However, I am predicting that the Gunners will drop out of the top four for the first time since 1996 as defensive frailties will cost them important points.
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Liverpool
Major summer signings: Jordan Henderson, Stewart Downing , Charlie Adam, Luis Enrique
Prediction: 4th
After a horrendous opening six months under Roy Hodgson , Liverpool dramatically turned around their season in the second half under the guide of Kop legend Kenny Dalglish and new owners Fenway Sports Group. The big money signings of Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez in January showed much promise for the future, and the American owners have continued to inject money into the club over the summer.
Although the Reds paid over the odds for midfield trio Jordan Henderson, Stewart Downing and Charlie Adam, all three will slot well into the Liverpool squad. Downing and Henderson will hopefully add the width that the Anfield outfit have lacked for so many seasons and Charlie Adam will link well with Steven Gerrard and could form a partnership reminiscent of Gerrard’s much missed link up with Xabi Alonso .
Nevertheless, there are still some issues with the back four. Glen Johnson is great going forward but often makes defensive errors, Daniel Agger is injury prone and Jamie Carragher, as fantastic as he is, isn’t getting any younger. Meanwhile, the young full backs such as Martin Kelly , John Flannagan and James Robinson have all looked brilliant but will a lack of experience cost them in big games?
Despite this, the prospects forLiverpool are very bright this season. With Carroll back to full fitness, Suarez in phenomenal form after the Copa America, Gerrard on his way back and those important new signings, I expect a return to the top four for the Reds. It is too soon to hope to challenge Manchester United’s record 19 titles just yet, but I think this will be the best season in a few years on Merseyside.
Manchester City
Major summer signings: Sergio Aguero, Gael Clichy, Stefan Savic
Prediction: 3rd
Having won their first major trophy in 35 years last season and securing a top three finish too, Man City are on an absolute roll. Their biggest signing, thanks to the millions of their owner Sheikh Mansour, is the phenomenal Sergio Aguero. Aguero is a great addition to the team and hopefully we will see Mancini play the Argentine on the right wing and the criminally underrated Adam Johnson on the left. City have smartly used this summer transfer period to strengthen at the back too with Gael Clichy and Stefan Savic stepping in to strengthen the back four.
Up front Edin Dzeko has started to settle into the Premier League and looks like he will have a great season. Of course, the issue remains of whether Carlos Tevez will remain at the club for much longer. The Blue half of Manchester will be praying that he does because City look like a totally different team when the Argentinean powerhouse is on the pitch.
City fans will be hoping that their team will be challenging not just for another top four finish this season, but for the Premier League title. Certainly they will be pushing Chelsea and Man Utd all season but I think the Community Shield match against United showed that there is still work to be done at the club. The squad is fantastic but Roberto Mancini must play them in the right way. Too often he is content to have his players sit deep and this does not play to the strengths of Aguero, Dzeko, Johnson, Tevez, Mario Balotelli or Yaya Toure . If Mancini can play a much more attacking style of play this season then City can certainly challenge for that title. As it is though, I think he will continue to play too defensively and City will land another solid third place finish.
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Chelsea
Major summer signings: Romelu Lukaku, Lucas Piazon
Prediction: 2nd
Perhaps Chelsea’s real major summer signing was that of Andre Villas-Boas, their new manager. Certainly all the pressure of the team’s success falls on the Portuguese gaffer. Club owner Roman Abramovich does not accept failure, that much is clear, and the 33 year old Villas-Boas has now been charged with the task of Premier League and Champions League glory.
In terms of summer signings on the pitch, it is only over the last couple of days that Chelsea have bought a big player to Stamford Bridge . Romelu Lukaku, the young Belgian forward, will likely be thrown into a strike partnership with £50 million man Fernando Torres. As such it looks as though Didier Drogba is being pushed just a little bit closer towards the door as it is clear to anyone that isn’t Abramovich that the Ivorian big man cannot play alongside Torres. Their styles of play are just too similar.
The keys for success for Chelsea this season are twofold. First of all they need to bring the best out of Torres, that much is clear. However, they also need to be consistent. Last season they started magnificently and looked certain to be Premier League champions but a mid-season slump halted their progress and ultimately cost them glory.
There are many positives for the Blues this season. With many of their players fit and ready for the new season, Chelsea look like they can be a force to be reckoned with once again. Frank Lampard and Yossi Benayoun will hopefully provide the creativity and delivery from midfield that Torres needs to get back to his goalscoring ways, and John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic could form a solid centre half pairing.
Chelsea will have a great season under Villas-Boas I believe. However, I think they will just come up short of Premier League glory once again. But Torres will get back to his best this year. He has to really.
Manchester United
Major summer signings: Ashley Young, David De Gea, Phil Jones
Prediction: 1st
And so we come to the reigning Premier League champions. Last season United often looked nowhere near their, often unplayable, best. The first half of their season was typified by grit and determination though as the players grinded out victories despite their lack of form. By the second half of the campaign, however, the team were back to their best. Antonio Valencia returned from injury and was charging down the wing and Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez formed a phenomenal partnership up front.
The Red Devils have strengthened in almost all the places they needed to over the summer period. The young Spaniard David De Gea was brought in to replace the retired Edwin Van Der Sar , Ashley Young adds another wide attacking option as well as Valencia and Nani, and Phil Jones comes in as a reserve centre back who will form a future partnership with Chris Smalling and he may well help to fill out the all important defensive midfield role too.
The only place that Sir Alex Ferguson has failed to buy so far is for the creative midfield role which has been left vacant by Paul Scholes . However, if the rumours are to be believed then Wesley Sneijder could be joining the club over the next few days. Even if they don’t manage to bring the Dutch midfielder to OId Trafford though, I still think Manchester United will be the best team in the Premiership this season. With the likes of Ryan Giggs available to fill out that central midfield role plus the best defensive partnership in the league, in Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, how could they not be?
Ultimately, Ferguson’s team know how to grind out the results when they are not playing at their best. Even so, I think that the Manchester outfit will start much better than they did last season. The new players are fitting into the team already and playing well, plus with recalls of the likes of Tom Cleverley and Danny Welbeck the squad have many options.
As much as it pains me to say it as a Liverpool fan, I predict that Manchester United will have another fantastic season and will lift Premier League title number 20 in 2012.
Read more of Alex Watt’s articles at This is Futbol
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