Premier League Preview: Part One

With only days to go until the start of the Premier League, we take a whirlwind look through the division (no-one likes long, lengthy previews) – count yourself lucky if your side gets more than a couple of lines. We also have our final table prediction, which will no doubt come back to haunt us. That will come in Part Two – here is Part One…

Arsenal
Starting with one of the more controversial ones… People are writing Arsenal off this season, saying this is the year they drop out of the top four – but if their wealth of attacking talent (RVP, Arshavin, Fabregas, Eduardo, Walcott, Bendtner, Rosicky, et al) clicks, they will be irresistible. On their day Arsenal can blow any team away, and if they add a strong defensive midfielder they could make the 10/1 odds for them to win the league look enormous.

Aston Villa
Villa fans will be hoping they can push on this season, but the loss of Gareth Barry – and more importantly Martin Laursen – are huge blows. Villa’s record at the end of last season, without Laursen, was awful, and it remains to be seen how much of a loss Barry is. They will be hard pushed to match last season’s achievements.

Birmingham
A solid defence is a prime ingredient of staying in the Premier League – and Birmingham’s is miserly. They had the best goals against record in the Championship last season. The worry is where goals will come from – new signing Christian Benitez is rumoured to be a hot shot and if he fires, they could survive.

Blackburn
Big Sam has brought stability to Rovers – and has added a couple of strikers which in addition to Roberts and McCarthy gives them good attacking options. If they can hold onto the likes of Samba and Warnock they will be the definition of mid table.

Bolton
I always want Bolton to struggle, as their negative football and long ball tactics make for terrible viewing. But no doubt they will be safe again – and watch out for Johan Elmander, who I’m tipping to have a big season.

Burnley
Burnley are free scoring yet porous – they had the 18th best goals against last season. That will be ruthlessly exposed in the Premier League, and unless they shore up they will struggle.

Chelsea
Chelsea are the only one of the Big Four (perhaps with the exception of Arsenal) not to have been weakened over the close season, and despite a squad that looks a little on the old side are rightly favourites for the division. Zhirkov looks to be an excellent addition, and they won’t drop many points under the shrewd guidance of Ancellotti. His/their only problem could be an over zealous pursuit of European glory. The ones to beat.

Everton
David Moyes continues to work miracles on Merseyside, and with Jagielka, Lescott, Arteta, Cahill, Pienaar, Saha, Fellaini, Yakubu, he has a very good starting eleven. The likes of Rodwell and Vaughan are also excellent prospects. If Moyes can keep hold of most of his stars, they will be top six again. Lescott would be a big loss for them though.

Fulham
Fulham continue to baffle opposition, pundits, and fans alike. Without any really good players (Hangeland apart) they punched way above their weight last season. I expect them to suffer a reality check this year – but never underestimate Woy Hodgson.

Hull City
I hate Hull, I hate Phil Brown, and unless they radically turn around the form of the second half of last season they will go down. I hope they do (go down, that is). Stephen Hunt is a good signing though.

Liverpool
Xabi Alonso is a huge loss for Liverpool – Aquilani has some big boots to fill and the jury is out on whether he’s up to it. If he can, they will be challenging again. So much depends on Gerrard and Torres; if they stay fit they could fire them to a long overdue title.

Man City
The great unknown. Some tip them to challenge for the title, some, like me, think they will finish miles short. They were unable to get any of the top, top stars (think John Terry or Kaka) they were going for and instead paid over the odds for second tier players (think Roque Santa Cruz, who has only scored over ten goals in a season once in his entire career). There was a huge gulf between them and the top four last season, and thought that may shorten, it will still be there.

Part Two is here… plus our predicted table.