The suspense is terrible... I hope it will last.

With less than a week to go before the new season I, like many across the country, am filled with a sense of anticipation and excitement to rival any child on Christmas Eve.

The Community Shield has whet our appetites for the great things to come this season. Never before has the Premier League looked so open and unpredictable. With the ageing squads of both Man Utd and Chelsea not looking significantly strengthened upon it was telling that the man of the match award went to the 35 year old veteran Paul Scholes. The player considered leaving United in the close season but with so few players in the United midfield Fergie easily convinced Scholes he still has a major part to play this season. With Scholes' long-term replacement, Anderson failing to impress on a consistent basis and the career of Owen Hargreaves looking tragically doomed, the Spine of United's midfield is looking thin. If the signing of Mesut Özil fails to materialise united could find themselves struggling to gain that coveted 19th top-flight title.

There were several positive signs for United though as Berbatov looked like the player they thought they were buying from Spurs 2 seasons ago and Rooney looked a rejuvenated force after his terrible world cup showing. And of course the win will be great for morale, particularly after losing 3 times against Chelsea last season.

Chelsea looked very sluggish and only really kicked into life after Drogba entered the fold in the second half. Chelsea were very frail in defence and were taken apart with some simple play from united. John Terry looks a shadow of the player he was a year ago and the highly rated Bruma was made to look foolish by the excellent Berbatov.

Call me foolish but I think neither of these teams will win the league this year. My money will be on Arsenal to end their barren run, as long as they manage to get a new keeper before the end of august. Marouane Chamakh looks a great signing and is exactly what Arsenal have lacked in the Wenger years; a powerful forward who can hold the ball up, create flick-ons and also chip in with a fair few goals himself. With the pace and creativity Arsenal have on the wings he should find chances coming his way on a regular basis. They still have defensive problems but so do Man Utd and Chelsea.

I think Tottenham will have a very tough job this season repeating their fantastic top four finish this season. Their biggest threats will once again be Man City and Liverpool. I think City will again struggle to gel and the sheer number of egos may get the better of them. If David Silva can adjust quickly to the pace of the Premiership they will be contenders for the title.

Liverpool look like they will have the same problems as last season with nobody in the same league as Torres to replace him when he inevitably gets injured.

Tottenham have a very different problem in that whilst they have arguably the strongest squad in the league they lack the superstar that will take them to the next level. Modric needs to add goals to his game before he can be compared to the likes of Fabregas, Lampard and Gerrard. Defoe needs to regain his early season form and Roman Pavlyuchenko his mid-season form if spurs are to have a chance of staying in the top 4 and having a decent run out in the champions league.

Everton always have the quality to finish in the top 4 but lack the strength in depth of Tottenham so I don't see them as contenders. The same goes for villa who without the leadership of Martin O'Neill may struggle to finish in the top 10.

Next up will be my thoughts on those mid-table teams whose aim this season will be to try and sneak into a UEFA Cup spot.


The suspense is terrible... I hope it will last.
Oscar Wilde