It's Finally Here!

The beginning of possibly the most exciting Premier League season is finally upon us. Suddenly, weekends have a purpose. Guys forget their girlfriends and hang on to each other instead. It’s what football does to us, and we love it. This season will have each and every football fan glued to the television more closely than ever before, and I’ll tell you why.

There has never been a time in the history of the English football league, where so many different teams have the potential to lift the trophy. After a truly nail-biting finish, Manchester City stand at the top of the pile, and realistically are the ones to beat. This year, there are plenty of teams capable of dethroning them. I’m going to start with the obvious choice, Manchester United. The red devils are an obvious choice for numerous reasons, but the latest and possibly the most effective reason is the addition of Robin Van Persie. In search of trophies, RVP has chosen to break a sacred bond and move to an arch rival. With him in their side, United do look incredibly similar to the treble-winning side of 1999. No doubt, along with the acquisition of Shinji Kagawa, RVP will have a big impact in United’s push to win an amazing 20th title.

Every year, Tottenham look more and more impressive to me. On paper, they look like they have an amazingly balanced team with both squad and star players blending in nicely. Not to mention, this team has now played together for a few years so their chemistry ought to be fantastic. However, they seem to have come up short every time. Quick starters and poor finishers, Spurs have never managed to push through when the going gets tough. This year could be their year to provide a really serious threat to the Manchester clubs, while also becoming the team to beat amongst their London rivals. The talks of Adebayor, Moutinho and Damiao possibly joining this setup makes Spurs look mouth-watering, albeit still only on paper.

Chelsea have really gone out and splashed the cash with what was touted as the signing of the summer in Eden Hazard. The young Belgian was snapped up by the Blues amid competition from some of Europe’s biggest clubs, and seems to be the player that Roberto Di Matteo would like to build his team around. In his process of re-building, the club has also gone on to sign Marko Marin, Oscar and Victor Moses to help bolster an ageing midfield. With Romelu Lukaku out on loan and Daniel Sturridge being squeezed for game time, the mantle of chief goal scorer vacated by Didier Drogba, now falls squarely at the feet of Fernando Torres. The Euro 2012 Golden Boot winner will be looking to hit the ground running to help Chelsea win their first league title since the Mourinho-era. If he doesn’t, we might just see another Chelsea manager lose his job half-way through the season.

Arsenal – The team that is slowly coming to be known as the world’s best feeder club. With an outflow of their best players over the last few seasons, there are few top clubs that do not possess players with an Arsenal heritage. That being said, until this season Arsenal continued to scout amazing talent only to develop and sell on to bigger clubs. With RVP, this trend continues, but there has been a change. The arrivals of experienced players like Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud should theoretically account for the sale of their ex-captain. The interesting one here is the signing of Santi Cazorla. In my opinion, one of the finest play-making midfielders around, he has remained in the shadows of Xavi and Iniesta for the national team, but at club level he has always performed brilliantly. A creative team player with an eye for goal, Santi Cazorla may prove to be more important to Arsenal that people think. Once Jack Wilshere returns, we could be looking at a truly potent alliance, though as always in recent times, a Champions League spot might be enough for Arsene Wenger.

As for Liverpool and Newcastle, I think it’s going to be about just breaking into that top four again. Liverpool have shaken things up with a new manager and a couple of signings while Newcastle have managed to retain the squad which surprised so many people last season. Whether either of them can break into the Champions League places considering the squad strength of the teams above them, remains to be seen. The thought that there could be 6 teams fighting tooth and nail for Champions League spots as well as the title is still an absolutely amazing situation.

As for the rest, there is only one thing to play for – survival. It may sound strange to say that 13 teams are battling to stay up, but the reality is that the level of competition in the Premier League has stepped up a notch. Last season we saw what newly promoted sides Swansea and Norwich could accomplish by playing confident attacking football. So, with that expectation in mind, I don’t really expect a mid-table team. The table will be split between the fight for the title and the fight to avoid relegation. With extreme action and emotion at both ends of the table, this season looks like being everything we hope it will be. Bring it on!