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The wait is finally over as the new Premier League season kicks-off today and here my predictions for the 2012/13 campaign.
Champions?
Manchester City are the favourites for me to win the title again this season. They broke their duck last season and got the monkey of their back. They now know how to cope with certain situations and how to get through games. Roberto Mancini and City both will have learnt a lot from last season. I know they haven’t sign anybody – except for Jack Rodwell – but they already have a very strong squad which is more than capable of winning the league again.
Trending
At the same time, I expect the title race to be very close like last season and may again go down to the very last day. Manchester United have got Robin van Persie and they will surely be right up there. They have also go their skipper – Nemanja Vidic coming back from a long-term injury, and he will be like a completely new signing for the club.
Top Four?
The two Manchester clubs will occupy the top two places and it will be either Chelsea, Arsenal or Tottenham for the remaining two places. I will go with Chelsea and Arsenal.
Arsene Wenger will keep Arsenal in the Top 4
The Blues will be a better team than what they were last season. They have bought some very good young players like Eden Hazard, Marko Marin and Oscar, that are going to attack a lot. With Didier Drogba moving to China, Fernando Torres will have a big season, as he will have to fill the big shoes of the Ivorian. If Torres could get his old Liverpool form back, which made him one of the most dangerous forwards in the world, then the Blues could even challenge for the title.
It’s going to be very tight between Arsenal and Tottenham for the final Champions League spot. I feel Arsenal will just sneak into fourth because of the great football they play. They may have lost Van Persie and might also lose Alex Song, but in Lukas Podolski, Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud they have bought in some quality players. As for Tottenham, Andre Villas-Boas is a very talented manager but he needs to get the forward line sorted soon and also find a replacement for Luka Modric, if he departs the Lane.
Bottom Three?
It’s really tough to call who will go down this season. Every year I feel that Wigan will be relegated, but they somehow stay up. This season again I am going to say Wigan. They have made two good signings in Ivan Ramis and Arouna Kone, but they could lose Victor Moses and should be down there again. Norwich had a very good season last term under Paul Lambert, but with him moving away to a bigger club they are going struggle along with Reading. I really hope the Royals stay up, but they are a very attacking side. That will make them extremely entertaining, but also very vulnerable.
Surprise Package?
With the expected arrival of Gaston Ramirez, it makes Southampton one of the most entertaining teams in the Premier League. They have lots of exciting attacking players in the side and I can see them doing what Norwich or Swansea did last season. At the same time, I think Mark Hughes’ QPR side will be the over-achievers this season. Hughes kept the R’s up on the final day last season, and I am expecting a very good campaign from them this year. They have made some very good signings in Park Ji-Sung, Junior Hoilett and Jose Bosingwa. They will be very hard to beat and could even finish in the top-half of the table.
Top Scorer?
We will be looking at a lot of the same names again this season. Van Persie and Wayne Rooney will form a deadly combo at United, while Luis Suarez – if he can control himself – will benefit a lot from Brendan Rodgers’ attack-minded Liverpool side and with Arsenal creating lot of chances, Lukas Podolski will also be up there. But in the end Sergio Aguero will win the Golden Boot this season. He had a tremendous first season in England and I expect him to get even better this season. If City do go on to defend their Premier League crown, it will be due to his goals.
Chelsea’s future
Player to Watch?
There are so many exciting players to watch in the Premier League this season. As an United fan, I love watching Steven Gerrard play because he is a true inspiration to his team-mates and can single-handedly win a game for Liverpool, and I hope he stays fit for the whole season.
However, I feel Eden Hazard will be my player to watch this season. His transfer saga went on for months and in the end he revealed on Twitter that he had decided to join Chelsea. He is one of the top talents in world football and was named the Ligue 1 Player of the Year for the second consecutive time last season. He will have a huge role to play for Chelsea this season and will also have to justify his big transfer fee. If he can star for Chelsea, as he did for his previous club, then the Blues could be in with a shout for the Premier League title.
