English Premier League Preview - Part 4

Fourteen days to go until the opening of the English Premier Season. It promises to be an enthralling season Premiership going in 2008-2009. So far we have looked at the likely relegation battle candidates, at those teams who are destined to be middle of the table and the UEFA contenders.  Today we will look at the big four who will be competing for Premier and European glory this season.

With the transfer window still four week away the prospects for many teams will rise and fall on how is added or leaves between now and then. But with the current rosters, this is how I see the battle for the Premiership going in 2008-2009.

Champions League Contenders
The big four, Arsenal,, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United are once again poised to battle it out for Premier League and European supremacy.  I expect an extremely tight battle this year between the of the four and for a new champion to be crowned at the end of the season.

It has been a difficult off-season for Arsene Wenger with Mathieu Flamini (AC Milan, free transfer), Jens Lehmann (VfB Stuttgart, free transfer), Alexander Hleb (Barcelona, £11.8million) and Gilberto (Panathinaikos, undisclosed) all leaving. Wenger has brought in Samir Nasri (Marseille, undisclosed) and Amaury Bischoff (Werder Bremen, undisclosed) but for the first time questions are being asked about Wenger transfer strategy and whether Arsenal have become a selling club.

Through in the on-off again transfer saga of Emmanuel Adebayor and it is clear to see why this has been such a difficult off-season.

Arsenal’s weakness last season was at the back and I do not think that they have fixed those problems yet. In order to compete with the best in England and Europe, Arsenal need a dominating center partnership in defense and they do not have it.

In midfield a lot of weight has been put on the shoulders of Cesc Fabregas. The problem for Fabregas is that he cannot do it all by himself and he will miss the  graft that Flamini used to do. Arsenal need a bit of experience and bit in midfield, but Wenger apparently disagrees. He runs the risk of running Fabregas into the ground this year, and this will hurt Arsenal come April and May when titles and trophies ate handed out.

I have not been impressed with Wenger’s moves this off-season and I think that they will finish further back than last year in4th position. It has been several years since Arsenal won any silver wear and I think that Gunners fans will have to wait at least another year.

Staying in London, it has been an interesting off-season at Stamford Bridge with the arrival of Portugal head coach Luiz Felipe Scolari. Scolari inherits a squad that came really close to the League and European double last year and they must be favorite to win at least one of those trophies this year.

That is not to say that there are no questions about Chelsea.  Chelsea’s strength begins at the back with the partnership of JohnTerry and RICARDO CARVALHO. Combine this partnership with Petr Cech in goal and you have a defensive unit that should not give up a lot of goals. My concern about the Chelsea defense is what happens when Terry or Cech get hurt? Alex and Cudicini are poor substitutes are a major injury to either one for an extended period of time will hurt Chelsea’s title aspirations.

My other area of concern for Chelsea is up-front with Drogba and Anelka. Both Drogba and Anelka can take over a game, but I am not sure that they can play together. If they cannot, then Scolari is going to have to go with a 4-4-1-1 formation with Deco slotted in behind Drogba. It is to earlier to tell whether this formation allows Chelsea to play the style of attacking football that Roman Abromovich is demanding, but it will once again  make Chelsea difficult to beat.

It is hard to poke holes in what is basically an all-star team, but with stability at the helm this season I expect Chelsea to win at least the Premier League or Champions League. The only question is whether Peter Kenyon will be leading Chelsea up to get the trophy in Rome next May or whether it will be John Terry

I have written several times about Liverpool’s off-season acquisitions. I think that they are the one team in the big four that has made the most improvement this season. If Rafa Benitez can thrown out his rotation policy then this is the year that Liverpool win the league again.

Liverpool under Benitez have traditionally been slow starters and we will know if Benitez has got Liverpool pointing in the right direction on September 13th when they host Man United at Anfield. A win here will confirm Liverpool’s championship credentials. Another lose to United might be the beginning of the end for Benitez as Liverpool squad has the strength and ability to win the title.

If Liverpool had Fergie, Scolari or Mourinho leading them then I would pick them as favorites to win the league. Benitez is not in that class and I see Liverpool coming in second this year.

Manchester United have been surprisingly quiet in the transfer market this summer with no new purchases.

Fergie took a similar approach after the 1999 European Cup win, and the next season was not a good one. United are poised to have history repeat itself in 2008.

The lack of transfer activity has to be a concern to United fans, especially up front where Fergie is obviously hoping that the threesome of Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez will pick up where they left off last season.

Not signing a proven center-forward is a mistake by Fergie as it means that Rooney and Tevez have to be played slightly out of position and it doesn’t utilize their strengths.

The Ronaldo saga has dragged on all summer, but should quiet down once the transfer window closes.

With the UEFA Super Cup match against Zenit St Petersburg later this month and then the trip to Japan in December for the FIFA Club World Cup this year will be full of distractions for United and I cannot see them winning a third straight Premier League title.

As mentioned above I expect that Chelsea will win the Premier League this year with Liverpool 2nd, Man United 3rd and Arsenal 4th.

This could change depending on who comes and goes in the next four weeks. Arsenal could solve their problems at the back by signing a quality center-half while another forward to help Adebayor will make a huge difference.

Same at Old Trafford where if they sign Berbatov from Spurs and manage to keep Ronaldo happy for this summer then that will change things for them.

Chelski always have the potential to do something dramatic like spending 100 million pounds for Kaka and will Liverpool finally land Barry from Villa?