After my article on the teams who I believe to be in the lower reaches of the EPL, it's a natural progression to move onto the teams who I see as european challengers and the mid table battlers.
Aston Villa haven't really brought in any players who will set the world on fire, but the addition of a solid keeper in Brad Friedel and two solid fullbacks to replace the loss of Olof Mellberg and the injured Wilfred Bouma can only be a good thing.
Steve Sidwell in the midfield will add a little extra depth, however they are still looking desperately thin if injuries strike. My prediction in based on an injury free season for the villains.
Prediction:5th
New Blackburn manager Paul Ince will have a lot to live up to with Mark Hughes now at Man City. However, I believe his previous jobs at Macclesfield and MK Dons will stand him in good stead.
The loss of Brad Friedel and David Bentley will be a massive loss for Rovers, but should they be able to hang on to Benni McCarthy and Roque Santa Cruz up front then Blackburn stand a chance of being a force this season.
Prediction: 12th
Everton have struggled to bring any new signings in this season. With the loss of forward Andrew Johnson hopefully funding transfers in this coming week for the toffees. There will also be no Manuel Fernandes and Lee Carsley in the midfield, which will be a loss for the Liverpool team.
I can see this lack of investment from Everton as a problem and see them slip behind Portsmouth and Villa.
Prediction: 7th
Manchester City will be looking to new manager Mark Hughes to bring his success from his previous jobs to the City of Manchester Stadium. The difference that Hughes has this time round is a much bigger budget than he is used to.
Jo has been brought in on a big money transfer from CSKA Moscow, and I am very excited as to what the Brazilian can bring to the squad. Tal Ben Haim will bring in some extra experience in the back to fit in alongside Richard Dunne and the huge potential of Micah Richards.
Man City have allowed a lot of players to leave, but none of them featured heavily last year, so that won't be much of a problem to the City squad.
Prediction: 9th
Newcastle have brought in a superhero to help them out this season. Jonas Gutierrez, known as spider-man, has been added to the magpies squad along with Danny Guthrie and Fabricio Coloccini.
Coloccini will add much needed stability at the back, with the hope that he isn't a flop like many of Newcastle's other recent defensive signings.
Again Newcastle haven't let any major players go so their squad depth should be fine.
With Kevin Keegan's aggressive style of football, I can't see the magpies having any of the early season problem's they suffered under Sam Allardyce.
Prediction: 10th
Portsmouth
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