Premier League Preview: Big Spending Liverpool Kick-off New Season
After managing to end last season just above the relegation zone, Wolverhampton manager Mick McCarthy will be hoping to establish his team in the Premier League. Instead of spending vast sums of money, Mick McCarthy has been sensible in the preseason by bringing in just three big names. But only time will tell if it was the right move or not. After taking over the club mid-season, Steve Kean will be having his first opportunity to impress his bosses with his transfer acumen. Even though Blackburn avoided relegation on the final day of last season, one cannot help thinking that Blackburn would not have made it if not for the points taken during Sam Allardyce's reign.
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Hence, this will be the proper season on which Steve Kean will be judged. Even though friendlies do not represent a lot, Blackburn have been doing rather well in the preseason and so have been the Wolverhampton Wanderers. The 3-2 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on the last day of last season was one of Steve Kean's perfect games as a manager, and he would hope that history repeats itself on the opening day of this season.
This was one of the fixtures in danger of being postponed due to the riots in London, but Martin Jol would be extremely happy that such an unfortunate incident did not hamper his team's preparations for the new Premier League season. Martin Jol will be facing his compatriot Alex McLeish—who is also new to his job—hoping to win impress his boss straightaway. A victory is essential for Alex McLeish more than it is for Martin Jol given that he has to please the huge section of angry Villa fans.
So far, their preseason has been rather poor, but the addition of Charles N'Zogbia should make an impact in the positive direction for Alex McLeish. Even though there has not been any signs of unrest amongst Villa fans for the last few weeks, any poor result is most likely to be met with contempt. The match could also see the debuts of John Arne Riise for Fulham, while Charles N'Zogbia should make his debut for Aston Villa. Martin Jol has good news in the form of Bobby Zamora, who is now fit again.
Despite spending almost close to £50 million in the summer transfer window and just about the same amount in the January transfer window, pressure will be totally on Kenny Dalglish to deliver the results. So far, the Scotsman has seen a pretty meager return on his signings after they have struggled to gel with each other in the preseason matches. Even though preseason matches do not count for a lot, Liverpool have been shipping goals for fun and it is never a good sign. However, Kenny Dalglish will hope that his players are ready for the real deal when they kick-off their Premier League campaign against Sunderland.
Sunderland have also been very busy in the summer transfer window, and Steve Bruce now faces the difficult task of having to gel all these players. Sunderland defied expectations last season, although they could have finished in the European places if not for some lackadaisical performances during the final few months of the season.
Steven Gerrard will be unavailable for Liverpool, while Craig Gordon and Kieran Richardson have not yet recovered from their injuries.
QPR could not have wished for more from the opening round of the Premier League fixtures, as their opening fixture against Bolton will see Premier League football return to Loftus Road after a long time. Even though the club played scintillating football last season, this summer has been full of disappointments for both fans and manager Neil Warnock. The club have not been proactive in the transfer window, with the rich owners reluctant to spend any money. Until a few weeks ago, QPR had not spent a penny, and one can certainly question their ambition considering that they would at least cash in £60 million as a result of promotion to the Premier League.
This lack of ambition, though, has not affected the team's pre-season preparation. The future of QPR in the Premier League rests a lot on the future of star player Adel Taraabt. Owen Coyle has signed a few players in the summer, but he has seen two of its major players sidelined for most of the season after breaking their legs in training. However, Bolton do have the opportunity to give debuts to both Nigel Reo-Coker and Chris Eagles. Owen Coyle will be hoping that the horrible nature of the injuries to two of his players won't affect the rest of the team.
After pledging his future with Wigan Athletic, Roberto Martinez will be looking to build a new team that could possibly avoid the nervous few weeks during the closing stages of the season. So far, it has been the case with Wigan for quite a number of seasons now, but miraculously the club has been able to escape from the clutches of relegation every single time. Wigan started last season against another newly promoted team, Blackpool, and lost the match quite heavily. It set the stage for the rest of the season, and Roberto Martinez will be looking to avoid it this time around.
Norwich are flying high in the league after securing promotions that has culminated in their arrival in the Premier League. It has been six years since Norwich were last in the Premier League, when they suffered relegation on the final day of the season. Norwich manager Paul Lambert will be hoping that history does not repeat itself. Norwich will be without former Everton striker James Vaughan and Elliott Ward, while Wigan Athletic will be missing James McCarthy, although Hugo Rodallega is available for the match.
Arsene Wenger will be hoping to banish memories of last season's 4-4 draw with Newcastle, which was probably the turning point of the season. Arsenal never really recovered from the shock of letting a four goal lead slip away against Newcastle last season. Now, they will be facing a Newcastle side without the services of both Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, as both have not been included into the squad. Their transfers are likely to be completed by the end of this week, which could distract other star players like Robin van Persie.
Newcastle have been showing a penchant for signing French players and have signed quite a lot of players during the summer. Even though star defender Jose Enrique has now left the club for Liverpool, Alan Pardew is likely to have quite a lot of options when they face Arsenal, hoping for a repeat of last season's heroic performance. Arsenal will be missing Jack Wilshere and Abou Diaby, which is likely to force Arsene Wenger to field a youthful looking team. Newcastle will be without the injured Ben Arfa. Arsenal's new signing Gervinho could make his debut against the northeast club.
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