Manchester : The Future Dominant City of English Football?

I am not a fan of predictions. Most preseason predictions are made well before the start of August and they don't even take into account the transfer window. How many journalists earmarked Mikel Arteta as a key player for Everton or Scott Parker as the key player for West Ham?

Even now in October, no one would have predicted that Newcastle would be near the top of the table, QPR to be top ten and Bolton to be bottom before the season started. Many factors make up the form of a team's season. How can people predict a league table almost a year before it is finalized?

At this early stage in the season, Manchester United and Manchester City look like the dominant teams this season. Some teams are yet to find form and some teams will no doubt lose form, but in any race those fastest out of the blocks stand a better chance. 

Who can challenge the Manchester clubs? 

Chelsea have had a decent start to the season, but a crucial loss to Manchester United gave an important early advantage to the red half of Manchester. Arsenal have had a bad start compared to what they're used to and at times have struggled. They also have suffered at the hands of Manchester United in their horrific loss at Old Trafford. 

Liverpool have had a mixed start, winning a few matches but losing to Tottenham, Hotspur and Stoke. Spurs have also had a decent start, but have managed to lose to both Manchester clubs, an early blow to their title ambitions.

The way the Manchester clubs are playing and with the quality of players they both have, they both look equally as good as each other. There is so little to choose between them. It could come down to something as trivial as a long-term injury or player suspensions.

Could we be seeing the start of a new age of football dominance from Manchester? It has always been a football-mad city—mention the name anywhere in the world and the first response you get in many cases will be football related.

With Manchester United winning the league and Manchester City winning the FA Cup, both major English trophies currently reside there. We will have to wait until the first Manchester derby of the season on October 23rd to see which team gets the early upper-hand on their rivals.