A Look Ahead to 2009 World Football

There is only one day to go till 2008 draws to an end. Here is a look ahead to 2009 which promises to be an exciting year.

1. Transfer Market Opens in January

The transfer market will either hold shocks or surprises this time. Some loan moves are already on the cards for players such as Arsenal’s Jay Simpson and Bayern’s Toni Kroos.

Others like Roque Santa Cruz want to play for bigger clubs than the ones they are currently playing for. Some clubs, such as probably Arsenal and Hoffenheim are looking to add to their squads whereas teams like West Ham need to sell. Teams like Bayern and Man United will most probably be relatively quite in the transfer market.

2. EPL

The race for the title between Man United, Liverpool and Chelsea will continue. Aston Villa and Arsenal will most probably be battling for the remaining Champions League spot.

There is more action to come from the FA Cup and Carling Cup. The Carling Cup Final looks set to be an entertaining affair between Man United and Spurs unless Derby or Burnley can beat them to the title.

The FA Cup third round resumes with Arsenal playing Plymouth Argyle, Man United playing Southampton and Spurs playing Wigan.

3. La Liga

Real Madrid are off the pace and nobody except Barcelona seems to be consistent. Atletico have done well but they definitely have to fix that leaky-defence. Valencia have improved a lot and are no longer the laughing stock of La Liga since Unai Emery took over. Villareal have done well but are inconsistent.

The Spanish Cup resumes without Real Madrid. Barcelona are away to Atletico while Real Union, the team which knocked out Real Madrid play Real betis.

4. Bundesliga

The race between Hoffenheim and Bayern for the title will resume. Leverkusen, Dortmund and Hamburg won’t give in so easily and could pip both Bayern and “The Hoff’ to the title. Relegation battle will resume as well as Borussia Moenchengladbach, VfL Bochum and Energie Cottbus will try to avoid the drop. Werder Bremen could also become title contenders again, but at least for the first three rounds of matches they have to do so without suspended duo Pizarro and Diego.

The 16 teams remaining in the German Cup all have a tough job on their hands. Bayern take on Stuttgart in the Mercedes-Benz Arena, Werder Bremen take on Dortmund at the Signal Iduna Park and Bayer at home take on Cottbus.

5. Italian Serie A

Until now, it has more or less been a one-sided battle. Inter top the table and are ahead of their nearest rival, Juventus by six points. AC Milan and Fiorentina are battling for third place as that means automatic qualification for the Champions League.

In the Italian Cup quarter finals, two places are still up for grabs as Inter are yet to play Genoa while Juve are yet to play Catania.

6. UEFA Champions League

The last sixteen draw has been completed and three English sides are going to be playing Italian sides, the only English club not facing an Italian one will be Liverpool who will play Real.

Sporting Lisbon face FC Bayern Munich, Villareal face Panathinaikos, Lyon face Barcelona and Atletico face FC Porto. The round of 16 promises to be entertaining and so do the quarter finals, as long as another Man United vs Roma fixture doesn’t take place!

7. UEFA Cup

Werder Bremen vs AC Milan will be the fixture to watch out for as the inconsistent Germans take on one of the giants of Europe. Holders Zenit will be facing VfB Stuttgart and Aston Villa will be taking on CSKA Moscow.

Other fixtures to keep an eye on are Shaktar vs Tottenham, Bordeaux vs Galatasaray, Dynamo Kiev vs Valencia and Fiorentina vs Ajax.

8. Confederations Cup 2009

This confederations cup will be featuring usual suspects Brazil, Italy and the delightful Spanish. Besides that, New Zealand, Iraq, Egypt, the U.S and South Africa are going to take part in the competition. Brazil are the current holders.

9. UEFA U-21 Euro

A group stage with England, Germany, Spain and Finland in one group is definitely worth watching. The other group features five-time winners Italy, Serbia, hosts Sweden and Belarus

10. FIFA World Cup Qualifiers

The World Cup qualifiers will resume as England and Germany will try to qualify as group leaders. Spain has so far defeated most opponents in style while Italy have been busy grinding out results.

France’s campaign hasn’t been as good as Domenech would like it to be. Denmark are the surprise leaders in their group ahead of the Portuguese while in South America, Paraguay is leading.

11. Elsewhere

Lyon are looking to reclaim their domestic title while Marseille are unable to keep up on them. Marseille are down in fifth as a matter of fact. Both the teams haven’t really been consistent this season though. PSG is doing well while Rennes at the moment look like the team to catch the last CL spot.Bordeaux sit second at the moment.

AZ Alkmaar top the table in the Dutch Eredivisie. PSV are off the pace and they are fourth in the table. FC Twente are in third while Feyenoord are way off the place in 12th.

In the Scottish Premier league, Celtic top the table. Rangers are behind the leaders by seven points while Aberdeen are down in fifth.

In Asia Urawa Red Diamonds and Gamba Osaka will be continuing another title-hunt in the J-league whereas Adelaide United will be looking to extract revenge from Gamba in the Asian Champions League for last season's defeat. Urawa Reds finished seventh this season just for the information.

Well that about wraps up the action for next year. I personally am looking forward to the UEFA U-21 Euros. What about you?