English Premier League preview

Champions — Chelsea

The master plan of Roman Abramovich has been threatening for three seasons now and with the Blues under the management of Carlo Ancelotti, they might just have the bottle to take the Premier League title away from United, who in turn will have to cope without the magic of Cristiano Ronaldo. There is nobody in the squad who can replace the Portuguese winger who is worth 30 goals over the course of the season.

Wayne Rooney will threaten, but he has to be played up front like he does for England. Last season when England boss Fabio Capello was asked how he managed to find Rooney’s goalscoring form, the Italian simply said that he put Rooney in front of goal. There could be a lethal partnership for United between Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov, but there are too many bit-part players in their midfield. Michael Carrick is perpetually injured, Owen Hargreaves’ career is all but over, Nani has promise, but is not quite world class, same with Darren Fletcher and Anderson who was torn apart by Barcelona in last season’s Champions League final. There is definitely some promise in Antonio Valencia, but I don’t expect Sir Alex to make him a regular starter in the Red Devils side. Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes should have retired at the end of last season. The pair still show good touches, but it is time for the old guard to move aside.

Chelsea on the other hand have an established midfield which includes Frank Lampard, Michael Essien, John Obi Mikel, Michael Ballack, Florent Malouda and Deco. The acquisition of Yuri Zhirkov could also prove valuable as being a left-sided player he will expect to run out in the midfield as Ashley Cole has made the left-back position his own.

Playing under the experienced Ancelotti will be a major asset as the former Italian midfielder knows how to win and knows how to get his team to win. As manager at Milan he won the Serie A title as well as two Champions League titles. It should have been three were it not for Liverpool’s dramatic comeback in 2005.

Liverpool came so close to top honours last season, but I fear they will again miss out on taking the title. Other than Fernando Torres, I don’t see anybody in the Reds squad who can give Rafael Benitez 20-plus goals. They’ve lost the midfield magic of Xabi Alonso who I believe was an unsung hero in the Liverpool side. They may have bought Alberto Aquilani, but the Italy international is very injury-prone and considered more of an attacking midfielder, which is where Steven Gerrard will be.

Liverpool’s other big signing, Glen Johnson, basically just replaces Alvaro Arbeloa who joins Alonso at Real Madrid. There are no real additions that will make a major difference to their squad. I back Liverpool to come second to Chelsea this season.

Champions League places — Liverpool, Man United, Arsenal

The Gunners will hold on to their top-four place. The big talk is of Manchester City stealing their place in the Champions League, but for all the money in the world, City cannot break into the top four this season. Having watched them in pre-season against Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs — albeit without some of their big signings — they looked very shaky at the back and Mark Hughes will struggle to repay the faith shown to him by the Man City owners.

Money and new players does not buy you success. Chelsea discovered it takes a few seasons to get the ideal combinations together and even though City have some good names, such as Gareth Barry, Robinho, Carlos Tevez, Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor, they will not be strong enough as a unit to make Eastlands a fortress. You need to win your home games and a lot of clubs will fancy their chances on any given day in Manchester.

Fifth — Tottenham

Harry Redknapp has transformed a team which was in a shambles at the start of last season into Europa Cup contenders. Provided their injury-prone defenders Ledley King, Jonathan Woodgate and Michael Dawson can make a speedy return to fitness, they should have plenty of strength at the back and coupled with a solid midfield and goal-scoring strikers, Spurs should for all money make European qualification seem simple.

The old partnership of Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe is back together again with Robbie Keane and Roman Pavlyuchenko adding some fire power, there should be plenty of goals for the North London club this season.

Relegated — Burnley, Birmingham, Portsmouth

Portsmouth are in deep trouble. With all due respect, when your big signing of the summer is Aaron Mokoena, you have to admit you are in for a tough season. They are very unsettled with regards to both ownership and management. Paul Hart is still the caretaker coach, but Pompey have a very thin squad and will struggle to find goals, especially now that Peter Crouch has left for Spurs.

Burnley qualified for the Premier League by means of winning the Championship playoffs, but I think the stresses of the English top flight will prove too much for the Clarets to deal with. They will spark a few surprise results, but come May next year, they will be wondering where to find points.

Birmingham City may have a quality manager in Alex McLeish, but similar to Burnley they will find life in the top flight difficult. Expect them to battle out with Hull City for the final relegation place, but Phil Brown’s Tigers will use their Premier League experience to remain up for one more season.