11/8/08 Premiership 2008 / 2009 Outright Winner
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Realistically there are now only four sides that stand a chance of claiming the Premier League title. These sides are of course Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United. Football in recent times is more of a business and money tends to bring success within the sport. The last team to break the Big 4 was Blackburn Rovers back in 1995 and in recent times no other side has managed to get a look in.
Arsenal
Last season the gunners dominated the first half of the season and left daylight between themselves and the rest of the field. They possessed strong fire power in front of goal in the form of Emanuel Adebayor and shear brilliance in the centre of the park with the young Cesc Fabregas. A string of bad results and injuries at the wrong time cause the London side to come off the boil eventually finishing in the third spot. This season Arsenal have seen the departures of Gilberto Silva, Alexander Hleb, Jens Lehmann and Mathieu Flamini and brought in Aaron Ramsey, Samir Nasri and Amaury Bischoff.
Chelsea
Chelsea have not been the dominant side in the last two seasons as they were when Russian Billionaire Roman Abramovich took over the side. They have not seemed to be the big spenders they once were and last season their form on the pitch was a little wayward due to goings on off the pitch. Jose Maurinho was replaced by Avram Grant midway through but he was never intended long term. This season sees the era of Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari who met Chelsea strong management criteria and is the replacement for Avram Grant. Chelsea have sold Steve Sidwell, Ben Sahar, Ryan Bertrand, Slobodan Rajkovic, Claude Makelele, Khalid Boulahrouz, Tal Ben Haim and Shaun Cummings and brought in Jose Bosingwa and Deco.
Liverpool
Liverpool seemed to have drifted away from the other 3 in recent times and a rarely seen to field the same batch of players in 2 consecutive matches. Manager Rafa Benitez favors his rotation system and the team tend to rely too heavily on captain Steven Gerrard. They do however possess the wonder kid Fernando Torres. Torres had a fantastic opening season and fits well into the English Premiership game. Now that he has had a season to settle in fully expect him to be one of if not the top scorer of the season. With newly signed Spurs striker Robbie Keane to partner him expect Liverpool to challenge the rest this season. New signings include David Ngog, Emmanuel Mendy, Diego Cavalieri, Andrea Dossena, Philipp Degen and Robbie Keane and departures are Jack Hobbs, Godwin Antwi, Adam Hammill, Scott Carson, Peter Crouch, Harry Kewell, Paul Anderson, Anthony le Tallec, John Arne Riise, Besian Idrizaj, Danny Guthrie, Robbie Threlfall, David Martin and Sebastian Leto.
Manchester United
The 2 times Premier League Champions and current Champions League title holders look to improve on an already near perfect record. FIFA world player of the year Christiano Ronaldo lead his side to a stylish victory in almost every competition the contended. Ronaldo is however set to miss the first couple of months of the season following an ankle operation and his recent affairs with Spanish giants Real Madrid may have upset the balance within the team. United have seen the departures of Adam Eckersley, Gerard Pique, Tom Heaton, Chris Eagles and Danny Simpson and to date have made no big pre season signings.
Prediction For The 2008 / 2009 Premiership Winner
Soccer Engine predicts that Chelsea will be the side to topple Manchester United this season and claim the Premiership title. Chelsea is and experienced side and when Jose Maurinho took over the club coming up to four years ago the side were instilled with confidence and were an unstoppable force. Scolari will bring the same level of confidence as Maurinho. The club holds a superb undefeated home record and this season will find their feet on the road. Chelsea are currently negotiating the transfer of Robinho from Real Madrid and it is fully expected that he will be a Chelsea player by the start of the season. Robinho will add a new dimension to the Chelsea game. He plays at pace in a similar way to Manchester United and offers Chelsea something that Didier Drogba does not. Being the 2nd best side in the Premiership for the last 2 season is not something that Abramovich is used to and this year he will do everything in his power to change this. Winning the Premier League 3 years on the bounce is a tall order for United especially with the superstar starting late and it will be Chelsea that lift the trophy next may.
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