English Premier League

[gosioux76]

The new English Premier League season begins tomorrow. For those of us who care, and I get the impression we're growing in numbers, I'm curious to hear your thoughts on the upcoming season. For a primer, here's a few storylines going into the first weekend:

-- Will Chelsea's new galacticos boom or bust?

-- Manchester United have done little to improve themselves in the off-season and sold the club's leading goal-scorer, Ruud van Nistelrooy. Will they have trouble replacing Ruud's 30-goals-a-year? Will they finally land Owen Hargreaves?

-- Will Arsenal ever sell want-away Ashley Cole? And will Chelsea ever sell want-away William Gallas?

-- Can Arsenal repeat its european success in the Champion's League? Will Chelsea, with all its investment on big-name talent, prove any better in Europe?

-- Will American Randy Lerner, along with accomplished coach Martin O'Neill, breath new life into underachiever Aston Villa?

-- Can Tottenham Hotspur finally break into the top-four?

-- Who is this year's top five?

My top five prediction:

1. Liverpool

2. Chelsea

3. Arsenal

4. Tottenham

5. Manchester United

My relegation picks:

Watford, Fulham, Wigan

[WJMorris3]

Shall I start by projecting Chelsea wins all their games and ends with 120 points?

[gosioux76]

Shall I start by projecting Chelsea wins all their games and ends with 120 points?

You could take it even further, guessing that Roman Abramovich will simply buy the league and declare Chelsea "Champions for Life."

[The Nation]

more things to ponder

-is michael carrick worth 18mil

-whats the deal with Jose Antonio Reyes

-will Arsenal complete the quadruple

-robin van persie/cesc fabregas/emanual eboue/phil senderos/kolo toure....the best players in the world that no ones ever heard of??

-emirates stadium..how good will it be

-the champs league...will chelski be good

-essien/makalele/robben/ballack/lampard/wright-phillips.....log jam in midfield

-louis saha...will he own...he is the reason why RVN got benched last year.

-will there actually be a title race this year?

my top 5

1. Arsenal

2. Man Utd

3. Liverpool

4. Chelski

5. Newcastle

p.s will morris, teams can only earn a max of 114pts

[buzzcut]

My top 5:

1. Liverpool

2. Arsenal

3. Chelsea

4. ManU

5. Wigan (Surprise)

[benJAMMIN039]

My top 5:

1. Liverpool

2. Arsenal

3. Chelsea

4. ManU

5. Wigan (Surprise)

Why do you pick Wigan to finish so high?

I'd watch for Tottenham to break into the top 3.

[Herk]

I gotta go with Chelsea taking the title (again).

Alot of CCSLCers are picking Liverpool, interesting.

Whats the deal with C. Ronaldo? is he still on Man U? Is he still welcome in England?

[officeglenn]

Apparently Rooney and C.Ronaldo have buried the hatchet between themselves, but I imagine Ronaldo will still have to face the boo-birds, even at Old Trafford, for a little while.

I think Wigan did prove they can hang with the big boys last season, so I don't see them being relegated, but I can't see them finishing in the top five either. I think they'll settle nicely in the middle of the pack.

I also think Reading could be this year's Wigan. They've got U.S. international Marcus Hahnemann between the pipes, and Kitson, Convey and Lita combined for something like 100 goals in the Coca-Cola Championship last year.

I'm an Arsenal man through and through, so I'd love to see them do well, of course. I think Liverpool proved in the Community Shield match that they are closing the gap on Chelsea, but I don't know if they can reel them in this year. I'm also curious to see what happens with Newcastle; with Owen out and Roeder yet to sign a bona fide striker ? losing out to the Reds in the Dirk Kuyt sweepstakes most recently ? things could go pear-shaped at St. James' Park very quickly.

My top 5:

1. Chelsea

2. Liverpool

3. Manchester United

4. Tottenham Hotspur

5. Arsenal

[Rampart]

As an Arsenal supporter, I'm a bit worried at all of the players that have left and who want to leave (Cole, Reyes). If Henry gets injured for a long period, the Gunners are toast. There's just way too much youth that Wegner is depending on to get the job done this season. I think Chelsea will be more focused on the Champions league.

1 - Liverpool

2 - Chelsea

3 - Manchester United

4 - Tottenham

5 - Arsenal

[gosioux76]

Here's a bit of analysis in reaction to a few of you.

Wigan, while having a Cinderella year last season, lost a lot of key players and didn't get much in return (Bullard comes to mind). They've got a great coach who's terrific at getting his team in the right frame of mind, but he's also got stars like Pascal Chimbonda, a key component in their rise to the Premiership who now wants badly to leave. It's kind of a mixed message they're sending.

As you can see by my avatar, I'm an Arsenal fan. I'm not as skeptical of the Gunners as everyone else. Sure, they've lost Sol Campbell, Robert Pires and Dennis Bergkamp. Sure "Cashley" Cole and Reyes are on their way out. But remember, the Arsenal side is a young one that managed to make it all the way to the Champion's League final. That young team has a full season under their belt. I think those players -- Cesc Fabregas, Flamini, Eboue, van Persie, Adebayor, to name a few -- will be vastly improved from a year earlier. Now, as far as depth, that's a bigger question.

[DEAD!]

Even though I'm a Man U supporter, I can't see them winning the Premiership this season. As great of a talent as Rooney is, he seems to be at times more of a liability than an asset. C. Ronaldo has to really step up and they did get rid of Ruud. I would say Chelsea will win it all again.

1. Chelsea

2. Arsenal

3. Liverpool

4. Man Utd.

5. Tottenham.

i was thinking of putting Everton in the top 5, but I think Spurs have a bit more talent than the Toffees.

[Alphabet Man]

I follow Man Utd in the EPL, but they won't win the league, i think it will be Liverpool

[jr79]

As much as it pains me, Chelsea will win the league again. Enough depth to stay out of injury trouble and fatigue from playing in Europe.

1. Chelsea

2. Liverpool (steady upwards progress continues!)

3. Arsenal

4. Man Utd

<daylight>

5. Spurs

6. West Ham

[Moser316]

Are there still rumblings that the two Glasgow teams (Celtic and Rangers) want to jump from the Scottish to the English Premier League? It's not unprecedented for a team from another part of the UK to be part of the FA, I think Cardiff City (Wales) plays in one of the lower divisons.

[Breakwood]

Are there still rumblings that the two Glasgow teams (Celtic and Rangers) want to jump from the Scottish to the English Premier League?  It's not unprecedented for a team from another part of the UK to be part of the FA, I think Cardiff City (Wales) plays in one of the lower divisons.

The thing is that when Cardiff, Swansea and Wrexham the three welsh teams in the English league system, join there was no Welsh league set up. I don't think that FIFA would allow Rangers and Celtic to jump countries because there allready is a Scottish league.

P.S. to answer your questions I think those rumbling have subsided now that Hearts are competing with the Old Firm. I think this year or next we could finally have a non-old firm champion. Both Hearts and Hibs have shown they are serious about competing.

[-Helix-]

Gooo Chelsea.

Didn't look too good in the Community Shield game which was disappointing, but hopefully they don't lose concentration on the league. I think Liverpool is the obvious main threat for the title. A good showing in the champions league would be great too, but I'm not as optimistic for that.

I really have no idea who I'd put after Chelsea/Liverpool. I'm just a casual fan and haven't been paying much attention to the other teams.

[amare32]

1. Chelsea

2. Tottenham Hotspur

3. Liverpool

4. Arsenal

5. Manchester United

BONUS PICK - Leeds United will win automatic promotion from the Champiosnship to the Premiership.