David Beckham's move to America's Major League Soccer, the fairytale success of Iraq in the Asian Confederations Cup, and the transfer wrangle of Carlos Tevez to Manchester United have finally been concluded. Ten months of Premier League football await us - and to the fans this means ten months of thrills and frills.

At the top of the league, it seems the usual suspects will be challenging for the title. Liverpool have the striker they need, although he could have been handy last year during the Champions League Final. Arsene Wenger is again conjuring up magic with the signing of striker Eduardo Da Silva, and the Arsenal manager's track record of purchasing unknown players with great success is impeccable.

Chelsea, despite the constant rumblings from their camp about not spending much money (although the purchase of Florent Malouda wasn’t chump change), have managed to bring in quality personnel via the Bosman rule in the form of Claudio Pizarro, Tal Ben-Haim and Steve Sidwell.

Nothing that Wigan, Fulham or Middlesbrough did last year or in the close-season suggests to me that they can stay afloat this time'


Manchester United decided to blitz everyone in the football world with the early double signing of Nani and Anderson, whereas the coming of Owen Hargreaves was a well-known secret. The long-awaited arrival of Tevez at times seemed uncertain and most United fans opted out of celebrating until the deal was sealed.

In the pack , Newcastle, Tottenham, Everton and Blackburn all strengthened their sides during the off-season. Without a doubt one of these teams should finish in the top five, or as many pundits have been saying about Spurs, the top four.

Reading, Portsmouth, Aston Villa and West Ham should compete for a place in the lower half of the top ten given the lessons learned last year and the purchases made during the close season. Reading boss Steve Coppell will no doubt remind his players that survival comes first and aim not to emulate newly-promoted teams who had great first seasons and dismal second campaigns.

At Fratton Park, Harry Redknapp has assembled a decent side and I expect Pompey  to win their fair share of games. Aston Villa had a mediocre season last time round and if they can start turning draws into victories then they should be in good shape. West Ham surprised many with their activity in the transfer market; they have brought in some experienced Premier League players and that should bode well for them. I honestly cannot foresee a team with Freddie Ljungberg, Craig Bellamy, Dean Ashton and Anton Ferdinand struggling - they should at least be competitive and mid-table.

Manchester City, Birmingham, Derby, Bolton and Sunderland should finish up at the lower end of the table. I believe that despite the purchases made by Sven-Goran Eriksson , there is no cohesion amongst the players, and Sven's style may be difficult to adjust to. He isn’t coaching a talented England squad so this time his shortcomings are going to be exposed. Birmingham and Derby, both newly-promoted, are going to be fighting for survival. I can see them winning a few - but only just  enough to stave off relegation.

Bolton, with the departure of Sam Allardyce, are not going to be the same force and I cannot see their players, many of them bought by Big Sam at a low-point in their careers, having enough energy to sustain whatever momentum they create.

Finally, for all of Roy Keane’s magic in the Championship, his Sunderland side are now dealing with mighty wizards in the Premier League. This is going to be a huge challenge for Keane, so he is going to need a fast learning curve in order to keep the Black Cats up. He had it all last year, plus a bit of luck in what you could call a Hollywood Season, but the quality he now needs is a few levels up from what we saw from his side last year.

Wigan, Fulham and Middlesbrough are the teams I can see being relegated. Nothing they did last year or in the close-season suggests to me that they can stay afloat this time. Even if Fulham spent a lot of money, it still doesn’t hide the fact that the whole team needs to be fixed. Wigan were lucky last year but I don’t see lightning striking twice.

Middlesbrough were fortunate not to have been dragged into the relegation battle, but I’m sure they were close enough to feel the breath of relegation on the back of their necks. They should have strengthened in the summer and therefore I can only see them going one way - and that is down.

So there you have it! Welcome to the start of the Prem!