We have seen the first few rounds of Premier League matches played - and the results have not been as per the expectations of those pundits who predicted success for Manchester United, Spurs and doom for the likes of Wigan and Co.

This goes to show that the Premier League is easily the most unpredictable of all leagues in Europe. And I think the time is ripe for teams looking to break the big-four barrier created by Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United.

With the transfer window due to close in a week's time - and with all the clubs getting their targets - this looks like a very interesting season. Indeed, it could well go the way the Spanish League did last season with very few points separating the top four to six teams.

'The Premier League could well go the way the Spanish League did last season with very few points separating the top four to six teams'


Competition for the UEFA Cup spot: The improvement in the quality of the teams like Everton, Blackburn, Tottenham, Newcastle, Manchester City, Aston Villa and West Ham was inevitable due to the influx of money into the Premier League. Also, they are being led by ambitious boards who want to hit the jackpot of playing in Europe - but whether they will they make it on a consistent basis is questionable.
 
Everton, as usual, look very solid but they do not win on a consistent basis which should worry David Moyes because he has been working with the same core group of players for quite some time. Unless they start winning more regularly, they will be playing for the UEFA Cup spot only. The player to watch out for is Leon Osman.

Tottenham will always remain an enigma to me; they have good players but they miss that winning attitude -  which is lacking in their gaffer, too. They need a fiery character in the middle to prop up the team when they are going down; they certainly have the talent to be in the top four but I doubt their mental strength to grind out results. They certainly look good for fourth or most probably fifth place this year. The player to watch out this season will be Adel Taraabt.
 
Blackburn have the mental strength but look limited with their resources. However,  they have added Roque Santa Cruz to bolster their striking options and in Morten Gamst Pederson and David Bentley, they have two capable wingers. But their squad is thin so come January,  if there are few injuries, one might find Rovers fighting for sixth or seventh place.

Aston Villa, West Ham, Newcastle and Portsmouth have squads to make the competition very interesting and I won't be surprised if any of this quartet upset the odds and make it to the UEFA Cup.

Newcastle have undergone a sea of change since Sam Allardyce took over but it will take some time for the him to impose his personality over the club. If Michael Owen and Obafemi Martins stay at the club, one can certainly expect them to cause more than few upsets this season. Also expect them to be a bit boring with the ability to grind out results.

West Ham now have a squad that can border on brilliance or mediocrity and having the likes of Craig Bellamy and Kieron Dyer could create problems within the team. If they manage to keep Dean Ashton fully fit throughout the season, they won't have problems scoring. Aston Villa and Portsmouth have decent teams and can cause an upset or two.

Reading will always fight throughout the match and they have continued with the same attitude. Last season they managed a lot of wins, which took them comfortably ahead of most of the middle-tier teams but this time I feel those victories might get converted to draws.
 
Manchester City have got of to a great start with the likes Geovanni, Elano, Micah Richards and Michael Johnson joining the party along with Sven. But whether the party will last long is a question in my mind. Defensively, they look well organised but it will be interesting to see the shape of the team if Micah Richards or Richard Dunne get injured.

Relegation Battle: When it comes to the relegation dogfight, the teams I feel that could go down this season are Derby County, Bolton Wanderers, Birmingham City or Sunderland. Sammy Lee's Bolton look woefully short of ideas and have also lost their discipline since Allardyce's move to the North East. There is a gulf in class separating the teams like Derby from the others. Sunderland and Birmingham were backed up by their respective boards this summer, bringing in a lot of new faces. But still they look far from convincing. They might cause a few scares but I feel one of them will certainly get relegated.

Make up the numbers: Having discussed other teams, I feel the likes of  Middlesbrough and Fulham will make up the numbers this season. And if they go through an unlucky patch of defeats, they might get sucked into the relegation battle as well

The Big Four: From what we have seen so far, it looks as if Chelsea or Liverpool might win the Premier League this season. Chelsea have a very strong squad and with the addition of defenders like Tal Ben-Haim and Alex, they will necessarily get stronger. There is also the inevitability of Andriy Shevchenko returning to form and that could make them even stronger. The loss of Arjen Robben can be offset by Florent Malouda to a great extent - but they will certainly miss the Dutchman, who has the capability of running past defenders with ease.

Liverpool also look good with Steven Gerrard starting from his preferred central position and in Fernando Torres they do have a brilliant forward who might not score goals in plenty but could score few great ones like the one against Chelsea.

Manchester United have had a poor start to the season and it has been compounded with injuries to Wayne Rooney and Louis Saha leaving them with no established target man. Carlos Tevez will take his time to get moulded into the squad. To me, United look very unpredictable and they could either force their way back with a string of wins or their season can nosedive if they keep on missing their chances.

This looks like the most critical season for Arsenal with the likes of Spurs, Blackburn and Everton breathing down their neck. With the sale of Henry, they  lack that genuine match winner that Titi was - although Robin van Persie could fill his boots. But I feel there will be a lot of pressure on Van Persie because this Arsenal team lacks width and whatever Arsene Wenger says about his squad, I feel they lack quality on the flanks.  I believe they need a signing or two to augment their squad which looks thin in areas like defence and the wings.

This season has all the makings of a thriller. Hopefully we won't be disappointed.