EPL 2013/2014 - Game Week 1

Last week, I told you Man Utd to beat Wigan 2-0 in the Community Shield didn't I? Now let's discuss who will win the title. Who may be relegated. Who do you think it will be? 

Man Utd wasn't great last season yet they won. The team is the same with a new manager but Sir Alex is still somewhere around. They will still be a contender to defend their crown. Only Man City and Chelsea have squads equal in strength, experience and strength in depth. City in particular, spent on some very good new players. You are staring at your top three here. I do feel that as Man Utd adapt to Moyes, the other other two could leapfrog. 

Now, we have to squeeze 6 teams into four places to qualify for Europe and the fourth team will be a toss up among Arsenal, Tottenham and  Liverpool. Tottenham's soccer is slick but have ended a bit short most times. They have recruited wisely for this campaign. Liverpool is more settled but can Suarez be the same with the recent trouble and after sitting out 6 matches. What a waste if the likes of Steven Gerrard could not play in Europe. 

Arsenal would be the most settled side but the lack of a major goal scorer may haunt them later in the season. They will continue to be Barcelona Lite. I think the Gunners will clinch 4th spot again, Tottenham in 5th and Liverpool improving a little to 6th. 

As for the rest, Swansea and Everton look promising. Norwich was not too bad and they will be the same. Southampton may improve a lot. WBA, West Ham, Fulham, Stoke, Villa, Newcastle, and Sunderland will have to outrun the bear. Then among the 3 newcomers, Cardiff owned by Malaysian tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan have deeper pockets than Hull City and Crystal Palace, so a better chance of survival and maybe only they can prevent the drop. Stoke was particularly bad from the second half of last season. These are my usual suspects. Let's move on to the opening matches.

Liverpool v Stoke - Other than the Suarez dilemma, Liverpool have been doing well in pre-season winning all except the 1-0 loss to Celtic despite dominating the match. Simon Mignolet is a good addition with Luis Alberto and Iago Aspas being decent and Kolo Toure's move from Man City for the experience, they are no big names coming to Anfield. If they loose Suarez it will be a blow for who is to contribute for his goals? The only consolation is that they will have a better understanding having played together last season and be more confident. 

For Stoke , new manager Mark Hughes will play a different game than just the long ball of his predecessor. They have a good goalkeeper in Asmir Begovic and a pair of tough defenders in Robert Huth and Ryan Shawcross. Their defence will open up a little more than before. In previous 5 meetings, Stoke won only once drawing 0-0 twice and lost 1-2 on 2 occasions. Brendan Rodgers and Liverpool need a good start. In previous seasons, this would be a 1-1 draw. I am giving Liverpool a good start. 2-0.

Arsenal v Villa - Arsenal has been traditional slow starters. If they wanted to be treated seriously as title contenders they have to play confidently and win from the word go. The good news is that they can be considered the most settled side among the top six and also the most in-form side based on pre-season but those are friendlies. Arsenal have beaten Indonesia 7-0, Vietnam 7-1, Man City 3-1. They must show strength at the back where towards the end of last season they looked good with Mertesacker and Kolscielny. The midfield will be well led by Santi Cazorla, Mikel Arteta and a fit Jack Wilshere can give them the dream start they wish especially with Theo Walcott now a lot more matured at 24, the potential of Oxlade Chamberlain, Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski picking up steam from last season. Their last match was a 3-1 win over Man City. Even if they got Luis Suarez he would not play as he is under suspension. 

Aston Villa visiting the Emirates means the only two EPL teams starting with A are playing. 1.95m American goalie Bradley Guzan will play an important role but none is more of a key player than Belgium striker Christian Benteke. Villa have a terrible roster as after playing the Gunners they travel to Chelsea then welcome Liverpool. Villa have not beaten Arsenal in 5 attempts drawing only once and on 4 occasions with a total score of at least 3 goals. The Gunners will ensure a good start before they kick off their meeting with Fenerbahce. Expect Giroud and Walcott to score for the home team and Benteke to reply. 3-1.

Norwich v Everton  - Norwich is a decent side but did not do too well at the beginning of pre-season but have improved with draws with Braga and Sociedad and then won 2-0 against Panathinaikos. They will have a new attack featuring Gary Hooper (from Celtic) and a Dutch striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel having sold former S-League striker Grant Holt to Wigan. 

Everton remain a very solid team left by David Moyes to new boss Roberto Martinez who can now showcase his talent better as essentially Everton remains largely unchanged with all key players like Tim Howard, Phil Jagielka, Leighton Baines, Maroune Fellaini, Steven Pienaar, Mirallas, Kone still intact. They will still be a good side perhaps with a bit more adventure in style. It will probably be a slow start for both teams. Everton is the stronger team but will be away. Not only that, their record against Norwich was not good drawing 3 times and losing once. 1-1.

Sunderland v Fulham - During pre-season, the Black Cats have beaten Tottenham 3-1 and lost 0-1 to Man City suggesting they can make the cut and give some troubles and have added quite a few players to strengthen the squad. Will Sunderland manager Paolo Di Canio still be as passionate and animated on the touchline this season? Sessegnon and Fletcher will lead the hunt.

Fulham lost to Werder Bremen 1-0, Parma 1-2 and drew Betis 1-1 in pre-season. Among their transfers, they have added a good player Adel Taarabt from QPR. Under a new Chairman, a new chapter could be heralded. Dutch goalie Stekelenburg will be protected by John Arne Riise, Brede Hangeland and new addtion Venezuelan Amorebieta. With a midfield led by Damien Duff and Taarabt and a strike force consisting Berbatov, Rodallega - this does not look like a bad side. Won't be the greatest match up but I pick a draw. 2-2.

WBA v Southampton - WBA is one of the better teams among the rest and continued to do well under Steve Clarke. They have added Uruguayan defender Diego Lugano, Macedonian defender Popov and striker Nicolas Anelka returning to EPL from Juventus. 

Southampton is quite an exciting team to watch. They have beaten Besiktas 3-1 and Real Sociedad 4-3 in pre-season. Watch young defender Luke Shaw, midfielder Adam Lallana and striker Ricky Lambert who will be inspired by his first England cap and winning goal over Scotland. Also look out for striker Ramirez. In their head to head meetings WBA won twice and they drew only once. Will the Saints go marching in? The opening day can be full of surprises so I would venture a draw. 2-2. 

West Ham v Cardiff - West Ham head honcho Sam Allardyce has signed Andy Carroll from Liverpool. Jussi Jaaskelainan at 38 is still a reliable goalie. Old war birds Kevin Nolan, Mark Noble, Matt Jarvis and the skill of Joe Cole could hopefully keep the Hammers going strong for they are an important club for producing future England stars historically. They are to England what Farrer Park was to Singapore.

Cardiff City's home was Ninian Park and by that they are Welsh just like Swansea. Not much is known about them except some previous F.A. Cup upsets. They have in their ranks now players like Craig Bellamy, Fraizer Campbell, Steven Caulker (who joined from Tottenham) and Spanish Gary Medel. The newly promoted side must adjust to life quickly. West Ham themselves knew well enough it is games like these that they must win. 2-1.

Swansea v Man United - Michael Laudrup continued the good job at Swansea. Michu was a revelation last season. He has now added Wilfred Bony a top scorer from Vitesse  who scored 31 goals in 30 games in the Dutch Eredivisie and Liverpool midfielder Jonjo Shelvey. Bony may give Michu even more freedom to roam. Swansea have been impressive in pre-season. 

Manchester United have lost to a Thai All-Star team and Yokohama Marinos then 1-3 to Sevilla. Their only signing was a Varela from Uruguay. Fabregas is not interested in them. They have a new boss in David Moyes. Has Moyes methods been lost in translation? Wayne Rooney is unsettled. Can RVP reproduce last season's form? When United won the League Title last season they were not the greatest team but rather their opponents were not better but still credit to them for the effort. In previous meetings Man Utd won 3 matches all by close margins and drew once. In the opening match of 2012/2013 they drew 1-1 with Swansea nearly winning. A real test for both. I feel it may be a draw. 1-1.

Palace v Tottenham - Crystal Palace has returned to the Premier League. They have a habit of going up and down. The Selhurst Park outfit has sold Zaha to Man Utd but have now bought Marouane Chamakh from Arsenal and watch out for old man evergreen Kevin Philips who is now probably 40. 

Tottenham did very well and deserve a spot in Europe but we can only fit 6 into 4. The Bale saga is still being pan out. AVB's side have fared rather poorly during pre-season - they were held by lowly Swindon and Colchester, beaten 3-1 by Sunderland and thrashed 5-2 by Monaco. Are they going to start with a nightmare? 

It is something I could not understand about them. I like to say a Tottenham win which should be logical but they are very slow starters. Tottenham can play the best soccer and yet not win but with two important acquisition in Paulinho and Soldado might just change that. Even with Bale gone, they can be a better side with less reliance on one player. 1-2.

Chelsea v Hull - Chelsea had an impressive pre-season tour, beaten Thai All-Star, thrashed Malaysia, completely outplayed Indonesia, beaten AC Milan and Roma and only lost Real Madrid. Chelsea under Mourinho's second coming may be considered a favourite again. All their key players are intact, Juan Mata, Oscar and Eden Hazard are looking good, Demba Ba and Torres are still there, Lukaku has returned from WBA, they have added Andre Schurrle and a couple of mid-fielders and still toying with Rooney. Then there is old war horse Frank Lampard. I have an England No. 8 jersey bearing his name "Lampard" at the back then one day when I wore it outside the "D" came off but I didn't know. I stop using it for sometime now.

Newly promoted Hull will be having their baptism of fire. They have a few names that you might know such as Steve Bruce, the manager, defender Curtis Davies and striker Danny Graham. Hull City have never beaten Chelsea in 5 tries. Chelsea did struggle with them in the past but a rejuvenated Chelsea need a good start. Big advantage for Chelsea to open at Stamford Bridge. An emphatic win. 2-0.

Man City v Newcastle - Man City have been leaking goals in pre-season at an alarming rate. It has got to be Pelligrini's attacking play. They already have a solid squad with strength in depth. The firepower of Jesus Navas, Fernandinho, Negredo and Jovetic added to Aguero, Edin Dzeko could probably be the most awesome in the EPL. Even if they have not been sorted out, they are fortunate to be meeting the Magpies.

Newcastle was magnificent two seasons ago but fumbled through the last. Tim Krul, Ben Arfa are back from injury and new addition Loic Remy from QPR is promising. Unless they got back their belief, they may struggle again. Man City should come good and have a good start to the season as they are one of the favourites this season. 3-1.

Chelsea v Villa - The computer is cruel or the soccer gods are playing a joke on Villa. Nobody would ask for such difficult starts as if you are taking an exam. Deal with all the difficult questions first then go on to the rest. If you remember Mourinho's Chelsea, they do not let in goals. Chelsea will roar away in the table first for a good start. 2-0.

Have a great EPL weekend!