Barclays Premier League Preview 2014-15 Part 1: The Title

The new Barclays Premier League season begins this weekend, and in this post I will take a look at the title contenders. 

Last season's title race was one of the most exciting for years. Liverpool looked like certainties to win their first championship for 24 years until their (well, Steven Gerrard's) late slip allowed Manchester City to take home the trophy, Manuel Pellegrini's first domestic title in a European league. Arsenal led the table for longer than anyone else, yet suffered damaging defeats to all of their title rivals. Chelsea beat both Manchester City and Liverpool home and away, but dropped points to so-called lesser opposition to end up only 3rd, and Manchester United suffered an unthinakble decline as their worst ever Premier League finish of 7th place followed. It's impossible to believe that the title will go anywhere else but to one of these five teams again, and here, I will look at their credentials.

Arsenal's Community Shield win this week over a suprisingly poor Man City side has given their supporters the right to believe that they can live with the big boys this time around. Last season's defeats against their fellow contenders weren't just notable for their frequency, but for their comprehensiveness. Chelsea, City and Liverpool scored a combined 17 goals against them in three infamous early kick-offs. Their challenge wasn't helped by a familiar problem, that of an injury list far too long for their liking. Aaron Ramsey's early season form could have brought more to the Emirates trophy cabinet than the FA Cup had he not missed almost the entire second half of the season. He, a fully fit Jack Wilshere and Mesut Ozil, as well as the big money addition of Alexis Sanchez may give them the sort of midfield dominance needed to get over the line, but once again, they may just fall agonisingly short over 38 games, especially if they don't ease the workload on Olivier Giroud with another forward signing. (Behind The Goal Prediction: 3rd)

Manchester City's title win should have come as no surprise given that on paper, they had the best squad, but even great groups take time to gel. Their poor away form in the first two months of the season could have cost them, but once they got going they didn't really look back. Their transfer activity has been relatively quiet, as their hands are tied by the Financial Fair Play regulation slapped on them by UEFA. Despite that, Pellegrini has brought in Fernando and Eliaquim Mangala both from Porto, as well as Willy Caballero, Bacary Sagna and surprisingly Frank Lampard for a bit of squad depth. Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko will continue to provide plenty of goals, and Stevan Jovetic will be like a new signing this year, after his debut campaign was blighted by injury and poor form. Holding on to Yaya Toure is a huge boost too, after the controversy surrounding what did or didn't happen around his birthday. Whoever finishes above them will probably win the title. (BTG Prediction: 2nd)

Manchester United and their fans expected a transitional season under David Moyes last year. But by Manchester United's standards, that still means a title challenge and maybe a Cup run. It certainly didn't mean 7th place and your Chosen One out of a job by April, but that's exactly what they got. In Louis van Gaal, they have the manager with the sort of credentials that warrants one of the biggest jobs in world football. Whereas Moyes looked delighted to be there in his opening press conference, van Gaal was telling United that they should be delighted to have him. Ander Herrera and Luke Shaw have been brought to Old Trafford, but they still look short defensively following the exits of Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand and captain Nemanja Vidic. At the other end of the pitch, van Gaal is the right man to inject new life into Robin van Persie, who captained his Netherlands side at the World Cup. If they can get themselves back into the Champions League, United's fans will be happy. 4th place would never have been considered success under Sir Alex Ferguson, but it will be after last year's debacle. The trouble is, they have very quickly fallen too far behind the top three to get any higher this year. (BTG Prediction: 4th)

Liverpool snatched Premier League defeat from the jaws of victory last season. Brendan Rodgers' side may have won 12 of their last 14 games, but that's no good when the other two cost you everything. The 2-0 Anfield reverse by a Chelsea team who found a way to win with resolute defending, canny counter attacking and that slip, was followed by the catastrophe that was the last quarter of an hour at Crystal Palace which led to a 3-3 draw. They let Manchester City in to take the title that looked Liverpool bound after their win against the Citizens in April. Even that 3-2 victory though illustrated the ultimate reason why it went wrong. Despite scoring for fun, they simply conceded too many sloppy goals at the other end. Dejan Lovren's arrival should help arrest that trend, but how on earth do they go about replacing Luis Suarez and his incredible haul of goals? The £75million will hopefully from their point of view be spent better than Tottenham's Gareth Bale money was, but the jury is out on whether Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert can make the step up. Lazar Markovic should be good when fit, but Liverpool need another outlet in midfield, but if anyone can, Emre Can. Liverpool haven't turned into a bad side overnight, far from it, but despite being linked with a few, they remain a top-class striker away from getting as close as last season. even finishing in the top four should be considered progress.  (BTG Prediction: 5th)

Chelsea came only four points behind Man City last season even with the high number of dropped points against the likes of Sunderland and Norwich City. A new, improved Blues starting eleven should be far more comfortable of avoiding any such mistakes this time around. Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard have moved on, although the old guard is still represented in the form of John Terry and the returning Didier Drogba from Galatasaray. The Ivorian legend may not play as many games as he used to, but as any Chelsea fan will tell you, the higher the stakes, the more likely it is he'll score. Of course they also still have Fernando Torres, who gets more goals than people think, but the main man will no doubt be Diego Costa. The Brazilian-born Spaniard bagged 36 goals for Atletico Madrid last season, helping them to the La Liga title and very nearly the Champions League. Anywhere near that return and Chelsea will take some stopping. That's even before I mention the arrival of Cesc Fabregas. Arsenal didn't want him and Manchester United didn't think they needed him, but I bet they'll soon regret he's a Blue. The addition of Filipe Luis to what was already the league's best defence make Jose Mourinho's side my favourites. Like City, whoever finishes above them will win the title.  (BTG Prediction: 1st)

Who are your tips for the title? Tweet @adamgray50 or leave a comment.

Two cup finals in the Premier League

This weekend sees the semi-finals of the FA Cup with Budweiser. Arsenal face holders Wigan Athletic and Hull City play Sheffield United, but in the Barclays Premier League, there are two cup finals too. One will probably decide a relegation place; the other will almost certainly hand the league title to the winners.

Norwich City travel to Craven Cottage on Saturday to play Fulham with the losers facing a near-impossible task to avoid going down, almost certainly alongside Cardiff City and Sunderland, who look doomed already. With five games to go, the Canaries hit the panic button and parted company with boss Chris Hughton. Despite being five points clear of Fulham, who occupy the third relegation place, the board have acted now, given the team's last four games are against Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal. It is not inconceivable that Norwich will lose all four. Defeat at the Cottage will leave Fulham two points behind Norwich, and assuming that Norwich do lose all four against the league's big guns, Felix Magath's charges will only need one more win from fixtures against Tottenham, Hull City, Stoke City and Crystal Palace to move above the side from Carrow Road. Magath has a proven track record for pulling teams out of trouble, and no doubt will smell blood coming from a Canaries team who look short of confidence, are out of form and who have just appointed a manager - Neil Adams - with no Premier League experience. Norwich went to Craven Cottage on the final day in 2005 needing a win to stay up. They lost 6-0 and were relegated. The omens are not good, and I think Fulham will add to their growing belief with another win to follow up their success at Villa Park last week.

On Sunday afternoon Liverpool play host to Manchester City in what looks for all the world like a title decider. The Reds are on a run of nine consecutive victories, and five more will earn them their first ever Premier League title, and their 19th in English top flight football. Standing in their way is a City side who have stuttered of late, just weeks after seemingly beginning to run away with the league. Despite this, Manuel Pellegrini still has the bookies' favourites in a strong position; as well as Liverpool, they also know that maximum points from their remaining matches will win them their second championship in three years. Brendan Rodgers has already ramped up the pressure, claiming that the visitors will go into Sunday lunchtime's game as favourites. The Kop boss has said all along that Liverpool aren't in this title race. He may as well keep saying it, because it isn't doing his players much harm at the moment. The timing feels right for the home side to take the bull by the horns and go and win this title. This weekend marks the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, and Anfield will be an emotional setting for a game which will kick off seven minutes late as part of the league-wide commemorations of the tragedy. What better way to remember the 96 who lost their lives that day than to win the one piece of silverware that has eluded them since 1990. Mind you, Manchester City will have something to say about that. Who do I think will win the game? I don't know, but I'll have a lot of fun finding out!

Barclays Premier League Preview 2013-14 Part 1: Race for the title

For the first time in many years there is a genuine three-horse race for the Barclays Premier League title, made all the more fascinating by the fact that all of the three clubs are being led by new managers. We all know what we're going to get with Jose Mourinho, as he begins his second spell in charge of Chelsea, and Manuel Pellegrini at Manchester City brings his obvious talent. The biggest job however is obviously that of David Moyes, who takes on the unenviable task of picking up where Sir Alex Ferguson left off.

Moyes has already found himself under pressure following a less than impressive set of pre-season results, and of course having to deal with the Wayne Rooney transfer saga. It sounds silly, but this past Sunday's Community Shield was close to must-win for the former Everton boss. Talk amongst the Old Trafford fans has been about a lack of new signings, but it was Robin van Persie's double at Wembley against Wigan which proved that the champions aren't too bad a team without newcomers. I feel though that without another midfielder, possibly a replacement for Rooney, and of course Sir Alex in the dugout, United may fall short of title no.21.

Few were surprised when Mourinho returned to Stamford Bridge after a turbulent couple of years at Real Madrid. If he has the same effect as his first season the last time, Chelsea are going to be very tough to beat. For me, that Blues team of 2004-05 is the best in Premier League history - and I include the Arsenal invincibles in that, for the record - but I'm not too sure the spine of this team is as strong. John Terry and Frank Lampard, loyal servants of the club and the manager, aren't the players they were, and there are doubts as to how much he fancies David Luiz and Juan Mata. The personnel at the Bridge are more used to playing with more attacking prowess than Mourinho's teams are known for. Mourinho has the same problem as a long list of predecessors in the job, which is to get the best out of Fernando Torres, who must know that time is running out unless he can finally produce a 20+ goal season.

For all the talk about Moyes, Mourinho and the other transfer sagas, Manchester City have gone about their business very quietly, amazingly quietly really. They have no doubt been the busiest of the big three in the transfer market, and not only have they added in quantity, they have added in unquestionable quality in the shape of Alvaro Negredo, Stevan Jovetic, Jesus Navas and Fernandinho. Too many of their key names underperformed last season - in fact only Pablo Zabaleta had a better season than in their championship year of 2011-12 - but if the likes of Sergio Aguero, Yaya Toure, and maybe most crucially Joe Hart, get back to their best, they are going to be a force. As well as those, Pellegrini will likely use Edin Dzeko in a more leading role, which I am excited about. For me, he is possibly the most under-rated striker in the league. I may be in the minority, but I am predicting City to win the league back from their neighbours come May.

Come back later this week for Part 2 when I look at who will be in the relegation battle.