Daily Independent English Premier League: The epic kick-off The 2014-2015 English Premier League season kicks-off today as clubs begin race for the title, Champions League ticket and fight against relegation to the lower division. CORRESPONDENT, Augustine Akhilomen, takes a look at the teams, their strength, weakness and possibly the one that will win the trophy and those that may be relegated at the end of the season mancity-arsenal Manchester City Last season: 1st Losing 3-0 in the Community Shield against Arsenal last Sunday may have put question mark on the Citizens’ quest to successfully defend the EPL title. However, it’s not a sign that City will be facing serious backlash from Premier League teams after all. Last time out, Man City lost the Community Shield to Man United and later went ahead to win its second league crown under Manuel Pellegrini, scoring 102 goals against 37 conceded. With few additions such as Mangala (£32m, Porto), Fernando (£12m, Porto), Willy Caballero (£6m, Malaga), Bacary Sagna (Free, Arsenal), Bruno Zuculini (£1.5m, Racing Club) to the squad, City still appears stronger to defend the title coupled with the fact that the crop of players that won the title are still there. The team also won four against three defeats in seven pre-season matches. Verdict 2nd. Chelsea Last season: 3rd. Arguably, its one of the Premier League title contenders. Chelsea’s failure to win a laurel under Jose Mourinho last season was regarded a disaster, because winning trophies is the yard stick of measuring in Chelsea. This season, the Blues’ pre-seasons matches has been spectacular winning six, losing two and drawing one as its new acquisitions Cesc Fabregas (£30m, Barcelona), Diego Costa (£32m, Atletico Madrid), and Filipe Luis (£16m, Atletico Madrid) shone like million stars. The missing link last season is the Blues attack against smaller teams with defensive approaches may have been plugged. However, will the North London team be able to measure up to the standard of the Premier League? Verdict 1st Arsenal Last season: 4th The Gunners ended nine years of trophy-less season by winning the FA Cup last season and placed fourth on the league and thereby grabbing the UEFA Champions League last ticket. In a bid to begin the new season on a high, Arsenal’s pre-season form has been near perfect except for the defeat against Monaco in the Emirate Cup and New York Red Bulls. Arsene Wenger’s major landmark before the commencement of the League today, was the team’s convincing 3-0 thrashing of last season’s champions, Man City in the Community Shield to further underline its readiness to win the league this season. Having purchased the likes of Alexis Sanchez (Barcelona, £30m), Mathieu Debuchy (£10m, Newcastle), Chambers (Southampton, £12m) and David Ospina (Nice, £3m) to strengthen the squad and barring any unforeseen injury, something that hampered its title chances last season, Arsenal’s may attempt to wrestle the league crown by going all the way. Verdict: 3rd. Manchester United Last season: 7th The Red Devils was reduced to mere starters by visiting teams at Old Trafford under former coach David Moyes. Last season, Man-United lost its place in the Champions League. The team will be missing three of its regular defenders (Patrice Evra, Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand). This season after they joined another club in the summer, meaning defensively, the team will struggle to cope with or without new defenders. However, with the arrival of Dutch World Cup coach Louis Van Gaal, it is expected that drastic transformation will take place in the locker room with the coming of Luke Shaw (£31.5m, Southampton), Ander Herrera (£29m, Athletic Bilbao) and Vanja Milinkovic (Undisclosed, FK Vojvodina) to solidify the team. Still unbeaten in its pre-season matches, beating teams like Real Madrid, Inter, Roma and Liverpool, to underline its readiness for the new season, United is likely force its way back to the top four. Verdict: 4th Liverpool Last season: 2nd The Reds would have been crowned champions of England if the team had calmed its nerves in its last three matches after leading the league log for most part of April and May before losing it to Man City. Lessons have been learnt and the new season will usher in a team without top goal scorer Luis Suarez, who joined Barcelona this summer. However, new arrivals such as Adam Lallana (£23m, Southampton), Lazar Markovic (£20m, Benfica), Emre Can (£9.8m, B Leverkusen), Rickie Lambert (£4m, Southampton), Dejan Lovren (£20m, Liverpool), Javier Manquillo (Atlético Madrid, Loan) and Divock Origi (£10m, Lille) have been brought in to fortify the squad and have shown their qualities in Liverpool’s pre-seasons matches. Liverpool won six and lost three of its nine pre-season matches, playing its usual beautiful and pacy football to the delight of its supporters. Aslo, the team may struggle to gel due to the fact that some players are not just relevant to the team’s course this season owing to improper blending. Verdict: 5th Tottenham Last season: 6th Failed to live up to expectations last season despite last summer’s spending spree that didn’t translate into results under former boss, Andre Villas-Boas. The need to revive the team constrained the management to hire former Southampton boss Mauricio Pochettino, a move which has seen Tottenham remain unbeaten in its pre-season matches. As usual, the team’s focus would be the top four placing and possibly battle for the title if the opportunity presents itself just like what happen to Liverpool last season. Pochettino’s football philosophy may turn around Spurs but won’t be enough to overcome teams like Man City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Man United. Ben Davies (Swansea, swap), Michel Vorm (Swansea, £5m) and Eric Dier (Sporting Lisbon, £4m) are the new comers into the team. Verdict: 6th Everton Last season: 6th Started last season like a house on fire before gassing out when its mattered most. Everton under Roberto Martinez has been a delightful to watch and has proven to be spoilers for the big teams in England. It’s plans to attempt next year’s Champions League as promised by Martinez has seen the team dig into its purse to buy talisman Romelu Lukaku (£28m, Chelsea), Gareth Barry (Free, Man City) and Muhamed Besic (£4m, Ferencvaros). With little to cheer in its pre-season matches where the team lost four of its five pre-season matches, Everton will be looking for a better result when the team kicks-off its campaign against Leicester City today. Verdict: 7th Southampton. Last season: 8th A few months ago most people would have laughed at the prediction of Southampton being relegated. Following a turbulent summer in which its squad was largely decimated, losing former coach Mauricio Pochettino to Tottenham, Shaw, Lallana, Lambert and many more. Southampton arguably is the third weakest squad in the league despite buying Dusan Tadic (Twente, £10.3m), Fraser Forster (Celtic, £10m), Graziano Pelle (Feyenoord, £8m), Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea, loan), Saphir Taider (Inter Milan, loan). For this reason the team is serious candidates for the drop, and will have to outperform to remain a Premier league outfit next year. Verdict: 18th Leicester City. Last season: 1st (Championship) Leicester City however does not have as much quality to face a season of struggles irrespective of its unbeaten record in its pre-season matches where the team won six and drew one. After dominating the Championship last year the team has failed to sign enough players with true Premier League pedigree. Despite the inclusion of fresh players such as Matthew Upson (Brighton, free), Marc Albrighton (Aston Villa, free), Leonardo Ulloa (Brighton, £7m), Ben Hamer (Charlton, free), Jack Barmby (Manchester United, free), Louis Rowley (Manchester United, free), it has been proven season after season that a great Championship team will very rarely beat the drop in the Premier League. Verdict: 19th Burnley. Last season: 2nd (Championship) This year’s most obvious candidate for relegation will be Burnley considering the fact that the squad is severely lacking both in quality and numbers. The team’s pre-season results with smaller clubs has seen Burnley winning three, drawing one and lost one. It will surely take a superhuman effort from the excellent Sean Dyche to lead his troops out of the Premier League firing line. With new arrivals like Lukas Jutkiewicz (Middlesbrough, £2.5m), Michael Kightly (Stoke, undisclosed), Marvin Sordell (Bolton, free), Matt Gilks (Blackpool, free), Matt Taylor (West Ham, free) and Steven Reid (West Brom, free), the real survival of the fittest will kick off today. Verdict: 20th Stoke City Last season: 9th Stoke City is expected to better last season’s performance after making sensitive buys that include Bojan Krkic, Mame Biram Diouf, Dionatan Teixeira, Phil Bardsley and Steve Sidwell. It lost just two of its six pre-season matches. Verdict: 8th Swansea City Last season:12th City’s new buys Bafetimbi Gomis and Gylfi Sigurdsson would certainly transform the team’s aspiration this season irrespective of its shaky pre-season campaign. Its tika-taka style of play may help the team progress further this season. Verdict: 9th West Ham Last season:12th The Hammers’ pre-season form has no been too fantastic, however, the team knows how to turn things around in the league and will be banking on the Enner Valencia, Cheikhou Kouyate and co to help the fortune of the team this season. Verdict: 10th QPR Last season:(Championship play-off) Always a force to reckon considering Harry Redknapp’s wealth of experience in the Premier League and its determination to remain atop. With few additions like Rio Ferdinand, Steven Caukler, Jordon Mutch and Mauricio Isla, lots should be expected from QPR. Verdict: 11th Crstal Palace Last season: 11th Palace is certain to retain its top flight standing considering its performance last season and the inclusion of Frazier Campbell in its attack. Verdict: 12th West Brom Last season: 17th Not known for its slow start to the league coupled with the narrow escape from relegation, the Baggies will be relying on its brilliant performance in the pre-season to catapult itself this season. With additions of Super Eagles stker Brown Ideye to the fold, West Brom could make a big push. Verdict: 13th Sunderland, Aston Villa, Hull and Newcastle will battle for the remaining positions left in the Barclays Premier League just as the teams did last season.
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 10:23:06 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015