2009-10 Premiership begins

The 2009-10 premiership kicks off today with Chelsea hosting Hull City while Arsenal go to Everton. Tomorrow Man United host Birmingham and Liverpool go to Tottenham.

Title Race:
Obivously the big question is can Man United survive without Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese star has jumped to Real Madrid and United have snapped up Luis Valencia from Wigan plus Michael Owen and Gabriel Obertan. I think they will finish 2nd but not by much.

Chelsea had a difficult 1st half to the season under Luis Scolari and this year under Carlo Ancelotti it could promise great things. No big names have left with Yuri Zhirkov arriving from CSKA Moskva while Daniel Sturridge and Ross Turnbull have arrived. My favourites for the Premier league. Didier Drogba will need a good season as will Petr Cech and co.

Liverpool had a good season last year finishing 2nd but i have my doubts about them this year. Fernando Torres is the dangerman, but how effectiv is he if he is not getting service from midfield. Xabi Alonso suplied Torres with the passes last year and Gerrard acted as times as a second striker. Glen Johnson is a good signing for Benítez and for me a 3rd place finish.

Arsenal are definetly weaker this year than in previous seasons. Kolo Touré is a massive loss in central defense. Thomas Vermaelen has been bought in from Ajax and he is a good defender but it will be difficult to replace Touré. Andrei Arshavin will be key after impressing in the 2nd half of last season. Robin Van Persie is destined for a good season and Eduardo will be massive in his 1st full season since breaking his leg in 2008. I think 5th is the best bet but don't rule out 4th place.

Man City! What else can i say about the richest-club in the world. They are in the same situation as Real Madrid yes they have bought great players but can they gel? Kolo Touré has signed as has Emmanuel Adebayor plus Roque Santa Cruz and Gareth Barry. Carlos Tévez has a work ethic about him to win games but who is going to be the 1st XI. Add the signings to current crop Robinho, Stephan Ireland and Shaun Wright-Philips, Mark Hughes will need to find his best 11 quick. 4th place is the target but i think a top 6 is very much within reach.

European Battle:
Aston Villa pushed the top 4 last year until March, when they fell off the radar and finished 6th. So what will Artin O'Neil be doing this year. Fabian Delph has arrived from Leeds and Stewart Downing from Middlesbrough but Downing is out until December. Aston Villa also have Europa League fixtures with long trips which could interupt their premier league campaign. 7th place for me.

Everton are the dark-horses this year for the top 4. Finishing 5th last year, Everton are also the last club other than the top 4 to finish 4th back in 2004-05. Joleon Lescott has to stay if they are to challenge and Mikel Arteta has to get back from injury quickly. Tim Cahill is a massive player for Everton and will be key. 6th place and the odd chance of finishing 5th.

Tottenham have the players to get the Europa League places but they often start slowly and don't deliver. By October 2008 they had just 2 points from 8 games until Harry Redknapp came in. A good strikforce is what they have with Defoe, Keane, Pavlyuchenko and Crouch, who will start though? 8th place.

Mid-Table:
Blackburn will be safe. Sam Allardyce is a good manager. Despite selling Roque Santa Cruz, Blackburn have signed highly rated Nikola Kalinic from Hajduk Split. Blackburn will be around 11th or 9th place.

West Ham won't be doing anything special this season. A mid-table finish last year is likely to be repeated. Gianfranco Zola worked wonders last year despite losing key players to injury.

Relegation Battle:
Hull City in my opinion were very lucky to stay up last season. They had a fantastic start which is ultimately what saved them. Phil Brown has signed Jozy Altidore and Seyi Olofinjana. The signing of Stephan Hunt could be the greatest one. Hunt will bring a good work load to help the Tigers in their quest to survive.

Stoke City survived quiet comfortably last season due to Tony Pulis' man-management. The Rory Delap long throw also helped. The goals of James Beattie and Ricardo Fuller will be needed this time around again for Stoke to survive. They should survive again.

Portsmouth are in crisis at the moment with a takeover on and off. Paul Hart has taken the reins on a permanent basis and has to do without Peter Crouch and Glen Johnson. It will be tough, so i think they will finish 18th.

Sunderland surived and will be looking forwards under Steve Bruce. Lorik Cana and Darren Bent have been snapped up. 15th place for me.

Burnley are in for a tough season. They need to grind out results against teams that will be around them. Owen Coyle's side are favourites to go down. Chris Eagles will be needed this season.

Wolves look the most likely of the three promoted sides to survive having added Kevin Doyle to their ranks that also includes Sylvian Ebanks-Blake. They should survive.

Birmingham look like they will definetly be involved in this dog-fight. Barry Ferguson has signed bt Christian Benítez is unproven in the Premiership.