English Premier League 2010/11 - The Title Race

Last year's dramatic conclusion to the F.A. Barclays Premier League drew a worldwide audience of millions across the globe. It's the best league in the world, with the greatest players, the top managers, and the very best teams in Europe going head to head at a hundred miles an hour. Here we look at the teams who'll challenge for the title...

2009/10 saw Carlo Ancelotti's Chelsea win the league title for the first time in four seasons.  With the trophy won in emphatic style with an 8-0 thrashing of Wigan Athletic on the final day, Chelsea took the championship by a single point from the 2008/09 winners, Manchester United.  But can The Blues retain the title, something they haven't done since (whisper the name) Jose Mourinho.  Ancelotti certainly hasn't been afraid to wield the axe during a summer of change at Stamford Bridge with Ballack, Deco and Joe Cole all allowed to leave. Incoming have been Yossi Benayoun, somewhat puzzlingly to replace England regular Joe Cole, two years his junior, with the champions paying Liverpool an estimated £2million for the crafty Israeli's services.  One excellent signing would appear to be the Brazilian Ramires, whose £18m arrival plugs the gap left by Ballack, the German rejoining Bayer Leverkusen. If Ancelotti can get the best of his squad again, they will be the team to beat, and in Drogba, Lampard and Malouda, they have three of the EPL's most potent goalscorers.  But with the average age of the squad comfortably higher than most, the coaching staff will need to put a disappointing pre-season behind them quickly in a highly competitive league.

Verdict : 2nd

No-one has won as many English Premier League titles than Sir Alex Ferguson's men. But with last season's sole trophy won being the Carling Cup, United will be determined to win back the trophy from their closest challengers over the last few years. With critics spending much of last season pinpointing the departures of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez as the reason behind the deposing of the champions, Dimitar Berbatov struggled to fill the void.  Scoring only 13 goals, the Bulgarian will need to contribute more in the next twelve months.  One player who shone in 2009/10 was England's lamented talisman at the World Cup, Wayne Rooney. The former Everton striker will have some help on the front line this year in the shape of lively Mexican, Javier Hernandez. Chicharito, as he is also known, had an impressive World Cup, and at £7m looks a snip.  

Defensive injuries combined with a lack of experience coming from the bench proved decisive in undermining United's title bid last time around.  New players have not come in floods, however, with Chris Smalling joining from Fulham as the only other first team signing.  As ever, Ferguson will rely in part on the trio of established United stars, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs.  How those seasoned professionals bring through the next generation of youngsters to pick up the baton for attacking, passing play will determine whether United can move onto nineteen league titles, which would become a clear record over any other English team.  

Verdict: 1st

By Arsene Wenger’s high standards, the last five seasons have yielded only disappointment.  With no trophies at all in the cabinet in half a decade, the pressure is on for the mercurial Frenchman to convert a young squad of undoubted potential into winners.  Much has been made of Arsenal’s passing up the pitch during games, but in recent years they have definitely lacked a cutting edge in converting the chances they so freely create.  So perhaps it was no surprise when Wenger finally signed long-term target Maroane Chamakh from Bordeaux.  The talented striker joined on a free transfer, and is already showing signs of being a real find. 

With Van Persie fit and Cesc Fabregas - albeit reluctantly - rejecting the advances of his home-town club Barcelona, Arsenal have a first XI equipped to go all the way.  But I agree with many others on the subject of whether The Gunners can end their wait for another Premier League title – their strength in depth is the key area of concern.  With injuries suffered to Van Persie and the talismanic club captain Fabregas last term, their challenge at home and abroad simply fell away.  If they can keep their best players fit, they have a genuine chance of fighting it out come May for the English Premier League title.  But if injuries hit, Wenger may need to break out the chequebook in January, something he has previously been reticent to do.

Verdict: 3^rd

If Arsenal’s summer has been disrupted a little, that has been a mild breeze compared to the hurricane of activity at Anfield.  Rafa Benitez left the club at the end of last season, and with the club sale still dragging on into the 2010/11 season, new manager roy Hodgson will have no time to pat himself on the back for Fulham’s success last year.  Hodgson masterminded an incredible run to take The Cottagers to the UEFA Europa League final, where they only lost out to an excellent Atletico Madrid, the Spaniards having also defeated Liverpool along the way. 

Hodgson has already completed the first urgent business, convincing Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres to remain at the club despite the prospect of no Champions League football this year.  And with Londoner Joe Cole arriving on a free transfer from champions Chelsea, Liverpool may well have nabbed the transfer bargain of the summer.  A lot will depend on results against the teams around them, and Hodgson himself will need to work on winning away matches (Fulham were consistently awful away from Craven Cottage in recent seasons) but the bones of a good side are in place, and they have the EPL know-how to put a winning run together at any time. 

Verdict: 4^th

Upheaval may be rare at Anfield but at The City of Manchester Stadium, they do drama every week of the year.  One of the most talked-about sides in the world, the perennial poor neighbours of United for so many years now have the finances in place to blow anyone out of the transfer market.  But who will be the manager to bring a 35-year wait for a trophy to an end, and achieve the kind of glory that has until now been reserved to the M13 area rather than Eastlands? Roberto Mancini took over from an unfortunate Mark hughes halfway through last season, which perhaps explains why the richest club board in world football have been patient with his failure to seize possibly the most open race for 4^th place in seven years. 

This season, such stumbling will not be accepted, and with Balotelli from Inter Milan and James Milner from Aston Villa expected to join other new signings David Silva from Valencia and Yaya Toure from Barcelona in City’s multi-cultural line-up, players will be expected to gel.  If there was one club who stood to lose most from the F.A. Premier League ruling squads can no longer exceed 25 players, with eight of those having to be ‘home-grown’, it is certainly City.  But they have a team that can win anything on paper, and if Mancini can knit them together even to a partial degree, they will be a dangerous and exciting force in this year’s EPL for sure.

Verdict: 5^th

By any stretch of the imagination, Harry Redknapp and Spurs reaching 4^th place in 2009/10 ranks as one of the greatest achievements in Premier League history.  With Robbie Kenae bravely sent out on loan to Celtic, the remaining strikers Defoe, Pavluchenko and Crouch performed superbly at home and away, where they clinched fourth place with a vital 1-0 win at closest rivals Manchester city.  With his preferred defensive centre-back pairing of Woodgate and King missing due to injuries for much of the season, Harry Redknapp handed the captaincy to Michael Dawson, who grew another six inches in the role, leading his team to glory with some fast, attacking play.  Winger Aaron Lennon added an end-product to his blistering pace and Luka Modric earned the plaudits of football fans and pundits the world over. 

With little strengthening in place during a frustrating summer in the transfer market for Harry (Joe Cole was a long-time target, opting to switch to Liverpool late in the day), Spurs may have to rely on their teamwork and attitude on the pitch this season too.  Redknapp is sure to want reinforcements for a season fought on the twin fronts of the EPL and Champions League group stage, but if he fails to wheel and deal, results in both competitions might suffer.

Verdict: 6th