Area of strength - Attack. Ashley Young and Nani delivering balls into Rooney, Chicharito and Bebetov is a very scary picture.
Areas of weakness - Defense/Central Midfield. Van Der Sar left a big void. Jones, Evan and Smalling are still work-in-progress, though Smalling has shown signs of being solid sooner than expected. The central midfield needs a maestro. Carrick and Anderson are not the greatest. Giggs is getting up there to be a winger, and might move into a more central role.
Verdict - Team to beat. Their pace on the wings and forward positions will prove too much headache for opponents to exploit their defensive weaknesses
#2. Manchester City
Area of strength - Midfield. Without doubt, having Yaya Toure, David Silva and Nigel De Jong makes Man City's midfield the most solid area in the team. Barring karate kicks and some questionable tackles, De Jong is an enforcer. Silva's flair is mesmerizing and a delight to watch. He gives you the same feeling as being in a theater, and usually caps his performance with a goal, leaving his audience truly fulfilled. Yaya Toure's utility speaks for itself.
Area of strength - Attack. With or without Carlos Tevez, this attack with 'El Kun' Aguero, and 'Super Bad' Mario still looks good (with Edin Dzeko on the bench). Adam Johnson and David Silva should provide enough opportunities for them.
Area of weakness - Defense. Besides Joe Hart, everyone else is suspect and shaky
Verdict - I know most Chelsea fans will disagree, but Man City is my first pick to challenge their neighbors for the title.
#3. Chelsea
Area of strength - Defense. Chelsea have conceded the least goals in 2 seasons. Petr Cech is still a good keeper, even if he's lost a little bit of his quick instincts since the head injury. Terry is getting up in age, but still effective in most games. While David Luis and Ivanovic have done well, Alex is still an important piece to keep around. Ashley Cole has also been very consistent for Chelsea (not so much for England). Bosingwa's time may be up. He's defensive lapses have caught up with him (very decent player to scoop up in the transfer market).
Area of strength - Attack. It's been six months since Torres swapped the red shirt of Liverpool for Chelsea's blue. As a die hard Liverpool, I was traumatized by that move. It felt like relegation. My feelings aside, El Nino is still one of the most dangerous strikers in the Premiership. In my opinion, few are greater, one of which is Didier Drogba his team mate. Add the ageless Nico Anelka, Kalou, Malouda, Sturridge and you have yourself a swarm of bees waiting to string any defense to death.
Area of weakness - Midfield/Manager/Owner. While Chelsea's midfield is not exactly bad, injury to Michael Essien makes it the weakest link in a strong Chelsea squad. The Manager is also an area of weakness until he proves himself. Ancelotti was a huge lose, thanks to their erratic owner (Chelsea's biggest liability).
Verdict - Managerial change and Essien's injury drops Chelsea one spot from last season.
#4. Arsenal
Area of strength - Attack/Manager. Gervinho is a solid buy. A healthy RVP is a bad boy any day, especially if Theo Walcott is at his best with his wing runs. Yes Wenger is a big strength for the Gunners, and has been for the last 5 years. No Manager has lost so many good experienced players, had to rely on kids and still finish top 4 in the hardest league in the world.
Area of weakness - Midfield/Defense/Goalkeeper/Manager. No Cesc, No trophy. Young Jack is capable of steering the midfield to a top 4 finish, but without Fabregas, Arsenal will not surpass last season. Wenger, please buy some defenders and 2 goalkeepers! It will not kill you to spend!
#5. Liverpool
Area of strength - Manager/Suarez/Kop. While the top 4 teams have been ranked based on 'team based' areas of strength, Liverpool has none. The only sign of life in this old lady of a club is actually the Manager and the next rising star of a striker. Dalglish 'willed' Liverpool back from 12th place to a sixth place finish by his charisma and a certain fire ball called Luis Suarez. Liverpool die hard supporters should see them win many home games, enough for a 5th place finish.
Area of weakness - Defense. Atrocious!
Area of weakness - Midfield. Too many deadweights!
#6. Tottenham
Area of strength - Van Der Vaart/Bale/Lennon. These three players will be enough to finish in the top half of the league. All three were instrumental to the Spurs finishing 5th when all their strikers chocked.
Area of weakness - Midfield. A lot of their midfield players are unsettled, and Tottenham may see an exit of Modric, Palacios and Kranjar.
The rest -
#7. Sunderland - moves up 3 spots from last season. Gyan and Sessegnon combo will shine
#8. Fulham - Martin Jol is a good addition. Riise could also bring some excitement. Dempsey and Dembele will entertain.
#9. Everton - The imminent loss of Arteta will prove too much to retain their previous season rank at #7
#10. Bolton - Returns to the top 10, up 4 spots. They ran out of steam towards the end of last season, crashing from 6th to 14th. Owen Coyle, who is a master of the 'loan market' will learn and make adjustments.
#11. Stoke - The league's 'Muscle' team. Would have ranked them higher, but Europa will take a toll on conditioning. They still move up 2 spots from last year (because of more bad teams in the league this year)
#12. QPR - Don't know much about them, but they seem to have more resources and better players than most Championship level teams.
#13. Aston Villa - I believe the Bent and Nzogbia combination will help, but they will finish 4 spots down from last year because of their new 'turncoat' manager from Birmingham, Alex M
Relegation Challenge - in no particular order -
- Newcastle
- Norwich
- Wigan - No Nzobgia, no premiership
- Wolves
- Blackburn (sure bet)
- Swansea
- West Brom - Roy will choke again
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