10 Things that Could Happen in the Premier League this Season

Number 1 on my list was going to read: “Paolo Di Canio could get the sack before the season is out.” Now, I am neither fortune teller or rocket scientist, I think the writing was on the wall for this one but it does mean I have to think of something extra for this list!

1. Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku could end up as this season’s Premier League top scorer – for Everton! His impressive Toffees debut resulted in his first goal of the season but with Leighton Baines supplying the ammunition, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Lukaku score more than the 17 he got last season whilst on loan at West Brom.

2. Someone other than Man City, Man United and Chelsea could win the Premier League this season! Most pundits are still plumping for one of those 3 but with Ozil, Ramsey and Giroud firing on all cylinders, Arsenal have a chance. Spurs fans must also be wondering (albeit it silently for now) just how far their new team can go. For a team that is still gelling, they have been mightily impressive so far. The London derby with Chelsea this coming week may give us further clues.

3. Paolo Di Canio might not be the only Premier League manager to lose his job this season. By my reckoning, by the time last season had come to a close, no fewer than 7 Premier League managers had paid the ultimate price (Mark Hughes, Nigel Adkins, Brian McDermott, Roberto Di Matteo, Roberto Mancini, Tony Pulis and Martin O’Neill). Di Canio has already gone, so who else could be in danger this season? Ian Holloway? Chris Hughton? Alan Pardew? Martin Jol? Jose Mourinho? The new Sunderland manager?

4. This could be the closest title race for years. Okay so Man City sneaking past United on goal difference a couple of seasons back was pretty close but those two were miles ahead of the rest. This season could see a 4 or even 5 horse race. (see number 2 above)

5. Leighton Baines could finish the season playing for another club. Man United will be favourites to land the left back in the January transfer window but after such a scintillating start, other clubs could come knocking too. If Baines does leave, it might seriously scupper the chances of number 1 (see above) happening.

6. Manchester United could finish outside the top 4! Although teams in the lower reaches of the table would still covet most of United’s squad, the Red Devil’s failure to significantly strengthen in the summer could signal their lowest finish for ages!

7. Another one for Lukaku here – The Belgian could score more goals than the current Chelsea front-line combined! Fernando Torres, Samuel Eto’o and Demba Ba might yet come good but you can’t help sensing that it’s Chelsea’s midfielders that will weigh in with the majority of Blues goals this season.

8. A Welsh player could win Player of the Year for the second time in a row! Gareth Bale has gone to pastures new, but if he can keep his current form going who could rule out a chance of Aaron Ramsey succeeding the ex Spurs player?

9. Tom Huddlestone could cut his hair! Apparently, the Hull City midfielder has vowed not to give it the chop until he scores a Premier League goal. Whilst his appearances were restricted for Spurs last season, if he can avoid injury, there has to be a very good chance he could burst the net this season.

10. Stoke City could become the next Arsenal! Mark Hughes has them playing a totally different style of football and who knows, with a few more quality additions in January, the transformation from “lump it forward” to “knock it around very nicely” might be complete!

D for Dembele, De Bruyne and Dzeko - Premier League Football Alphabet 2013/2014

At the time of writing, we have seen all but two of this year’s Premier League teams in action, with Manchester City and Newcastle United in action tonight. We are working our way through the alphabet and have reached the letter "D". Slim pickings I am afraid but there are still a few exciting players we can talk about.

Mousa Dembele is now in his second season with Spurs and he will hope to be as influential in the Tottenham midfield as he was last season and perhaps even more so, now that the landscape is changing around him. With Tom Huddlestone, Jake Livermore and Clint Dempsey already departed and Scott Parker likely to follow suit, Dembele will now be accompanied in the centre of the field by the likes of Brazilian playmaker Paulinho and Etienne Capoue. The Belgian is big and strong and gets through an enormous amount of work but Spurs fans will be hoping he can weigh in with more goals, especially if Gareth Bale leaves the club.

Another Belgian, another midfielder and another great player - Kevin De Bruyne is not a new Chelsea signing but he might as well be given that his first season was spent out on loan at Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga. It seems that Jose Mourinho likes the look of him and after notching 10 goals for the German side last season, it seems the Blues have yet another goal scoring midfielder on their hands.  He is still only 22 and already has 3 goals for the Belgian national team and his place in the Chelsea starting line up for the opening day victory against Hull City might have a few Fantasy Football managers checking out his value.

Edin Dzeko is a goal scorer. He struck 66 times in 111 appearances for Wolfsburg and so far has 30 in 76 appearances for Man City. That’s almost 1 in 2 for City and many of those appearances came from the subs bench, so his goals per on field minutes will be very high. Carlos Tevez has departed but Negredo and Jovetic have arrived, whilst Sergio Aguero is still at The Etihad Stadium so the competition for places is stronger than ever for a starting place in the starting City eleven. If new City boss, Manuel Pellegrini gives the Bosnian striker more pitch time, he could score an absolute hat full this season.

Football Alphabet 2013/2014 - B for Bale, Benteke and Bony

BALE – the 2012/2013 season saw Gareth Bale establish himself as a sporting superstar! Frequently referred to as the 3^rd greatest player in the world, behind only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo the Welshman had a terrific season for both club and country.

£60 million is considered to be the ballpark fee for any club wishing to prise Bale away from Tottenham Hotspur and there are only a few European clubs that can afford that sort of money – so although there is plenty of time before the transfer window slams shut at the end of August, there is a good chance that Gareth Bale will once again be able to strut his stuff on the Premier League stage.

The defender-cum-midfielder-cum-attacker will have all eyes on him during the new season to see if he can replicate his form of last year in which he scored 21 league goals and was crowned Player of the Year by both his fellow professionals and the sports writers. One of the hallmarks of greatness is consistency, something both Messi and Ronaldo have proved over a number of seasons. So, if last season was Bale’s first truly world class season, he now has do it again and again to be heralded in the same breath as other legends of the game.

BENTEKE and BONY – Christian Benteke and Wilfried Bony will both be interesting this coming season. Benteke has finally agreed to stay with Aston Villa and if his mind is on the game and Paul Lambert manages to strengthen Villa up a bit, we could witness something really special from the big Belgian. In the scoring stakes, only Robin Van Persie, Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale scored more than Benteke last time out.

Meanwhile, Wilfried Bony is a 24 year old Ivorian striker who has signed for Swansea. While Michu was rattling the goals in from whichever position he played in, the Swans were clearly lacking an out and out striker. Michael Laudrup clearly believes that Bony is the answer. With 46 goals in 65 appearances for Vitesse Arnhem and 8 for his country in just 20 appearances, the pedigree certainly seems to be there. If he handles English football like that other great striker from Ivory Coast, one Didier Drogba, Swansea could improve on an already impressive first season in the Premier League.