1. Opposition Frailties
The main reason for Chelsea's title ambitions this season is partially down to their opposition for the title. They tick many of the boxes that their main rivals (Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal) fall down on, and will exploit these frailties over the course of the season. Manchester City have had a massive turnover this summer, with a new manager, and lots of players moving to and from the club. They have too many players expecting to start up front, with Alvaro Negredo, Jovetic, Dzeko, and Sergio Aguero all vying for a starting spot, and not enough room to accommodate them. There's little room for any of the four to get into a run of games scoring when they all need to be played. As well as this, they've brought a lot of players in from Spain, a league that is traditionally a lot less rough-and-ready than England, and where winter football is a lot more attritional than in Spain. It'll be difficult to see Jesus Navas and Fernandinho grinding out the performances in an icy pitch in the North-East in mid-December quite as well as Carlos Tevez managed to last season. Manchester United have the opposite problem. An ageing Vidic leads the defence, and a squad built around two players (Carrick and Van Persie) is vunerable to injury. A couple of injuries, and it's very possible to see the team unravel fairly easily. They've made few signings, apart from winger Wilfred Zaha, and it's hard to see how they'll cope without either of their two stalwarts,
even if they do manage to hang on to Wayne Rooney, who has a
good goal-scoring pedigree. As for Arsenal, their fellow Londoners have made no first-team signings this summer, and were far off the pace last year. They still haven't signed a meaningful replacement for Robin Van Persie, and with Suarez seemingly staying put at Anfield, they don't look in any shape to mount a realistic Premier League challenge.
Dark horses Tottenham have strengthened again this summer, but questions remain about whether Gareth Bale will stay or go, and
with Bale also injured at the moment, it's looking like the good start they need might be a little harder to achieve than first expected. Who do you think will win this year's Premier League title? Let us know in the comments below.