Three Months of Agony Finally Over... Soon 13 August, 2009

Two more days to go, and the English Premier League season will begin again. For all you footy fans like myself, the past three months must have felt like years!

Will defending champions Manchester United do it again? The odds seem to be against them. No team has ever done four-in-a-row, and to have to do it without their most influential player of the last three - victorious - campaigns will be doubly hard.

Will Liverpool close the gap further and perhaps sneak it? Xabi Alonso was perhaps the third most important player (behind Gerrard and Torres) of a rather successful season and may prove to be a crucial loss. Will Alberto Aquilani prove to be an adequate replacement?

What about Chelsea? Contrary to expectations, they have not spent much this season (not yet anyway), but they do have a new manager in Carlo Ancelotti - a proven winner in the Serie A.

Arsenal have yet to buy the player that they missed the most for the past couple of seasons - a dominant defensive midfielder. Will they come up short again, or will the exciting talents of Fabregas, Arshavin, Walcott and Van Persie make up for their shortcomings?

And then there's Manchester City with their cash and bevy of new players. Will they upset the applecart and break up the top-four monopoly? Or will they languish in mid-table behind the likes of Everton, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur?

Stay tuned for my predictions of the 2009/2010 season!