The Golden Nuggets - 2010/11 English Premier League

By Sports Magician

Top Four Finish

Roy Hodgson has been handed the responsibility of reviving Liverpool fortunes after a wretched 2009/10 campaign which resulted in the departure of Rafa Benitez. At present question marks still remain over the future of Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres and Javier Mascherano. When push comes to shove I don’t see Gerrard leaving, with Real Madrid speculated as the likely destination should he do so. Gerrard has always struck me as one of those many England internationals who enjoys their home comforts too much to take the risk of adapting to a new culture and new style of football. I may well be proven wrong in the coming weeks, but I expect Gerrard to be leading Liverpool out of the tunnel when the season kicks off. Torres; is just too pricey for the many teams that would relish his services. Of the clubs that could potentially afford him, there are stumbling blocks to a potential move. Torres would surely never choose to go to Real Madrid, given that he is a hardened Atletico Madrid supporter. It’s not that players have never ended up playing for sides they detested as supporters, but this particular scenario is very unlikely. Barcelona splashed out on Zlatan Ibrahimovic last season and secured the signature of David Villa before the World Cup. All their remaining funds are being geared to the potential transfer of Cesc Fabregas.

Would Torres move to either of the Milan clubs? At Inter, his former boss is now in charge, but they already boast Diego Milito and Samuel Eto’o and have just completed a historic treble. I’m sure they might still be in for Torres if he was available, but I’m not convinced Italy is where Torres wants to play his football given past comments. And for that reason, we can also rule out a move to Milan - who would desperately like a front line partner for Alexandre Pato, having seemingly given up on Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. In England, again, I just can’t see Torres crossing the Liverpool fans by moving to either Manchester United or Chelsea. Arsenal would never be in the market for a player as costly as Torres and so what of Manchester City? They could afford him, without a doubt. But why move there? They are not yet in the Champions League, and until they are, there is no reason for a player like Torres to want to move there when he could just as easily obtain the same objective at his current club. This time next year, if Liverpool have once again missed out on the top four, and City have made it, then a transfer becomes a more realistic possibility.

Mascherano seems the most likely to move, he would command a high transfer fee, but affordable for many top clubs and yet his departure wouldn’t significantly damage Liverpool’s top four hopes. Mascherano is an outstanding defensive midfielder, but in England, the position isn’t as crucial as it is in other leagues around Europe and the world. Play is so fast and furious and most sides don’t play with a specific play maker that needs clamping down on. Italy would suit Mascherano, as would Spain, and Inter and Barcelona have both been heavily linked with the Argentina in the recent past.

All in all I expect Hodgson to have a competitive squad at his disposal and he can get the Anfield side back on track. Their price to crack the top four this season seems too big in my eyes.

PICK: 4*LIVERPOOL TO FINISH IN THE TOP FOUR @ 3.20 (BWIN)


Rock Bottom

Ian Holloway and Blackpool performed fantastically well to achieve promotion to the Premier League, but staying there is a whole new ball game. Blackpool, like most sides who reach the Premier League for the first time, just don’t have the funds to sufficiently improve the team and squad to the level required. That scenario will repeat itself once again. I only hope that Holloway is not sacked during the campaign, if and when it becomes obvious that Blackpool are going to go straight back to the Championship. The signs are that the ownership understand the size of the challenge, and will not make a knee-jerk reaction to get rid of Holloway, after all the good work he had previously done.

PICK: 5*BLACKPOOL TO FINISH BOTTOM @ 2.10 (PADDY POWER)


Relegation

If Wolves perform as badly this season as Mick McCarthy did as a co-commentator and analyst for the BBC during the 2010 World Cup, then they have virtually no chance of staying up. Wolves survived by 8 points last season, despite really struggling to score goals - 32 in 38 matches. Kevin Doyle proved to be an excellent summer signing last year and he was often the man who provided crucial goals and performances when they were most needed. Their main signings this time around at present have been Steven Fletcher and Stephen Hunt. The signing of Fletcher provides Wolves with another target, who can play alongside Doyle. Hunt can provide goals from midfield, but looks likely to be out of action until October. Newcastle and West Brom both stand a fair chance of survival after promotion from the Championship and Wolves are going to be looking over their shoulders from day one. Second season syndrome has been a problem for a number of teams in the past, and that same fate may well befall Wolves for 2010/11.

PICK: 3*WOLVES TO BE RELEGATED @ 3.25 (BET365)


David Silva Special

Skybet are offering a special on the amount of goals David Silva will score in the league for Manchester City this season and I’m very keen on taking the over on that 5.5 total. Silva is a wonderfully gifted footballer with a great eye for goal and should fit in well at City. Roberto Mancini’s side have so many midfielders to choose from that it might be seen as somewhat of a risk, in the event Silva doesn’t get a consistent run of games, but Mancini would be mad to leave Silva sitting on the sidelines. He is far and away the best wide midfielder the club now has on its books, and he can play left or right, or even behind the strikers if required. I don’t see Silva needing too much time to settle into English football, either. He has the right attributes to play in England and will probably become quite a popular fantasy football selection amongst fans as the season progresses.

PICK: 4*DAVID SILVA TO SCORE OVER 5.5 PREMIER LEAGUE GOALS @ 1.83 (SKY BET)

Sports Magician