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How do I stop them?

Day one of the premiership season. Out of the eight matches to be played today, there quite a few high-profile matches. A lot will unfold in the initial weeks. Given the consistency of Chelsea, if any club in contention for the title, loses points initially, it might be near impossible to catch up with Chelsea because as time goes, all the new signings would start playing better as a team than they are now. The best the other teams can hope for is Chelsea losing some points in the first 4 or 5 games.

Arsenal vs Aston Villa - The first premiership match in the new Emirates stadium. While the gooners were crying about Chelsea spending millions on signing new players, Arsenal FC was spending billions to build this stadium. This was obviously for more revenues and not to reduce global warming or better environment (beware, they might give you this crap). Under mysterious circumstances, this away opener for Arsenal was changed to a home opener. We all are aware that once the fixture are drawn, it never changes. Well there is something fishy here.

On paper and in reality, this should be quite an easy match for Arsenal and and a 2-0 should not be surprising. But I would be supporting Aston Villa and hope to somehow get a draw. Tomas Rosicky will be unleashed. No Reyes as he’s crying and begging to leave Arsenal and join Real Madrid. So, is Ashley Cole, out of favour and dropped. Let’s see if Milan Baros can sneak one. Anyway, Arsenal’s defence right now is vulnerable and anyone can fancy scoring against them. Now don’t think about the clean sheets they got in the Champions League. That is a completely different ball game. If you believe that a 100-metre sprint needs different skills than for a marathon, you would understand what I say. I wish this match be a warm welcome for the new boss Martin O’Neill. I would be delighted if it is a 1-1.

Sheffield United vs Liverpool – A very good first match for the Reds. They must be thinking that they are one of the contenders for the title, after beating Chelsea in the FA Community Shield match last Sunday. Let them believe and let them be disappointed. But this match can be tricky as Sheffield would be more keen on playing well than the Reds. Remember last year’s opener for Chelsea against Wigan. It was nearly a nightmare start. i wont be surprised if it’s 3-0. But what I’m more interested here is to see the performance of the new signings for Liverpool.

Bolton Wanderers vs Tottenham – This should be today’s cracker. Should be a very evenly poised matched though the Spurs have an edge. Tottenham could be a star performer this season and thoroughly believe that they have the potential and will have the performance to find a place in Champions League qualifiers. Berbatov already talks about his target of 18-20 goals for this season. Defoe would be trying to prove a point as he cannot again risk himself being dropped from the England squad and you have the evergreen Robbie Keane. their midfield is very strong with Fortune and Stelios. Whereas Bolton is short of staff upfront. They need to sign a good striker if they want to play UEFA. I personally like Martin Jol and I really want Tottenham to do well this season. And how nice if they are able to trounce Arsenal in the brand new Emirates stadium. May be they will. Anyway, today’s match could be a 1-2.

If Arsenal or Liverpool want to top the league table, today is the day, the only day!