ho says you have to take a break from The Beauti-ful Game? After shouting yourself hoarse (and drinking like mad)

during June’s World Cup, it’s time for the English Premier League! As the world’s most popular football league kicks off on 19 August, Chelsea’s all set to win its third championship, and become the fifth to win three consecutive top-flight English titles (after Huddersfield, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United). Will Roman Abramovich’s bottomless pockets continue to sustain the Blues? Or will the season be a re-enactment of ‘The Clash of the Titans’ among the egos at Stamford Bridge? With the transfer window closing only on 31 August and many big names being thrown around, we can only surmise how the final line-ups for the rest of the pack will be. Will Manchester United put up a fierce challenge—or will Arsenal, who were runners-up at last year’s UEFA Champions’ League? And will the 2006 FA Cup champs Liverpool assert themselves? But it’s not only the top teams that will prove exciting—we have a feeling that the mid-table’s going to get messy! And to prep you up, we got BBC Sports Presenter David Brenner to give his two cents’ worth on what to expect this season.

Will it be the same story for this season? It’s the surest thing ever. Chelsea will continue to reign. The biggest upset will be if Chelsea only wins the title by one point instead of six or seven! I honestly can’t see anyone even remotely close to matching Chelsea. While I expect to see Man U, Arsenal and Liverpool do well, that’s actually a reflection on the lack of quality in the Premiership as opposed to a comment about the excellence of those three teams.

I’m not just saying this because they’re my team, but I really do rate the chances of Spurs. They’ve got an excellent squad and a superb coach in Martin Jol. They came in fifth last season, and could get a Champions’ League place by finishing fourth, or maybe even third this season.

The Russian rouble has bought Chelsea two Premiership titles. Supporters of other clubs may moan and complain, but every single one of them would just love to see Roman Abramovich in control of their club. You can’t stop Abramovich spending his money exactly how he likes. I envy Chelsea—as do all other football fans —but

there’s absolutely nothing illegal or immoral about what they’re doing. I think the importance of Jose Mourinho is often overlooked. You can have, as Chelsea do, an English galacticos, but it takes a very good coach (and Mourinho is a very, very good coach), to turn brilliant individuals into an effective, winning team.