Arsenal
(Last season – 3rd)

Arsenal went to Old Trafford back in April last season with their title hopes still intact, until an Owen Hargreaves free-kick and a 2-1 victory for the would-be champions put paid to their chances of silverware. Despite their title challenge enduring late into the season however it was in February when the wheels really began to fall off. The infamous 2-2 draw at Birmingham proved decisive, triggering a run of five league games without a win, and in the game at St. Andrews both the the injury to Eduardo and the bizarre behaviour of captain William Gallas post-match proved incidents that the club collectively never quite got over. Injuries to key players like Bacary Sagna and the now departed Mathieu Flamini did not help either, merely serving to expose the squad’s inability to cope with the rigours of a long season, and so eventually the Gunners had to make do with third.

Arsenal are at a crossroads going into 2008/2009. Though for now little pressure has been placed on Arsene Wenger from both media and supporters alike, the fact remains that the club have won nothing in three years. For one of the so-called ‘Big Four’ that is not good enough. In terms of squad depth and experience they actually appear weaker now than they did this time last season, and though they are once again bringing through promising youngsters (Carlos Vela, Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey appearing the brightest) the pretext of young guns needing time to realise their potential consistently coming at the expense of trophies is beginning to wear thin. Flamini’s departure on a free transfer was also a huge blow given how he excelled last season.

Still, on the bright side, Samir Nasri has the potential (there’s that word again) to be far more effective than Alexander Hleb, the squad is a year older and therefore more experienced, Wenger has managed to keep hold of last season’s top scorer Emmanuel Adebayor despite a summer’s worth of flirting with Barcelona from the Togolese frontman, and a fairly straightforward opening six games should see them ease into form early on. Keep an eye too on Theo Walcott this season. At the back-end of the last campaign the 19-year old began to show real glimpses of his talent (as demonstrated, for example, by the goal he brilliantly created for Adebayor against Liverpool in the Champions League quarter final second leg) and he should see enough first-team action this season to shine. A top four spot is guaranteed, though quite where they will finish in that mini-league is anyone’s guess.

Ins: Aaron Ramsey (Cardiff, £5m), Samir Nasri (Marseille, £14m), Amaury Bischoff (Werder Bremen, undisclosed).
Outs: Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos, £1m), Alexander Hleb (Barcelona, £11.8m), Jens Lehmann (Stuttgart, free), Mathieu Flamini (AC Milan, free), Kerrea Gilbert (Leicester, loan).

Aston Villa
(Last season – 6th)

Aston Villa under Martin O’Neill have climbed from 16th before he arrived to 11th to 6th last season, and though making a similar leap up the table this season appears nigh on impossible, given the manager’s summer signings the upper echelons of the league table should once again prove within their reach. A look at the players recruited going into 2008/2009 shows that O’Neill has opted for the solid if unspectacular signings, yet the likes of Luke Young, Steve Sidwell and Nicky Shorey offer much needed squad depth, reliability and the prospect of increased competition for places, assets that can only help the club’s attempts to consolidate.

Last season an excellent run in the early part of the campaign was largely neutralised by dreadful form that endured into the New Year and beyond. This was caused in part by a lack of strength in depth that dulled their most potent attacking threats simply through overuse. Addressing the issue of squad size was therefore a pre-requisite for the club if they harbour real intentions of progressing higher than sixth, and it is something they appear to have done.

The distraction of the Gareth Barry transfer saga appears to be over for now, though Liverpool may well snap him up before the end of August, but if Villa can manage to keep their captain at Villa Park then they have the makings of a squad that might just be able to challenge for fourth place. A strong midfield, strength in numbers at the back (though injuries to Wilfred Bouma and Curtis Davies will prove an early season hindrance), a usually rock-solid keeper in Brad Friedel and the vigour, pace and verve of Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor in wide areas; the outlook at Villa Park is bright right now. The only question marks concern their strikeforce. If John Carew can maintain his form of last season they should be fine for goals, but perhaps they could do with backup strikers of a better calibre than Marlon Harewood, affectionately dubbed ‘The Hare’ by Villa fans, if they are to really push on and challenge for a Champions League spot.

With a good management team in place, promising young English players on the pitch and, in Randy Lerner, comfortably the best chairman in the league at the helm, things are looking encouraging for Aston Villa going into the new season.

Ins: Steve Sidwell (Chelsea, £5m), Curtis Davies (West Brom, £8m), Brad Friedel (Blackburn, £2m), Nicky Shorey (Reading, £5m), Luke Young (Middlesbrough, £4m)
Outs: Thomas Sorensen (released), Patrik Berger (Sparta Prague, free), Luke Moore (West Brom, £3m).

Blackburn Rovers
(Last season – 7th)

Paul Ince, during his embryonic managerial career, has thus far proved a capable and forward-thinking coach who succeeded in getting the best out of his players at both Macclesfield and MK Dons. However, I fear he arrives at Blackburn Rovers at the worst possible time. A hint at the biggest problem facing Ince in his first season as manager at Ewood Park lies in the information in italics above, written just below Rovers’ name – that last season they finished a highly respectable seventh in the league. How can he possibly improve on that with the limited resources available at a club like Blackburn Rovers?

Faced with the daunting task of emulating Mark Hughes’ successful four year reign is hard enough – having to do it without the services of two of Hughes’ most outstanding performers only makes it tougher. The departures of Brad Friedel and David Bentley represent a huge loss for two reasons. The obvious reason is from a playing perspective in that it deprives Ince of two fine talents, a proven stopper and an inventive creator of goals. The second reason, that being the negative effect such high-profile exits have on the morale of the players that remain, is less apparent but equally significant. The by-product of this is continued reports of player unrest at Ewood Park and rumours that the likes of Benni McCarthy and Roque Santa Cruz want out.