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Saturday marks one of the exciting days in the footballing calendar, just ahead of the 3rd round FA Cup Saturday in January; the very first game.

Sure, bigger clubs and their followers will get Cup finals, and European away fixtures in Milan and Turin, but that, in the wider picture, is a minority.

You start so optimistic: you’ve been to the pre-season friendlies. You’ve bought the new home shirt. You’ve watched the youthful potential of the academy boys. You’ve applauded both the managers vision towards the new signings and the fresh impetus they bring; the problems from last season apparently solved. You get a reasonably straightforward opening match against a team who over-achieved last season and have lost a few key players. You feel invincible. The sun is still warm but you’ve put the scarf on regardless. The regulars are back next to you in the stand. It can’t go wrong this time. Old songs start up. The pitch looks amazing. This season is our season. This is our time.

5 minutes in and you’re a goal down. You just want to restart from 3pm and try again, this time without the sloppy defending. You think to yourself “is this what the season has in store? More of the same from last season?” Your centre back is arguing with the goalie already. The new signing is limping. The regulars are restless already. You can’t cancel that 200-mile round trip to the coast for the away game next week already. May seems decades away.

Ah, you can’t beat it.

I’ve digressed from what the topic was meant to be about. Time to boldly predict some winners and losers.

Premier League:-

1. Man Utd
2. Man City
3. Chelsea
4. Arsenal
5. Liverpool
6. Tottenham
7. Everton
8. Bolton
9. Aston Villa
10. Blackburn
11. Fulham
12. Birmingham
13. Newcastle
14. Sunderland
15. Stoke
16. West Ham
17. Wolves
18. West Brom
19. Wigan
20. Blackpool

After hearing the news that Roy Hodgson was leaving Fulham for Merseyside, I put a punt on them going down. Sadly, the price had dropped to 11/2 by that time, a price that has now risen again after the appointment of Mark Hughes. Fulham’s start the season against Bolton (followed by Man Utd and Blackpool), in what turns out could be a match to dictate how each of their respective seasons go. Bolton drastically improved under Coyle towards the end of last season, and there’s no reason why they can’t keep that momentum up. As well as visiting Fulham, they visit West Ham and Birmingham, and should be aiming for maximum points. Villa losing O’Neill will prove to be a huge blow. Getting a new manager in, and getting them used to a new style of play won’t happen overnight, so a slight drop to 9th is being kind. Spurs will feel the weight of European matches hard to face, and will not finish in a top 4 position. Chelsea will suffer from a lack of form from John Terry, and possible a few injuries, allowing a Manchester rivalry to contend the top 2 positions. City should be content with anything in the top 4, and a place in the Champions League.

Going down, Wigan looked lost under Martinez for a lot of games last season, and will suffer again this time around, whilst West Brom and Blackpool will struggle due to little or no squad investment. Newcastle will look to struggle at times, but a good run after Christmas should see them safe. Sunderland will struggle, and Steve Bruce may not be the man for the job. They have Arsenal, Liverpool and United one after the other, and zero from a possible nine could dent the teams morale. Blackburn, Villa and Newcastle follow, and if there isn’t an improvement, Bruce could be gone before they host Stoke in November.

As far as tough sequences of matches go, Wolves will play Chelsea, Man City, Man Utd and Arsenal in succession, whilst Liverpool start the season against Arsenal and Man City. Keeping key players fit, and rotating players for fitness will prove vital; one major injury and the wheels could start to come off.

As far as cup competitions go:

FA Cup: Man City
League Cup: Liverpool
Champions League: Real Madrid

and completing the predictions:

First Premier League manager to leave his job: Roberto Martinez
Premier League top scorer: Wayne Rooney
Premier League Player of the Year: Cesc Fabregas
Premier League Manager of the Year: Sir Alex Ferguson.
Premier League Flop of the Year: not a flop per se, but no-one will be singing the praises of Joey Barton.

Championship: QPR
League One: Huddersfield
League Two: (a complete shock, but) Stevenage