The English Premier League begins tomorrow and Malaysian Digest look at the last five teams who will battle it out in the new season which is expected to be more exciting than last term.
Swansea City
Swansea have a new manager in Michael Laudrup, who took over from Brendan Rodgers who is now handling Liverpool,
Laudrup (right), a former Denmark international and Barcelona attacking midfielder, has a tough task ahead to see the Swans still flying high in the new season.
Swansea did pretty well last by finishing11th via their 'Barca'' style despite being newly promoted.
The departure of creative midfielder Joe Allen to Liverpool has somewhat weakened Swansea attacking prowess and Laudrup has to find ways to ease this problem and fast.
KEY PLAYERS: Leon Britton, Michel Vorm, Leroy Lita, Michu.
NEW SIGNINGS: Chico (from Genoa), Jonathan de Guzman (on loan from Villarreal), Michu (Rayo Vallecano).
MANAGER: Michael Laudrup
HOME GROUND: Liberty Stadium.
LAST SEASON POSITION: 11th
PREDICTION: May just escape relegation.
Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs could have easy finished third last season if not for some bad results towards the end.
They still managed to grab fourth place but unfortunately were denied of Champions League action when Chelsea stunned everyone by winning the Euro elite tournament fro an automatic qualification.
Things have changed so much since then as Spurs have now a new manager Andre Villas-Boas (left) who over from the sacked Harry Redknapp. Interestingly, Villas- Boas, 34, was himself sacked by Chelsea in the middle of the season.
Spurs will also also creative midfielder Luka Modric to Rea Madrid. His departure, like it or not, is going to affect the attack. Up front,
The London club have only one established striker let in Jermain Defoe and Villas-Boas has to sign fast at least another quality and experienced striker.
Spurs are a bit lucky though as they have midfielders who can score goals like Gareth Bale, Rafael van der Vaart and Aaron Lennon.
It will going be difficult for Spurs to finish fourth. It;s already an achievement for them if thy can end up fifth or sixth.
KEY PLAYERS: Gareth Bale, Jan Vertonghen, Rafael van der Vaart, Kyle Walker, Gylfi Sigurdsson.
NEW SIGNINGS: Gylfi Sigurdsson (from Hoffenheim), Jan Vertonghen (from Ajax).
MANAGER: Andre Villas-Boas
HOME GROUND: White Hart Lane
LAST SEASON POSITION: 4th
PREDICTION: 5th or 6th
West Bromwich Albion
West Brom finished a creditable 10th last season. Not many expected them to achieve this. But it is going to be difficult for the Baggies to emulate this in the new season and manager Steve Clarke knows it.
Clarke (right) is the molst experienced first-time manager when he took over from Roy Hodgson late last season as the latter was appointed as England boss.
Clarke will certainly utilise the experience he gained by being assistant manager at Chelsea, Liverpool, Newcastle and West Ham to chart West Brom's fortune.
His first objective is to avoid relegation as West Brom are known to be inconsistent.
KEY PLAYERS: Peter Odemwingie, Shane Long, Youssouf Mulumbu. Romelu Lukaku.
NEW SIGNINGS: Ben Foster (from Birmingham), Claudio Yacob (from Avellanda), Yassine El Ghanassy (from Ghent, loan), Romelu Lukaku (from Chelsea, loan).
MANAGER: Steve Clarke
HOME GROUND: The Hawthorns
LAST SEASON POSITION: 10th
PREDICTION: Fight to avoid relegation.
West Ham United
Sam Allardyce is back in the top flight. And this time, he is relied upon to see that the Hammers will not be relegated again. It's not an easy task as his players do not have that much quality in them to begin with.
Allardyce is expected to employ that unattractive direct football to get results and the neutrals must bear with him.
KEY PLAYERS: Kevin Nolan, Mark Noble, Ricardo Vazz Te.
NEW SIGNINGS: James Collins (from Asto Villa), Mohamed Diame (from Wigan), Stephen Henderson (from Portsmouth), Jussi Jaaskelainen (from Bolton), Modibo Maiga (from Sochaux), George McCartney (from Suderland).
MANAGER: Sam Allardyce (left)
HOME GROUND: Boleyn Ground
LAST SEASON POSITION: 3rd in Championship. Won play-off final
PREDICTION: Fighting relegation battle.
Wigan Athletic
The perennial top flight relegation strugglers were expected to look for a new manager this summer, but Spaniard Roberto Martinez is somehow still in place at DW Stadium despite being linked with Liverpool and Aston Villa.
Whether he has the appetite from dragging more remarkable performances from players lacking in quality can determine Wigan's fate of escaping relegation yet again.
Goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi played a sterling role last season as Wigan avoided relegation. He has to reproduce that kind of performance or his team can go down to Championship.
KEY PLAYERS: Ali Al-Habsi, Antolin Alcaraz, Franco Di Santo
NEW SIGNINGS: Fraser Fyvie (from Aberdeen), Ivan Ramis (from Mallorca).
MANAGER: Roberto Martinez (right)
HOME GROUND: DW Stadium
LAST SEASON POSITION: 15th
PREDICTION: Can go down to Championship.
- mD
