English Premier League : Opening Weekend
The 2006-07 English Premiership season begins this weekend with champions Chelsea looking to win the title for the third year in succession.
The purchases of Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack show Chelsea mean business and Manchester City are the visitors to Stamford Bridge. Most of the attention will be on Shevchenko and Ballack but the German captain went off early in Cardiff with a hip injury. Still Chelsea should have too much for City.
Liverpool will kick off the season with the lunchtime match away to newly promoted Sheffield United and Rafael Benitez’s side will be confident of making a good start. They received a big boost by beating Chelsea 2-1 in the Community Shield last weekend.
Arsenal face Aston Villa at their new Emirates Stadium on Saturday with Ashley Cole not in their plans for the new season. The England full-back looks on his way out (most probably to penny pinching Chelsea) and manager Arsene Wenger is likely to leave him out . Thierry Henry may have to start on the bench after playing full game for France.
Villa are attracting almost as much media attention these days due to the arrival of the much coveted Martin O’Neill as manager and the impending takeover of the club, but it is asking a lot for the Irishman to gel the team quickly enough to take on Arsenal.
Manchester United will make their start as the last game of the round on Sunday afternoon at home against Fulham. Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes, who picked up three-match bans for red cards in pre-season, are both free to play.
RELATED LINKS:
GoonersGuide.com’s English Football Preview Page.
Add comment August 18th, 2006