Following on from our look at each individual Premier League club, Luke Simmons compares and contrasts the fortunes of the ‘big four’…

Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool comprise the biggest names in English football, some of the greatest in Europe, and four of the most reowned names in the Wworld. But what does this new season hold for each team? Every season each team set out knowing that they have a massive chance of winning a major trophy, but with only four pieces of silverware up for grabs, none of them intend on settling for one cup each…

Manchester United

The Red Devils have enjoyed two brilliant seasons in recent years, following up their 2007 league victory with the historic double of 2008. They have the best player on the planet in Ronaldo, who was simply outstanding last season, and they have the most successful manager in Premier League history. But everything is not so perfect down at Old Trafford: the just-concluded ‘will he, wont he’ transfer saga of Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Real Madrid stretched nearly all summer long and left a bitter taste in the mouths of many fans. Love him or hate him, you can’t deny that, if Ronaldo did leave Man Utd, they certainly would not be the force they were last season. On the other side things have been slow:Sir Alex has been quiet in the transfer market so far, only bringing in Davide Petrucci. But no doubt about it, the champions will be up for retaining their trophy for a third season in a row.

And the bookies have them in pole position to do just that, with one leading bookmaker putting them at 11/8 favourites to rule in England yet again. Not a surprise to anyone that they are the favourites, with ten League titles under his belt, Sir Alex will be confident of securing his 11th this season, especially with wonder boy Ronaldo staying at Old Trafford. Their fast paced style of play ripped teams apart last season, and while Ronaldo was obviously the man who grabbed the headlines the link-up play between Rooney and Tevez was incredible. Two results that stuck out last season were the Newcastle games, home and away, in which United 11 goals all together, with a 5-1 away win and an incredible 6-0 home win. If they can keep producing this type of football this season, does anyone else really stand a chance?

Chelsea

The London club are yet again going through another managerial change, their fourth in five years, with new boss Felipe Scolari taking charge of the Blues this season. The new coach has been quick to bring in players who he has managed in the past, with Jose Bosingwa and Deco being added to the squad, with a cost of over £23 million for the pair. After their heartbreaking defeat in the Champions league final in Moscow to bitter rivals Manchester United last season, they will be looking for revenge this time around. They will surely be contenders for every trophy, and with their strong but fluent style of play they are a good bet for silverware this season. Can Scolari be the man to make the Chelsea fans forget about Jose Mourinho? Only time will tell, but I myself believe they can win either the Premier League, or the Champions League next season, or even both.

The bookies have Chelsea the second favourites for the league, at 7/4. The experience Chelsea have is phenomenal: some may argue that they are an ageing side, Sir Alex among them, but I see them as experienced, and with players like Ballack, Lampard, Deco and Terry, no wonder they are a strong favourite for the League. What’s more, they are determined: their strength and willingness to win games showed towards the end of last season, taking the League to the last day, when many wrote them off months before. Scolari has promised more entertaining football at Stamford Bridge this season, but if I was a Chelsea fan, I wouldn’t be too concerned about the way they play, just as long as they keep up their fantastic record of winning borne of Roman Abramovich’s takeover in 2003. Expect a few more names coming in for Chelsea until the end of the transfer window: rumours keep circulating regarding the possibility of Kaka joining the Blues. Whether it’s true of not is another matter,  but one thing’s for sure: if anyone has the funds to bring Kaka in, it’s Chelsea.

Arsenal

After a summer of rumours, with many big name players being linked with a move away from North London, Arsenal look set to start the new season with belief and hope in their young but experienced side. The losses of Mathieu Flamini and Alex Hleb this summer has left a big hole in the Arsenal midfield, but with Welsh teenager Aaron Ramsey, French attacker Samir Nasri and Portuguese starlet Amaury Bischoff being added to the squad, are Arsenal really any weaker than last year? Another new name who is making the headlines in pre-season is Mexican striker Carlos Vela, the teenager finally joining up with the Gunners after two seasons out on loan waiting for a work permit. Last term was a bittwesweet one: they finished third in the league, four points off being the champions, and reached the quarter finals of the Champions league, where they were knocked out by Liverpool in a controversial manner. Arsene Wenger will want to get off to a good start to the Premier League campaign, and with new boys West Brom their first opponents next week at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal should do just that. If the Gunners weren’t so unlucky with injuries last season, maybe it would have been them lifting the Premier league trophy instead of arch rivals Man Utd, but Arsenal have to forget about last year and their young squad needs to push on for glory this term. They should have the strength to do so: the way I see it, these kids are becoming adults, and very talented adults at that.

Arsenal are the third favourites for the league, behind Manchester United and Chelsea, with the odds-makers putting them at 5/1 to lift the trophy. Not a bad bet, considering they finished only four points behind the winners last season. Wenger has said he is looking to bring in one more experienced midfielder, and if he succeeds with this purchase, the Gunners will be, in my view, stronger than they were last year. Some say they play the best Football in the league, but their inability to finish games off cost them dearly at times last season, but if they can fix this fault in their game, I’m sure they can surprise many people next year by winning a major trophy. Like I said, the young Guns are ready to step up to the plate, and with players like Cesc Fabregas, who constantly pledges his future to the club, I wouldn’t bet against them this year.

Liverpool

It’s been a busy summer for Liverpool Football Club, with seven names coming in, including £20.3 Million signing Robbie Keane from Tottenham Hotspur. He’ll surely form a mouth-watering partnership with Fernando Torres up front, but perhaps the one player Rafa wants the most, Gareth Barry, is still yet to put pen to paper. It’s been the most complicated transfer saga of the summer so far, and it’s still going on, with the American owners of Liverpool now refusing to pay the asking price for the England midfielder. At the other end, the Reds have let nine players leave the club this summer, Harry Kewell and Peter Crouch being among those names. With all this uncertainty surrounding the Barry saga aside, Liverpool will be hoping to end a nineteen year wait and finally win the Premier league. You can ask any Liverpool fan, what would they most want to achieve this season, and you will get the same answer every time - win the League. So, is this finally Liverpool’s year? If Steven Gerrard can produce what he normally does, and Fernando Torres can achieve the same number of goals as last season, along with Robbie Keane who also has an eye for goal, maybe this season belongs to the red half of Merseyside.

The bookmakers have them at 6/1 fourth favourites to win the League, behind the ‘big three’. But the hopes are high amongst the Liverpool faithful, they believe this is the year they can crack the Premier League code, they believe Torres and Keane is the perfect partnership to do just that. The thing that has let the Reds down in the past is consistency, they can’t seem to keep up a patch of good form in the league, right till the end, but they can in Europe, something that’s puzzled many people over the years. If they can dominate the European stage, why not England? I think it shows just how hard it is to win the Premier League, but Liverpool simply have to win it soon, they need that significant trophy added to their tremendous collection, Plus, Manchester United, their most hated rivals, are catching them up on League titles overall.

Ref From Luke Simmons - goal.com

The Gareth Barry transfer saga continues with Liverpool releasing an official statement on their club website claiming that the price tag Aston Villa have placed on Barry is out of their reach.

The proposed transfer of the Villa captain to Liverpool looks set to become the longest running transfer saga of the summer. Yet, whilst the latest statement from Liverpool suggests a deal will not be done, there are likely to be further twists and turns before the end transfer window closes at the end of the month.

The latest twist stems from the club’s website which has posted an official statement explaining Liverpool’s stance on the matter.

In the statment Chief Executive Rick Parry states that, despite speculation to the opposite, the club’s American owners and manager Rafael Benitez are not at odds over the deal. Instead, he reveals that the club simply feels that the price tag Villa have slapped on Barry is unrealistic.

“There has been a lot of comment regarding our position with regards to Gareth Barry,” states Parry in the official statement, “This is not about questioning the manager’s judgment or the ability of a particular player. The owners have clearly demonstrated throughout the year they are willing to back Rafa in the transfer market and will continue to do so.”

Whilst Liverpool have been happy to spend £20 million on bringing Robbie Keane to Anfield from Tottenham, they appear unwilling to spend £18 million on Barry, despite reportedly having the funds available.

To confuse matters further, Liverpool have also been linked with an £18 million for David Silva today, which will only add fuel to an already burning fire.

The Liverpool statement however, appears to confirm that a deal for Barry is now unlikely as the Anfield club appear unwilling to meet Villa’s price tag. It states: “It is obviously the selling club’s prerogative to put whatever price they want on the player, but on this occasion Liverpool think the price quoted is too high.”

Despite the statement, Martin O’Neill is unlikely to drop his price for Barry, and with the midfielder reportedly desperate to quit Villa Park for Anfield, the saga looks set to continue for some time yet.

Ref From Gill Clark - goal.com

The latest reports form England suggest that Liverpool and Aston Villa have finally managed to reach a deal over England International Gareth Barry.

According to a Daily Mail ‘Insider Exclusive’, the Villans have accepted a £19million offer from Liverpool for their captain, which also includes them receiving the services of Steve Finnan.  Martin O’Neill’s side will receive £17.5million in cash and a further £1.5million in the form of the Republic of Ireland full-back, therefore.

Barry has been at the heart of a bitter struggle between Aston Villa and Liverpool since the very beginning of the summer, which now appears to have reached the conclusion which seemed almost inevitible since the start of the saga.

Liverpool clearly mean business in their bid to finally get their hands back on the English title, as the deal, should it be confirmed, follows right on the heels of the successful acquisition of Robbie Keane from Tottenham Hotspur.

This is in addition to the already confirmed arrivals of Andrea Dossena (Udinese),  Philipp Deggen (Borussia Dortmund), David Ngog (Paris St Germain), Emmanuel Mendy (Murcia Deportivo), Diego Cavalieri (Palmeiras) and Vincent Lucas Weijl (AZ Alkmaar).

Ref From Derek Wanner, Goal.com