Stoke will grind their way to survival

Looking at the Premiership season, I don´t think my old loan team Stoke will go down this season. Their gameplay is a bit different. I can see them grinding out results. They may not be a team the purists would pay to watch but they´re a hardworking team.

They´ll be very difficult to beat at home, especially with the couple of summer additions – Dave Kitson and Seyi Olofinjana. Stoke get loads of crosses in from Liam Lawrence so Kitson should get a few goals. Ricardo Fuller´s another one to watch. They have exciting players, and they´ve got players who work hard too. Tony Pulis´ gift is getting the best out of players who may not be so well rated.

West Brom might beat the drop too. They´ve been up and down from the Premiership in recent years so they´ll have learnt their lesson. I think they´ll have just enough to stay in.

I´d tip Portsmouth to be the surprise package this year. They won the FA Cup and they´re in Europe this year. They just might break into the top four.

As for summer signings, Robbie Keane was a good one. He and Torres will be on fire this year. Peter Crouch is another to look out for. I see him and Jermain Defoe complementing each other.

As for the title, you can´t bet against Manchester United. It´ll be interesting to see how Chelsea get on with Phil Scolari. I think Alex Ferguson´s comments about the Chelsea squad being too old were more of his mind games. I still say it will be between those two. Man U are still just about the best team even though they haven´t signed anyone. They probably don´t need to.

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