2003/2004 Premiership Preview

First of all, Newcastle's chances of league glory.

Well, it goes without saying that it'll be very tough. We have to aim to qualify for the Champions' League again, but even relatively modest ambitions like that will be hard to realise. Rather than getting carried away with the successes of the previous two campaigns, I'm inclined to err on the side of caution and to temper any optimism with a side-salad of realism. This summer, we've seen the likes of Ronaldinho, Emerton and Kleberson move elsewhere, and the signing of Bowyer wasn't exactly one I welcomed with open arms.

However, if Bellamy and Shearer can stay fit, if Dyer can supply the end product his hard graft deserves and start finding the back of the net regularly, if Woodgate can be the rock on which opposition attacks founder, and if our very healthy crop of youngsters can turn exciting talent and mouthwatering promise into consistently excellent performances week in week out, then who knows - we do stand a chance of winning the league. Oh yeah, and we also need to stop losing quite so many away matches...

Let's quickly cast an eye over who we're up against (I can't see any other team breaking into this top five):

Man Utd
Bye bye Beckham and Veron, but they've signed some decent players. As ever they'll be very tough to beat, but Van Nistelrooy will miss Beckham's delivery from the right, and if the horse-faced Dutchman picks up an injury they might still fall at the last, lacking a serious goal-getting replacement. Tragic, I'm sure it wouldn't be.

Arsenal
Not wanting to parrot Wenger, but Vieira putting pen to paper on a new contract was probably the best signing of the summer. Just as well, as they've done precious little else in the transfer market. They'll still be a formidable force, of course, but the likes of Pires, Ljungberg and Gilberto need to improve on last season's showing if they're going to stand a chance of winning the league.

Chelsea
Any hopes I may have had that their new side might not gel immediately seem to have been dispelled with their 2-0 Champions' League qualifying victory in Slovakia. They've made some excellent signings, and Veron for one will have a major point to prove, although there could be unrest in the dressing room when the likes of Zenden, Petit and Gronkjaer realise there's no place for them in the side. We can but pray.

Liverpool
Dull and uninventive last season - which is why Harry Kewell, at £5m, should prove the best transfer move of the summer. They have some superb players, nearly all of whom underperformed last time out, and that's reason enough to be worried - they'll be out to set it right. Nevertheless, whenever either Henchoz or Hyypia are out injured, they look vulnerable at the back.