Nick is a soccer and motor 
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and appreciater of all things 
Japanese, trapped inside a 
mundane office job and looking 
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Arsenal



Players In: Eduardo da Silva (Dinamo Zagreb, undisclosed), Lukasz Fabianski (Legia Warsaw, undisclosed), Bacary Sagna (Auxerre, undisclosed), Havard Nordtveit (FK Haugesund, undisclosed).

Players Out: Thierry Henry (Barcelona, £16.1m), Jeremie Aliadiere (Middlesbrough, £2m), Fabrice Muamba (Birmingham, £2m), Arturo Lupoli (Fiorentina, undisclosed), Mart Poom (Watford, free), Freddie Ljungberg (West Ham, £3m), Jose Antonio Reyes (Atletico Madrid, undisclosed), Kerrea Gilbert (Southend, loan), Ryan Garry (Bournemouth, free).

Many predict Arsenal to struggle to keep their top four place this season. The loss of Thierry Henry is obviously massive, but in Robin Van Persie they have a potential replacement, who is only going to get better with regular first team football.

Arsene Wenger will be hoping for more goals from his attacking midfielders this season, and will expect Alexander Hleb and Tomas Rosicky to contribute at least 8-10 goals each over the campaign.

Their main problem last season was putting away their chances, so Wenger will be hoping that new signing Eduardo da Silva can be that ‘fox in the box’ they have been looking for over the last few seasons.

We’ve seen Arsene Wenger deal with players such as Anelka, Petit and Overmars leaving the club before, but Thierry Henry was more than a single player, he was the symbol of how Arsenal played their football. Although they do have players who can fill his boots, I feel this will be a transition season for Arsenal and they will lose the last Champions League place to their North London rivals.

Prediction: 5th place
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Aston Villa



Players In: Nigel Reo-Coker (West Ham, £8.5m), Marlon Harewood (West Ham, undisclosed), Harry Forrester (Watford, undisclosed), Eric Lichaj (unattached, free)

Players Out: Aaron Hughes (Fulham, £1m), Jlloyd Samuel (Bolton, free), Steven Davis (Fulham, undisclosed), Gavin McCann (Bolton, £1m), Juan Pablo Angel (New York Red Bulls, free), Stephen Henderson (Bristol City, free), Lee Hendrie (Sheffield United, free), Robert Olejnik (Falkirk, free), Chris Sutton (released).

Aston Villa had a patchy season last time around, starting off well, dipping in the middle of the season and then coming back to form near the end.

American owner Randy Lerner hasn’t been as generous with his cheque book as many Villa fans would probably have hoped, but with a few weeks still to go until the transfer deadline day, they may still add a few new faces.

Martin O’Neill has added steel to his midfield with the signing of Nigel Reo Coker from West Ham and his side does now include a lot of fresh young talent, mixed with a few experienced heads to steady the ship.

Much of their success will be down to the fitness and form of John Carew. The massive Norwegian striker looked brilliant at times in Villa’s run-in to last season, but his injury proneness is definitely a concern for O’Neill.

I would expect Villa to be more consistent this season, although with other clubs spending big around them, a top ten finish is probably the best they can hope for.

Prediction: 10th
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Birmingham City



Players In: Olivier Kapo (Juventus, £3m), Garry O'Connor (Lokomotiv Moscow, £2.7m), Fabrice Muamba (Arsenal, £2m), Stuart Parnaby (Middlesbrough, free), Daniel de Ridder (Celta Vigo, free), Richard Kingston (Antalyaspor, free), Rafael Schmitz (Lille, season loan), Franck Queudrue (Fulham, £2.5m).

Players Out: Bruno N'Gotty (Leicester, free), Julian Gray (Coventry, free), Stephen Clemence (Leicester, fee rising to £1m), DJ Campbell (Leicester, £2.1m).

Birmingham are in danger of becoming a yo-yo club, too good for the Championship but not quite good enough to stay in the Premiership.

Steve Bruce has added to his squad in numbers, with a couple more expected to come in before the transfer deadline. Daniel de Ridder looks like a great signing in midfield, but you still have to wonder where the goals are going to come from.

Garry O’Connor is unproven at Premiership level and their other striking options leave a lot to be desired. It is no wonder they are trying to resurrect a deal to bring Egyptian striker Mido to St Andrews.

Unfortunately for Birmingham I just don’t see enough quality in their squad to stay up, especially with almost all of the current Premiership teams have strengthened their squads since last season. Relegation looms.

Prediction: 19th
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Blackburn Rovers



Players In: Gunnar Nielsen (BK Frem Copenhagen, undisclosed), Maceo Rigters (NAC Breda, undisclosed), Roque Santa Cruz (Bayern Munich, undisclosed).
Players Out: Andy Todd (Derby, undisclosed), Michael Gray (Wolves, released).

Mark Hughes has once again added shrewdly to his Blackburn squad, who have built a reputation as a side that is very hard to beat, especially at Ewood Park.

His side are strong in the tackle, but also possess some players with real quality, a mix that saw them finish in a UEFA Cup spot last season.

By adding Roque Santa Cruz and young Dutch forward Marco Rigters, Hughes now has plenty of options in attack, and I would expect Blackburn to be one of higher scoring teams outside the top five.

Although many around them have spent big money, I believe Hughes has molded a team more than capable of challenging for a UEFA Cup spot and they should definitely be in the hunt come the last few games of the season.

Prediction: 8th