Bournemouth
Fixtures – August 17 (H), April 16 (A)
Strengths – They’re going to be very much like Burnley were last season – pleased just to be here and ready to fight and scrap for every point they can possibly get their hands on. While they lack a little bit of quality, they have more than enough determination and togetherness to cause even the best teams problems.
Weaknesses – They haven’t had a lot of money to spend and their squad, on paper, still looks very much like a Championship one. They are particularly short on striking talent, with the likes of Callum Wilson and Joshua King needing to play out of their skin if they are to have any hope of survival this season.
Danger man – Harry Arter is a dynamic midfielder who is worth a watch. He’s worked his way up from non-league, where he was once playing in Conference South with Woking, and he’s now a Republic of Ireland international. He will put himself about and won’t take any prisoners with his tackles.
How to beat them – Unlike many promoted teams, Bournemouth won’t sit back and soak up pressure. They’re going to come out and try and have a go. Getting the ball from back to front in as quick a time as possible could be key here, so the quality of distribution from both goalkeeper and defence must be as high.
Chelsea
Fixtures – October 31 (A), March 12 (H)
Strengths – The Premier League champions have strength in depth in virtually every position. They weren’t always the prettiest team to watch last season, but they know how to get games won. They have, arguably, the best tactical manager in the world – as much as we consider him a complete pain – and they’ll be there or thereabouts yet again.
Weaknesses – The one position that might concern Mourinho is up front. He only as Loic Remy – who drifts offside more times that your average Sunday league player – and the shell of Radamel Falco as back-up the mercurial Diego Costa. If the Spanish international’s recent injury problems continue then they might struggle a little.
Danger man – Eden Hazard was the PFA Player of the Year last season and will always be the one to watch. All of their attacking play should run through the Belgian star who, if he truly has aspirations of matching the Ronaldo’s and Messi’s of this world, needs to have a very big season to prove he can live up to the hype.
How to beat them – The element of surprise is all that is going to work in your favour against Mourinho, who has caught Rodgers out more times than he’d likely to care to remember over the last couple of years. Arsenal changed their style and beat them on the counter attack in the Community Shield, so that could be our best chance.
Crystal Palace
Fixtures – November 8 (H), March 5 (A)
Strengths – They’re big, they’re physical and they have a very decent record going against us. Their team is build on a very solid defence that have found it too easy to bully us in the past. The addition of Yohan Cabaye to their midfield will give them an extra option going forward as well and they’ll be looking to him to play the killer passes.
Weaknesses – Do they have enough players who can put the ball in the net? This is a problem for so many teams after all. Alan Pardew has gone out and brought in both Connor Wickham and Patrick Bamford this summer, but are they going to guarantee the Eagles more than a handful of goals? Time will tell.
Danger man – Yannick Bolasie must wish he could play against Liverpool every week. The skilful winger has caused us no end of problems over the last couple of years and must be looking forward to the possibility of tormenting us again. We must eliminate his threat if we’re to better our recent results against them.
How to beat them – We’ve alluded to it above. If you can cut off Bolasie and Cabaye then we’ll stop the service to their front men. The likes of Lucas Leiva and Joe Allen are key to this. The little Welshman was everywhere when Wales stunned Belgium in a Euro 2016 qualifier earlier this year and it’s that sort of performance which is needed.
