2009-2010 Premier League Table Predictions

It’s that time of the year for you, the readers, and me to post the predictions for the final table of the 2009-2010 Premier League season before a ball has been kicked.
In some ways, I hope that the predictions are completely wrong. At least then we can say that the Premier League is unpredictable. But somehow I have a feeling that the top four will finish similarly to how they did last season when I predicted Liverpool would win the title
Except this season I’m predicting a new Premier League title winner.
Drumroll, please. Here’s my prediction for the final 2009/2010 Premier League table:
Liverpool
Manchester United
Chelsea
Arsenal
Everton
Tottenham Hotspur
Aston Villa
Manchester City
Fulham
Wigan Athletic
West Ham United
Sunderland
Blackburn Rovers
Bolton Wanderers
Stoke City
Birmingham City
Burnley—————————————
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Hull City
Portsmouth
I really feel that Chelsea have a lot to prove this season and that this season will be their year. It’s a combination of things. Didier Drogba looks like a man reborn. There’s a renewed sense of optimism throughout the team under the tutelage of Carlo Ancelotti. And the club has been buoyed by the addition of Yuri Zhirkov, the gifted left winger. Bottom line, this is a Chelsea side desperate to win the title again and based on how they’ve been playing this summer, I believe they can do it.
Elsewhere in the table, I don’t see many meteoric rises or falls. Manchester City will suffer from its inconsistency despite having a forward line that most Premier League chairmen would dream about.
At the bottom of the table, unless miracles happen, Portsmouth are going to have a very difficult time both on and off the pitch. The psychological impact of losing several first-team players in the summer will take months to repair. The battle at the bottom of the table is going to be more heated than usual this season. Other than Portsmouth, I see Wolves and Hull City dropping back to the Championship. It’s going to be an almost impossible task to overturn Hull City’s disastrous run of form, while Wolves will have a tough time scoring goals despite the addition of Kevin Doyle from Reading.