Premier League Club By Club Preview: Fulham

Last Season: 9th
Another solid season from Fulham last year. With the managerial change taking place last summer which saw Martin Jol take over from Mark Hughes, it calls into question how far Fulham can progress. With Clint Dempsey ending joint 4th in the Premier League top scorer chart last season, it seemed like he was a player who Fulham heavily relied upon. The attacking football which Martin Jol plays must surely please the fans but surely they must feel that the efficiency of Mark Hughes' Fulham side the season before last, may have led them to a higher finish last season.

Premier League Club By Club Preview: Everton

Last Season: 7th.
Everton rarely start their league campaign well and last season was no different. With a severe lack in creativity and somebody to finish off the chances when they did arrive all the way until January, Everton looked flat and rarely looked like a team managed by the strong motivator, David Moyes. In January, Everton signed Darron Gibson, Nikica Jelavic, Steven Pienaar and Landon Donovan on a short term loan to replace players like Louis Saha and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov. This turned out to be an extremely good decision from David Moyes as Gibson scored the only goal in a victory over Manchester City and Nikica Jelavic led Everton to a 4-4 draw against Manchester United. These 2 games were, for me, Everton's best displays as they rocketed up the table. 7th was a very good display from Everton last season and to make it even sweeter, they finished above Merseyside rivals, Liverpool.

Premier League Club by Club Preview: Chelsea

Last Season: 6th.
Well to say Chelsea's league performance was poor last season would be an understatement. Having started the season with Andre Villas Boas in charge, Chelsea began the season incredibly poorly. A major reason for this was AVB's desire to rid of leaders like Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba. Upon the departure of AVB, Chelsea were in massive trouble in the Champions League as they saw themselves 3-1 down to Napoli (who had already knocked Manchester City out of the Champions League). Villas Boas' replacement, Roberto Di Matteo was put in charge for the rest of the season and when the 2nd leg of this Napoli tie came around, Di Matteo masterminded a 4-1 victory (A.E.T). Chelsea went on to beat Benfica, Barcelona and Bayern Munich in last season's Champions League campaign and were the eventual winners of the competition. Di Matteo also led Chelsea to glory in the FA Cup, beating off strong opposition like Tottenham and Liverpool on the way to doing so. Chelsea qualified for this season's Champions League by winning it, despite not finishing in the top 4, much to the surprise of the general public who could not have seen this happening when Villas Boas was in charge.

Premier League Club By Club Preview: Aston Villa

Last Season: 16th.
Well, what can I say? That season was one of Villa's worst in a long, long time. Following Gerard Houlier's departure as manager, he was replaced by former manager of Villa's close rivals Birmingham, Alex McLeish. Having lead Birmingham to League Cup glory and the ignominy of relegation in the one season, many Villa fans expressed concerns about the appointment by breaking into and vandalising the training ground. Whilst I do not condone those actions of the fans, I must admit they were probably right, taking performances from last season into account. McLeish didn't have lady luck on his side with the quantity of injuries his side suffered, however, this doesn't account for the amount of times N'Zogbia was seated on the bench even though he was fit. McLeish also never played the quick counter attacking 'Villa Way' and was more keen on 'Route 1' football, much to the disgust of the fans. Having not delivered any long cup runs to compensate for poor league form, it wasn't a surprise to anybody when Alex McLeish was relieved of his duties at the end of the season.

Premier League Club by Club Preview: Arsenal

Last Season: 3rd.
Having started last season incredibly poorly and having lost Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri in the Summer Transfer Window 2011, Arsenal fans began to fear that Europa League action may face them this season, but with the smart signing of Mikel Arteta and the magnificent goal tally of Van Persie, Arsenal were able to retain their Champions League spot, whilst also finishing ahead of close rivals Tottenham (which of course is an added bonus).