Chelsea captain John Terry expects English soccer’s superpowers to fight to the death for the Premier League title as his side prepare to launch their challenge against Hull today.
Carlo Ancelotti’s team have an opportunity to send a message to title rivals Manchester United and Liverpool when they kick-off the new campaign in today’s early match at Stamford Bridge.
Terry and company are desperate to end United’s three-year reign as champions and bring the crown back to west London for the first time since 2006.
But England defender Terry knows United won’t surrender without a struggle and he is relishing a battle royale at the top of the table.
“It will be close, as it has been for the last four or five years. We have been pushing them [United] closely and when we won it, they were pushing us, so it will be a fight to the death,” Terry said. “I am sure at the same time Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City will be pushing and upsetting a few good teams as well.”
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson will have expected bold words from Stamford Bridge and Anfield, but he is convinced his players are hungry to make history as they chase a record fourth successive title.
Ferguson’s team, who host newly promoted Birmingham in their opening match tomorrow, have established a vice-like grip on the title over the last three years, but the close-season departures of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez have left United looking a little more vulnerable than usual.
Yet Ferguson has the motivation of leading United to two significant landmarks this season.
Like Liverpool, Arsenal and Huddersfield before them, United have won three successive titles and a fourth would not only set a new record for prolonged dominance in England but also take United past Liverpool’s haul of 18 English league titles.
The prospect of passing bitter rivals Liverpool promises to be the story of the season and Ferguson has no doubts that United can rise to the challenge.
“We would like to do it. It would be a great achievement obviously, because we all know what a difficult league it is,” Ferguson said. “Under the circumstances, it was a great achievement to win it last year. But we don’t have to go for the Club World Cup this time and we don’t have to play catch-up in terms of games.”
If United do stumble without Ronaldo and Tevez, then Liverpool, who finished second last term, will be expected to take advantage. But Rafael Benitez’s side will get an early examination of their title credentials at Tottenham tomorrow.
Benitez has seen Xabi Alonso depart to Real Madrid, while his replacement, Alberto Aquilani, will not be fit for several weeks.
As if that wasn’t disrupting enough, captain Steven Gerrard is struggling with an ankle injury and first-choice centre-backs Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel are both less than 100 percent fit.
“If we talk about expectations and the title, that’s normal because we’ve done well and have a good squad,” Benitez said. “But to win something every single year is difficult because of the quality of the teams.”
Arsenal can offer a rebuke to critics who have written them out of the title race when they face Everton at Goodison Park, while Manchester City fans at Blackburn will get a first look at their star-studded line-up after boss Mark Hughes’ £100 million (US$166 million) spending spree.
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