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City or United?

Faraz Ihtesham
Last season saw the English Premier League race down to the wire with the
IsSa 4 closest possible finish ever. Manchester City and Manchester United both collected 89 ^***m-<*^ points, but City ended up winning the title on goal difference; their first title for 44 years, thanks to Sergio Aguero's last-minute heroics in their final match against Queens Park Rangers.
The question that arises in this new 2012 -13 season is this: Is the United era truly over and has the City era begun? Man City sure look confident of repeating their success as they have made only one major signing so far, buying 21-year-old England international midfielder Jack Rodwell from Everton. Maybe coach Roberto Mancini has enough depth in his squad with the likes of Aguero, Balotelli, Tevez, Nasri, Silva, Toure in lop form.
And City are also the bookmakers' favourites to win their second consecutive EPL title, which they demonstrated in fine style by dismantling FA Cup winners Chelsea in the Community Shield last Sunday.
Persie ready to play for their season's opener against Everton on Monday.
Chelsea only finished sixth last season in the Premier League but miraculously won the Champions League masterminded by their interim manager Roberto Di Matteo. Di Matteo was rewarded with a 2-year deal and an open cheque book to buy new players.
Chelsea bought Belgian winger Eden Hazard, Germany international Marko Marin and Brazil starlet Oscar but lost the services of stalwart Didier Drogba who left for China. Chelsea would be looking to improve on last season's standings while Di Matteo will be hoping to bring home more silverware with his shrewd tactics.
Arsenal finished the previous season on 70 points and in 3rd place overall but they were a distant 19 points behind the leaders. Wenger may consider leading the club to a third-place finish as a success considering their limited budget and limited resources.
Arsenal strengthened their squad with the likes of Santi Cazorla, Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud; hardly star material players but lost their one world-class striker Robin Van Persie to the Red Devils.
Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Newcastle
Manchester United are not one to give up without a fight and Sir Alex Ferguson had new players coming in to bolster his team this season with Japanese superstar Shinji Kagawa and Dutch hot-shot Robin Van Persie. Shinji is coming over from the Bundesliga to make United stronger in midfield and attack while Van Persie was last season's top scorer and best player in the league. Ferguson is hoping to have Van
United would most likely be challenging for mid-table positions. The task gets more difficult for Spurs’ new manager Andre Villas-Boas as he is all set to lose star man Luka Modric to Real Madrid.
Liverpool begin life under new manager Brendan Rodgers and have added midfielder Joe Allen and Italian striker Fabio Borini to their ranks but the squad looks weak with mediocre and aging players. Newcastle might cause a few upsets but they are miles away from being a real threat.
West Ham United, Reading and Southampton won promotion into the English Premier League this season but are likely to be involved in the relegation battle.
Queens Park Rangers and Aston Villa look set to be dragged into the relegation dogfight as both of these two squads struggled last season and were almost eliminated.