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The 'best league in the world' some have called it. The 'true test of a football team' say others. No matter how you frame it, the Premier League is back and it returns with a whole batch of fresh ingredients for the new season.

The drama has begun before a ball has even been kicked with Martin O'Neill walking out on Aston Villa just five days before the new season. Will the Midlands club compete for Champions League football without him? Will Chelsea's millionaires be usurped by Manchester City's billionaires? And will Ian Holloway grab more headlines than his Blackpool upstarts?

ESPN.co.uk previews the leading actors for the forthcoming campaign:

Chelsea scored 103 goals last season © Getty Images

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Team to beat - Chelsea
The Chelsea juggernaut goes into the new season as the 2009/10 champions and with plenty of reason to expect a repeat, welcoming back long-term absentee Michael Essien. The Ghanaian's relentless style makes outgoing duo Michael Ballack and Deco look like they're playing in quicksand, and he will feel like a new signing to Signor Ancelotti. The Blues can reflect on last season and note dropped points against Wigan, Birmingham, West Ham, Aston Villa and Hull - all of which are easily rectifiable during the new campaign.

The major danger will be that Chelsea's ageing squad takes its eye of the domestic ball to chase the Champions League - realistically for the final time in the careers of Lampard, Terry and Drogba. Ancelotti also has a defensive void to fill with Ricardo Carvalho - a man who played 22 league games last season - departed for Real Madrid. However, the Italian coach believes he has improved his options by adding Yossi Benayoun at the expense of the 'less intelligent' Joe Cole and, having dropped just five points at home last term, Chelsea remain the strongest looking prospect going into the new season.
If you fancy Ancelotti's Blues to win back-to-back titles, you will have to put your money where your mouth is with odds of 13/8 with Stan James.

Win or lose, Manchester City will be creating headlines © Getty Images

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Team to watch - Manchester City
If history repeats itself, Manchester City could well end up as Premier League champions this season after spending close to £80 million on new players - with Mario Balotelli and James Milner still to arrive. Blackburn and Chelsea have both been accused of 'buying' the title in the past, so the path has been laid for City to follow. Aleksandr Kolarov, Yaya Toure, David Silva and Jerome Boateng have all arrived, but at what cost to the squad's harmony?

Family favourite Craig Bellamy appears to want out, Shay Given could follow, while four doesn't go into two when it comes to Toure, Gareth Barry, Nigel De Jong and Patrick Vieira. Roberto Mancini must prove he can keep a squad happy, and he has question marks to answer over whether he has signed in the right areas, although Silva could prove the capture of the summer. Regardless of the starting XI, the sheer splurge of personalities makes City box-office, but will they crack under the pressure of reaching their minimum aim of Champions League qualification?
Can Manchester City not only finish in the top four, but actually go on to lift the title? Back them at 5/1 with Stan James.

Liverpool cannot afford to miss another year of Champions League football © Getty Images

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Team under pressure - Liverpool
Liverpool simply cannot afford to miss out on Champions League football again. They cannot (currently at least) afford to miss out financially, and they cannot afford to miss out because their history demands they don't. So Roy Hodgson walks into a 'dream' job with potentially nightmare ramifications. The first XI isn't bad. A spine of Jose Reina, Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard, Joe Cole and Fernando Torres would be the envy of most teams. But a bench of David Ngog, Lucas Leiva, Emiliano Insua, Diego Cavalieri and Co. provides fodder for even the least humorous possessor of the famous scouse wit.

Liverpool fans will hope Joe Cole is the symbol for a move towards attacking football under Hodgson. No longer can the Reds be labelled a two-man team, and with Glen Johnson and Dirk Kuyt down the right they can begin to vary their threat. But nothing has been done to change the leaky defence of last season and, with a takeover unlikely to happen before the end of the transfer window, Hodgson may have to make do with more signings in the Christian Poulsen bracket until January. The fitness of Torres, Gerrard and now Cole will shape Liverpool's season.
Will Hodgson lead Liverpool back to Europe's top table? Odds of 7/4 with Stan James say he will.

A lot rests on West Ham's ability to keep Carlton Cole © Getty Images

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Surprise package - West Ham
West Ham have a lot of improving to do after finishing 17th last season, and they will not be afforded the cushion of knowing there are three teams comfortably worse than them this season. A relegation trio of Portsmouth, Hull and Burnley was as great a gimme as the opening question on the "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" gameshow, but the Hammers are likely to find themselves forced to earn their Premier League survival this time around.

Fortunately they have a coach in Avram Grant who has taken Chelsea to within one kick of the Champions League, and Portsmouth to within one penalty of leading an FA Cup final against Chelsea. Grant also inherits a squad of players boasting reported Liverpool targets Scott Parker and Carlton Cole, mercurial Italian Alessandro Diamanti, and young talents Junior Stanislas, James Tompkins, Jack Collison and Zavon Hines. The Israeli has already bought well with the likes of striking handful Frederic Piquionne and tricky wideman Pablo Barrera arriving at Upton Park, and his squad compares favourably to most of those around him.
West Ham's owners will target a top-10 finish this season; make money out of their success at 7/2 with Stan James.

Joe Cole will be pivotal to Liverpool's fortunes © Getty Images

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Bargain of the summer - Joe Cole
As always in football there are always two sides to every argument, and critics of Joe Cole's summer switch to Liverpool will point to his recent injury record, plus the fact that Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Fabio Capello all haven't fancied him.

However, there can be no denying that Cole is a vast improvement on Liverpool's attacking options of last season, offering fluidity of movement and speed of thought that is missing in the games of Albert Riera and Ryan Babel. Liverpool have not had a genuine No. 10 since Luis Garcia left the club, taking with him a Champions League and FA Cup winners medal. Liverpool's attack had become predictable under Rafael Benitez, but Cole's inclusion suddenly brings hope of a return to the pass-and-move days, last seen when John Barnes - another great No. 10 - graced the club. And for those detractors who claim Cole has never quite filled his potential, this will be the first time he is played in a central role at a big club.
Back Cole to get his Liverpool career off to the perfect start with a debut goal against Arsenal at odds of 3/1 with Stan James.

Yaya Toure has stiff competition at Manchester City © Getty Images

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Flop of the summer - Yaya Toure
Included more for his astronomical price tag than his footballing ability, Yaya Toure arrives at Eastlands as a potential symbol for Manchester City's financial mismanagement if they fail to finish in the top four this season. An undoubted midfield force, Toure is a player who would be wanted by most teams in Europe. But was he needed by City?

Already blessed with Gareth Barry, Nigel de Jong and Patrick Vieira, did they really need to spend £25 million on one of Barcelona's back-up players? Never the best passer of a football, Toure's acquisition leaves Roberto Mancini with four sitters and zero link men in the Wesley Sneijder mould. If City finish in the top four, Toure will no doubt be a big reason why. But if they don't, questions will be asked as to whether £25 million could have been better spent.
If you believe Toure and Manchester City will have a good season this year, get on Mancini's men to be the first to score five goals in one game at 10/1 with Stan James.

Dimitar Berbatov is yet to truly justify his £30 million price tag © Getty Images

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Point to prove - Dimitar Berbatov
A scorer of some crucial breakthrough goals last season, Dimitar Berbatov's record of 21 league goals in 64 games for Manchester United isn't embarrassing. However, for £30 million the Bulgarian, signed in 2008, is expected to produce big moments in big games.

Not once did Berbatov score against any of the top seven clubs last season, and by the end of the campaign he had clearly lost the trust of his manager. A glorious goal in this year's Community Shield has got him off to a good start, but Berbatov must be a consistent contributor if United are to reclaim the title.
Fancy an outside chance of big money? Get on Berbatov for the Premier League's top scorer at 40/1 with Stan James.

Newcastle's home form will be crucial © Getty Images

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Promoted team most likely to stay up - Newcastle
Quite bizarrely, given the size of the club and the vast support of the Toon Army, expectation levels surrounding Newcastle are not exactly high going into the new season. The longer that continues for Chris Hughton's men, the better. The pressure of delivering for their home fans drove them to relegation two years ago, but now a largely similar squad are back in the big time, buoyed by the confidence of promotion.

Still boasting genuine Premier League talent in the likes of Alan Smith and Kevin Nolan, Hughton has strengthened wisely with the captures of Sol Campbell and Dan Goslin. If Hatem Ben Arfa is added to that mix Newcastle, like West Ham, have far better resources than those around them when looking to avoid the drop.
Disagree with our positive outlook on Newcastle? Make it pay with odds of 3/1 with Stan James.

Charlie Adam will be relied upon to provide more classy touches in the tangerine of Blackpool © Getty Images

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Promoted team most likely to go down - Blackpool
It's so easy to write off the team that gets promoted via the play-offs, but when that team is Blackpool it becomes even more difficult to make a case for the defence. Boasting Brett Ormerod as a first-choice striker and Charlie Adam, deemed too out of shape for the SPL, as the chief creative force, Blackpool are faced with an enormous 38-game battle for survival.

On a plus note they have Ian Holloway, who will do everything he can to play good football and make sure his team 'has a go'. He has also managed to capture Craig Cathcart, a decent defender, Ludovic Sylvestre, a good passing midfielder from Barcelona's Academy, and Elito Grandin, who loves to beat people. The likelihood is that those signings still will not prove enough, but if the Tangerines do go down, you can guarantee they will do it in the right manner.
Is Holloway's team going to prove us wrong? Odds of 5/2 say he might.

Roberto Mancini has no excuses for failure © Getty Images

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First manager to be sacked - Roberto Mancini
Roughly translated as 'the man under most pressure', Roberto Mancini only has to look at the examples of Sven Goran Eriksson and Mark Hughes before him - albeit under different owners - to know he won't get much time if things begin poorly for Manchester City. A Champions League place is the bare minimum required after a potential £130 million outlay on six players, and it does not take long to fall off the pace in that particular race.

The likes of Kolarov, Silva, Toure, Balotelli, Milner and Boateng will need to gel from the opening whistle, and Mancini must ensure all his big personalities are pulling in one collective direction. Stalked by rumours of dressing room disharmony, caused by competition for places and a rigorous training regime, Mancini has more than one knife to fall on.
Could City prove to be the most expensive flops of all time? A bottom half finish offers odds of 22/1 with Stan James.

Wayne Rooney broke the 40-goal barrier for Manchester United in all competitions last season © Getty Images

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Top goalscorer - Wayne Rooney
With 26 Premier League goals to his name last season, 24-year-old Wayne Rooney is supposedly not even at the peak of his powers. In an England shirt those powers appear to have disappeared altogether, but the Manchester United man is rarely more dangerous than when he has a point to prove.

Shouldering the burden left by the yet-to-be-filled void of Cristiano Ronaldo, Rooney should once again play a central role all season for Sir Alex Ferguson. That is where he undoubtedly does his best work, and with Nani and Antonio Valencia improving all the time, he should receive a strong supply line over the next 12 months. The only big danger, barring injury, is Ferguson's temptation to tinker with Rooney's strike partner with Berbatov, Michael Owen, Javier Hernandez and Federico Macheda all fit to start.
Having smashed the 40 barrier in all competitions last season, Rooney is second favourite to lead the scorer's charts this year. Back him at 11/2 with Stan James.

Michael Essien missed the majority of last season © Getty Images

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Player of the season - Michael Essien
At his best, there are few players in England who can live with Michael Essien and, having missed the World Cup, he is champing at the bit in order to make up for lost time in his career. The Ghanaian only featured in 14 Premier League games for Chelsea last season, but of those 14 the Blues won 11. When it comes to the make-or-break encounters of the season against the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal, Essien's powerhouse style has the potential to make all the difference against the more technical figures of Fabregas, Scholes and Carrick.

More importantly, his ability to influence matters as much going towards his own goal as the opposition's means Frank Lampard is freed to do more of what he loves best. In much the same way Steven Gerrard has driven Liverpool forward over the years, Essien has a similar capability to grab matters by the scruff of the neck for Chelsea, and a successful defence of the league title would make it difficult for the PFA to overlook a Chelsea player for two seasons running.
With Essien back in the fold, leap on Chelsea to repeat their league and cup double at 12/1 with Stan James.

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