Gribz

A few left field scores but you did well last season so you may be right. On paper having Leeds, Villa, Sheff Wed, Forest in the top flight and maybe Derby and Wolves are more attractive than Burnley, Bournemouth, Brighton, Huddersfield etc but teams have to earn the right to be in the top flight.

Has Morelos got a bit of Daniel Cousin about him? The latter was unplayable on his day just didnt want to show up every week.

Dont think he will leave and it would be cutting it fine for us to get in a replacement.

A good attendance at the game. Wednesday night in the summer Hols and still 32000 at least.

Not sure about Jack so much. He seems like he is going to have to perform a 8/10 every game just to be decent. I think Rossiter is the answer in the holding role. But Jack may come good and be a healthy squad addition. I hope we dont go for McLean, Aberdeen are average and we need better than their players.

The only thing thats a bit annoying was the mass hysteria about Spurs leaving White Hart Lane. The ground is being built on the same site so they should be promoting that. Obviously they want renaming rights going somewhere to bring in cash. But Spurs need to strengthen soon. They dont have a big enough squad to play League and CL matches at the moment. They arent far away. Will be a quality stadium by the looks of it though. London alone could / should be hosting a major tournament.

Would be good to see what he could. Levein and McLaren in the same team Mr 4-6-0 and wally with brolly, cant see hearts being that strong.

For the opening games: Friday Arsenal 2-0 Leicester Saturday Watford 0-1 Liverpool Chelsea 2-0 Burnley Crystal Palace 2-0 Huddersfield Everton 2-1 Stoke Southampton 1-1 Swansea West Brom 1-0 Bournemouth Brighton 0-3 Man City Sunday Newcastle 1-2 Tottenham Man Utd 0-0 West Ham

Yup, unfortunately after the matches you listed Pedro is always going to be one bad game away from having people calling for him. A solid run of wins will be needed to prevent that. A lot more will be unfolded on Saturday - A good win v Hibs and it will start to look more promising. Welcome to the forum.

2 matches played and 2 wins. Has Pedro started to redeem himself? Its still very early and the bigger tests come with the next two matches against Hibs and Hearts. But after the end of last season and the disaster in the summer it was imperative we got off to a good start. There will be belief installed following these results, plus the squad is looking good with good options in every position, we have a nice balance.

And the one game I dont tip Miller to get the first goal. This sort of result was needed, a great confidence boost ahead of Hibs on Saturday - which should be a belter. To be fair they have started the season well. Morelos looks like he has made himself first pick upfront.

Yes WBA arent a bad side and Id have them down for mid table easily. Looking forward to seeing West Ham this year. Much made of Spurs playing at Wembley but the same can be said for West Ham, if they settle into the London stadium then they could be the surprise package. Hart and Zabaleta are good signings. Newcastle are the ones who could struggle, their transfer business has been poor. I expected them to be heavy spenders getting some big names in under Rafa. Cant see Huddersfield staying up, they will probably go back down along with Brighton. But its tough to call the 3rd team. Will be a battle between Swansea, Burnley and Watford.

This is where Scott and I will do battle each week with our predictions - feel free to join in. Looking forward to the most entertaining league in the world kicking off this Friday - note I say most entertaining and not the best league purely because its not the best standard wise. Yet I dont think I will be watching too many West Brom v Stoke matches. I usually have a flutter on Arsenal to win the title every year - last season was the first time I didnt and I slapped my well earned sponds on Man Utd which was even worse. The runners and riders: Arsenal - Just havent done enough in the transfer market again. They need a solid midfielder and have dabbled too much talk about Tomas Lemar and look to miss out on him. I worry for the Gooners this season but will still be hoping they win the league. Chelsea - Very thin squad and losing Costa bullying defences is a huge loss. They need at least 3 players to compete. I think they will get more found out this season and Conte may not last the full year. If they sign a few players things may be different. Everton - Koeman has really gone for it and I like the look of Everton. Its about time they stepped up to the plate. They have no excuses this season. They have a strong team and have spend well. Man Utd - Jose usually wins the league in his second season. He has signed Matic which is supposed to free up Pogba but the frenchman cruised the italian league and not this division. I am 50/50 on Utd, they will either blast the league ugly style or be the same as last year. They have become unlikeable again due to Mourinho. Man City - Spend silly money and have unreal players going forward but that doesnt guarantee wins. Kompany is still their best centre half yet cant prove his fitness. There is still holes at the back their but their options of forwards and midfielders is scary. A big season for Pep. Again - like Jose isnt very likeable and he has a lot to prove this season. He won domestic league in germany which isnt hard with that Bayern team but he didnt do anything in Europe with them. Liverpool - I fancy them to pull off a shock purely because of the Klopp factor. He gets 10-20% extra out of players and installs a wonderful harmony. They are the most exciting team going forward. Mane is the most unplayable player in the league and can ruin teams. If Coutinho stays then they could win the title. They still need to add Van Dijk at the back though. Tottenham - The Wembley factor will ruin them. They will struggle to win there. They have a solid XI but like Chelsea have no depth and they wont perform in Europe. They need at least 3 new additions to compete in the CL. They didnt show up last season. Im going to stick the neck out and have a flutter on Liverpool to win the league but hope im wrong.

Best way to get match fit it playing in matches. Throw him in against Dunfermline for an hour. If the lad is struggling to adapt then let him go back to Mexico, he wont do any good if he cant give all.

No worries Pete. Just thought id get the game chat going - was a quick few liners. Didnt know you would be writing one up also while having your evening pipe and cocoa.

No Joe Dodoo. Someone needs to reveal what the script is with that. But good to see Kranjcar and Rossiter in the squad. As mentioned earlier Id make numerous changes to give game time - with the match against hibs in mind.

Beg to differ there - No.1 keeper should always start. Id really like to see Dodoo play though. But no idea what even the chances are. its a strange one.

Just a few lines to get the match talk going as its tomorrow. Obviously cant see mass changes like Ive listed but its the sort of team I would put out. Im not sure on the fitness info RE Kranjcar and Rossiter, cant see them making it. Pena perhaps will get game time but throwing him in the deep end in a start next to Holt could make him. At least we are talking football again with plenty options - thats what its all about.

This game isnt on the preview list so dont mind if I hit a quickie? Football is well and truly back and after the long wait for competitive action the games come thick and fast with 3 games within 6 days. The second coming on Wednesday evening UK time and our first domestic home match of the season in a league cup match against Dunfermline. Sundays league victory at Fir Park helped soothed the sore summer and now we cement into the season with 3 home games coming up - its fair to say expectations are on the high and 3 victories are required. We boast the best record in this cup by a mile. 27 wins and 11 ahead of Celtic. This is the tournament that I have a soft spot for from when I starting out to watch Rangers in the 80s from the 3 Skol Cup final clashes v Aberdeen in a row 1987-89 two of which were wins - up to the 1996 final where Gazza stole the show in a 4-3 win over Hearts with two brilliant solo's - its amazing what a nip at half time can do! Dunfermline are starting to get it together on the pitch again, after having a season in the third tier - which we know about - we bypassed them during our journey up through the leagues but now they are also attempting to return to the top flight after being regulars in the 90s. Im hoping Pedro makes numerous changes to the side that played at Motherwell on Sunday. Hibs come to Ibrox on the weekend which is a far bigger game and we need to offer the full squad plenty minutes at the moment. I dont think Pedro will make so much changes as I would but we will see. As such I certainly wouldnt be unhappy with a line up of the following - which should still have more than enough to see off out Championship opponents. Foderingham Hodson Wilson Bates Beerman Candieas Holt Pena Dalcio Dodoo Morelas However Pedro is from a different brand altogether and second guessing his sides at the moment isnt an easy task especially on matchday 2.

Yes - the goal came from that foul so that would have been all square. I felt the red was slightly harsh. But a silly challenge all the same and probably cost them. Arsenal need to trip the squad players by selling Debuchy, Gibbs, Jenkinson then possibly Chambers although id keep the latter for a season to see if he can step up. I would say they need to get Lemar ASAP or be out bid by a big team. Someone like Calvalho to sit next to Xhaka sorts their midfield out then ahead of them you have Ozil or a fit Cazorla playing behind the strikers. I do like Xhaka and think he will be a key player this season after 1 year settling and a full pre season. He was unlucky with that 30 yard effort on Sunday.

Cant decide if McLaren is good or not. Done well at certain places (Boro, Twente) but poor at others. Probably the ideal No.2 in England rather than a manager or head coach.

1m for Waghorn is good money. I quite like Waghorn but if he gets a move away then so be it. Interesting to know whats going to happen with Dodoo though, nothing mentioned about him leaving and he isn't getting playing time.

I don't like the new penalty shoot out format to start with. Arsenal started well but Chelsea would have probably held on with 11 men. Its a match that's hard to judge but Chelsea need a few additions to the squad or they wont win the title. Costa is a big miss for them. I will probably do a premier league preview later this week.

A really good game to watch, and bizarrely probably the most entertaining game Ive seen us in for a while but a few things still missing and a game that we could have won 5-1 or drew 3-3. Fair play to the ref for once - he let the game flow and it was quite end to end and a great spy for the pen. Going forward we look good and should only improve. I just think there is a presence missing somewhere - perhaps Pena or Kranjcar will fill that void. Dorrans will absolutely stroll this league but Jack was a bit quiet. Windass has plenty ability but lacks a bit of composure, if he starts to read things better he could be very key. He has plenty drive and pace and deserved a goal. Im wondering if 3 at the back would suit us more though to get an extra man in midfield because Motherwell aren't a great side and made chances. Wallace had a good game down the left so would fill the left wing back role and that means we go to a 4 when defending and Id keep Candeias on the right as he has pace to burn. But we never looked like losing the game and its a great 3 points to get out the blocks. 3 home games in a row coming up and we should be more in control of games at Ibrox so they will be good to asses.

A chap called Joe Garner netted the only goal as Ipswich beat Birmingham 1-0. McKay and Garner grabbing winners on their debuts. For me id have rather seen McKay stay at Ibrox but Im still glad Garner left.