Merson: Keane on Liverpool's strike force

Also see

• Jeff Stelling's picks
• Alan McInally's picks
• Charlie Nicholas's picks
• Phil Thompson's picks
• Matt Le Tissier's picks
• Chris Kamara's picks
• Tony Cottee's picks
• 2008-09 preview

It's a dangerous game, making pre-season predictions. But with just days to go before the big kick-off in the Premier League, the Soccer Saturday gang have gallantly agreed to put their necks - and their credibility - on the line.

Step up former Arsenal and England star Paul Merson...

Champions

My tip is Chelsea. I think Scolari will go for it and try and win games rather than just not lose them. They've certainly got the players to win games so I fancy them. Take away some of Ronaldo's 40-odd goals from last season - because I can't see him doing it again this season - and Manchester United aren't going to win it.

Champions League spots

I think Manchester United will be runners-up, followed by Arsenal and then Liverpool. For me the signing of the season is Robbie Keane but - and I don't mean this rudely - does Rafa Benitez know how to win the league over here? I'm not sure - last year he rested Torres at Portsmouth away, which is probably one of the hardest places to win at.

Fit for fifth

I'm going for Tottenham. Ramos has bought well but I still think they're crying out for a centre-half. Then again, so are Arsenal.

Surprise package

I don't like putting pressure on Harry but I think Portsmouth are very much the dark horses. Their pairing up front is up there with the top four's two up front. And they'll play every week.

Going down

I think Bolton will struggle. And, hopefully not because I'd like Paul Ince to do well, I reckon Blackburn will too. They've lost their best player in Bentley and although Santa Cruz was on fire last year, all of a sudden people will be saying, 'Right, let's mark him out of the game'. The promoted sides all need a good start. The only chance of Stoke staying up is if Rory Delap stays fit because he's got a long throw. He gets the ball in the box or wins a corner, and so sooner or later teams will buckle because of that. West Brom will struggle to score goals in the Premier League - and I don't think keeping Kevin Phillips would have made much of a difference; when David Nugent made the step up from Preston to Portsmouth, he couldn't score for toffee, so it doesn't always work that way. The Baggies do like to get the ball down and play but I don't know whether they'll be good enough to break teams down.

Golden boot

Fernando Torres...but you don't know how many games he'll play. A real dark horse in this category for me is Jermain Defoe. I think he'll play every week and I don't think there's a more natural goalscorer in the league - bar Michael Owen, but Newcastle just don't make enough chances for him.

Best buy

This is a hard one, because really you judge that by Christmas, but I'm going for Robbie Keane - a great buy in my opinion. Keane and Torres will rip defences apart. The thing with Liverpool before was that if Torres wasn't scoring, they were finding it hard to score goals. And I tell you, Berbatov won't score as many goals now. Keane will make loads of goals but he scores goals too - Wayne Rooney's a similar kind of player but he doesn't score as many as Robbie Keane.

Barking buy

I'm likely to look an idiot if I turn round and say, 'That's a bit too much for him' or, 'They shouldn't have bought him' and then he goes and scores ten goals in ten games! Of course Fulham have paid too much for Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora but they could keep Fulham up - they're both very quick and good finishers - and if they do that, it's money well spent.

Soccer Saturday summer slacker

I've heard Le Tiss has trimmed down so I reckon Charlie Nicholas might be the one to have let himself go over the summer - I've heard it's harder to lose the weight when you get old!