The countdown to kick-off...

As the clock counts down to the big kick off I'm feeling unusally pessimistic. As keen as I am for football to resume, whereas normally I would look forward to the opening game anticipating a win that would kick start a hopefully successful title challenge, this season I'm not looking ahead to our opening fixture with much optimism.


Why? Well, firstly we've been given a tough away fixture (again) while Man Ure and Chelsea have fairly easy home games against Birmingham and Hull respectively to get their seasons off to a flier. Secondly, I don't expect us to win our game. I hope we do, obviously, and by no means is it impossible that we will but I don't expect it.

Spurs have the potential to be a decent team. I won't be worried about them competing with us for League positions but on their day they will give a few teams a tough match and they will be up for this fixture in front of their home fans. New boy Peter Crouch will be doubly motivated making his debut for them against his former club, while Robbie Keane will feel he has something to prove - if selected. Jermaine Defoe offers a greater goal threat than Keane but last season Pavlychenko was the player who did most damage to us so they undoubtedly carry a goal threat. Of more concern is the fact we are limping into the game - literally in the cases of Carragher and Skrtel - rather than looking like a team ready to hit the ground running. Aquilani is not yet available meaning Lucas will start alongside Mascherano so you wonder where the creativity will come from.

Then there is the fact that White Hart Lane has been something of a bogey ground for Liverpool - especially when our fixture list sends us there before we entertain Spurs at Anfield. In the last 12 seasons, Liverpool have played their away fixture against Spurs before the home fixture on 6 occasions and never won. You need to go back to the 1996-97 season for the last time Liverpool played Spurs away before at home and won. In the 12 seasons since, we have beaten Spurs away 3 times (twice under Rafa in the last 3 seasons) but only after playing our home fixture against them first.

The most common result in the last 12 seasons has been 2-1 to Tottenham (the same result as last season when we played them at the Lane before Anfield and it occurred in 2003-04, 2000-01 and 1998-99 in the same circumstances). However, we have played them away in the first 3 League fixtures twice before under Rafa (including our first League game under him) and drawn them both so perhaps a draw is on the cards.

Personally, I'm preparing myself for the worst and would be relieved with a draw and delighted with a win.

Once that crap opening fixture is out of the way, the next few games look winnable. Surely Stoke can't frustrate us again and while Aston Villa will be a tough opponent, we should be taking 3 points from that game. Beyond that, Bolton are a soft proposition under Gary Megson and then we invite Burnley to Anfield. If at that stage we have 12 points on the board, we'll have made a good start to the season so I won't be too concerned if we're still on 0 points after Sunday.

Whether we can win the League this season remains to be seen. Whereas at the end of last season, I felt we were on the brink, following the transfer activity this summer I am concerned that the same shortfalls could come back to bite us again. I said at the start of summer we needed a striker, a winger and cover for right-back. We've not signed a striker or a winger and, while I think Johnson was an excellent signing and a definite improvement on Arbeloa, the fact Arbeloa was sold means we're still short of cover for right-back. With Alonso going and Aquilani an unknown quantity, no one can say whether the midfield will be as effective as last season and after Hyypia's departure, I feel we need more cover at centre-half.

We'll definitely be up there but whether we can repeat the points haul of last season I don't know. Logic tells me if Torres and Gerrard stay fit and in form, we can do but I worry about how we'd cope if either suffered a long-term injury.

Man Ure, while still having a really strong squad, are unquestionably weaker without Ronaldo and Tevez. I was more than happy watching Berbatov lumbering around up front for them in the Community Shield. Chelsea have yet another new manager and, while they have a strong squad, they've not bought anyone who will obviously make them stronger. Their hopes will hinge on how well they adapt to Ancelotti's new tactics. If they suffer a few dodgy results, Ancelotti's diamond formation will come under intense media scrutiny (as Rafa's zonal marking has done repeatedly) and it may be tough for him to recover.

Liverpool can compete with both teams (Arsenal and City won't challenge) but ultimately the title winner will be the team that gets the small details in their favour. The winner will be the team who suffers the least injuries to key players and is able to field its best XI on the most occasions; whose players get away with it when they should be sent off and avoid being on the receiving end of harsh red cards; who get penalties awarded when they deserve them and when they don't; who plays teams when they are vulnerable rather than bang in form and fully fit; who gets that jammy deflection on the late winning goal, and who gets the rub of the green and the bounce of the ball on enough occasions over the campaign. Fergie's team got the most luck last season and picked up the title. God willing, this season it will be ours.

For now though, I'll use the old cliché and take one game at a time, starting with Tottenham on Sunday...