BPL Season Preview: Top 6

The Barclay's Premier League season is set to start in just over a week and a half. I'll tell you my top six, why and even some teams to watch.

Top 6: Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham, and Liverpool.

1.) Manchester City
         The Citizens captured the League title last year, and look poised to do so again. Sergio Aguero led the team with 24 goals, while David Silva contributed a team high 15 assists. City's attack should be as sharp as ever, perhaps even sharper with David Silva returning from getting a gold medal with Spain at Euro 2012. Vincent Kompany and Joe Hart will be keys for Man City in defense and goal. Also key for City will be how well they play on the road; all five of their losses came away from the Ethiad last season. If Carlos Tevez also wants to play for the Citizens, they should have no trouble retaining the title.

Final record and place: 31-4-3, (wins, draws, losses) 97 points, 1st place.

2.) Chelsea
        The Blues finished sixth in the league last year, despite winning the Champions League and FA Cup. New signing Eden Hazard will be key to the Londoners attack this year. Also joining him are midfielders Marko Marin, Oscar and Hazard's younger brother Thorgan. With Didier Drogba leaving for China, it would seem that Daniel Sturridge, who co-lead the team in goals, scoring 11, last term, would be a first choice. However, club officials have assured the streaky and inconsistent Fernando Torres the starting role, leaving both Sturridge and Belgian Romelu Lukaku in the air. Frank Lampard will anchor the midfield, while John Terry, who hopes to avoid a possible ban from the FA, will hope to keep his most likely defense partners in David Luiz and Gary Cahill under control. Cesar Azpilicueta and Victor Moses are also rumored to be joining the Blues. Chelsea should be the main threat to Manchester City's title defense.

Final record and place: 28-6-4, 90 points, 2nd place.

3.) Manchester United
       The Red Devils experienced true heartbreak on the final day of the season, watching helplessly as City engineered a incredible stoppage time comeback. United has now signed Shinji Kagawa from Borussia Dortmund to bolster their midfield. They also have a plethora of scoring options in forwards Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez, Dimitir Berbatov and Danny Welbeck, and also midfielders Nani and Ashley Young. The Red Devils hope for defenders Nemanja Vidic and Johnny Evans to be back for the start of the season, but willl probably have to rely on aging Rio Ferdinand and Chris Smalling.

Final record and place: 28-4-6, 88 points, 3rd place.

4.) Arsenal
       Despite Robin van Persie announcing he will leave at the end of his contract this year, I believe Arsene Wenger has some magic left in him. Wenger has signed Lukas Podolski from Cologne. Podolski has scored 44 goals in 101 apperances for Germany. The French wizard hopes he can replicate that type of scoring.

5.) Tottenham
    Spurs have been chasing Wenger's Arsenal for years, and they look set to finish behind again. Gylif Sigurdsson and Jan Vertoghan are new signing by new coach Andre Villas-Boas. Can AVB avoid a repeat of his miserable time at Chelsea? Perhaps not.

6.) Liverpool
   Brendan Rogers has been hired to replace the loved but now sacked Kenny Daglish. Rogers tried to secure Sigurdsson, who had been on loan at Swansea when he was coaching there. He failed, but has successful insured a longer contract for Luis Suarez and brought in striker Fabio Borini to replace the departed Dirk Kuyt. Liverpool still have a way to go though, before they challenge for their first premier league title.

Teams to watch:
   Newcastle punched far above their weight last year, and Alan Pardew will be trying to keep that going. Swansea have replaced Brendan Rogers with Danish legend Michael Laudrup. The Swans will hope to keep their Barcelona "Tiki-Taka" style going.