Time for the first D-Day of the new season.

Tomorrow sees four of the giants of English football locking horns in a set of fixtures which could go a long way towards shaping the destination of the Premier League title.

It’s not very often that you get two huge, season-defining matches on the same day. But with Liverpool taking on Chelsea and then Arsenal meeting Manchester United, this Sunday should be a real feast of football.

Essentially these are the four main, realistic contenders for the crown this season and defeat for any of them would be morally destructive, although obviously not decisive.

Liverpool and Arsenal are particularly vulnerable right now with the former coming off the back of their heavy derby defeat to Everton and the latter having found absolutely no domestic form whatsoever.

Manchester United, on the other hand, are looking strong and with Rooney and Scholes back in the side are only set to get stronger. And while Chelsea may not have found the top gear we all know they have, they are still starting to look formidable.

My predictions, for what they are worth, are that both matches will end in draws. All four know how important tomorrow’s games are in terms of setting up their season and, with that in mind, none will want to risk defeat by going all out for the win.

Still, they should both be entertaining matches at the very least and I, for one, wouldn’t dream of missing either of them.

Quotes of the week

Couple of quotes this week that tickled my fancy.

Firstly, Coventry’s Kevin Kyle gives us a fascinating insight into just how closely knit his home environment was when he was a youngster.

“My Dad used to referee me when I was a kid. I remember him booking me – and asking my name,” he said.

Bet they had some interesting, if distant, Sunday lunches.

The next quote comes from that old favourite Mourinho. A few months ago, when the Ashley Cole deal looked dead and buried, he tried to dismiss Chelsea’s failure to sign him by describing the England defender as “too short” to be a good left-back.

Now, with Cole onboard and making his debut for the club, Jose was left trying to justify his previous comments.

“Look how tall he is! He’s grown up since the last time I saw him,” the Chelsea boss told the press.

“It must have eaten my vegetables,” Cole added.

Oh the fun they have at Stamford Bridge.

Champions League

It was nice to see the return of the Champions League this week. Some may say there is too much football being played these days, but I just can’t get enough of it.

The best part about this week’s games was that they were not boring. Too often the opening group games are cagey affairs with both teams sitting back and sizing out their opponents.

Not so this time, with Manchester United against Celtic being the pick of the bunch or, at least, the pick of the bunch that I saw.

It was a real blood and guts cup tie, end-to-end stuff with five goals scored and a whole host of chances missed. Full credit to Celtic who didn’t turn up at Old Trafford just to avoid to defeat but came looking for a win, even though things didn’t quite go their way.

The other notable results were defeats for Real Madrid and Inter, two of the favourites for the trophy. But it’s early days yet and there is plenty more football to be played before the group stage comes to a close.

And, if it is all like the first week, then we could be in for some cracking contests.

Roy Keane

Remember a few years ago when Roy Keane complained about the atmosphere at Old Trafford?

The Irish midfielder had said it was very flat and uninspiring, a direct consequence of the corporate “prawn sandwich brigade” who were snapping up a lot of the tickets for United’s home games.

Well, it looks like in the intervening years things have not got any better.

Sir Alex himself is now complaining about the crowds for league matches which are nothing like as lively as those for European games.

“On Saturdays they come here and half of them are sleeping, waiting to be entertained,” he said.

There was certainly no lack of atmosphere on Wednesday although that had a lot to do with the 6,000 Scottish fans who sang their hearts out for their club – pure passion.

Maybe the debate over whether Rangers and Celtic should be allowed into the English Premier League needs re-opening !

Contact James on: [email protected]