First up is Burnley versus Manchester City on Friday night. In many ways the focus will be more on the sidelines than on the pitch in this one. Vincent Kompany versus Pep Guardiola is an intriguing match up. I think that Kompany has done a brilliant job so far at Burnley and if he can steer Burnley to safety this season, there will no doubt be a clamour for him to be the successor to Pep Guardiola. Pep is an unbelievable manager and has proven it all around the world but there must be a point where he starts to think about life after football. We all saw the problems at Manchester United once Sir Alex Ferguson retired and I am sure that isn't a route that Manchester City will want to follow! Definitely a big game and a big season for Burnley and everyone associated with the Club but I can't make a case, on the pitch, for anything but a routine 3-0 win for the Citizens.

The early kick off on Saturday sees Arsenal take on Nottingham Forest at The Emirates. I fancy Arsenal to have another big season and if any team is going to push Manchester City all the way, I fancy it will be Arsenal. They have lost the services of Gabriel Jesus due to a knee injury and subsequent operation but they do have a more than capable replacement in Eddie Nketia who certainly showed his goal scoring credentials on a number of occasions last season. They've made several decent acquisitions already this pre-season so I really do think they could mount another serious challenge for the title. Nottingham Forest on the other hand haven't been able to spend a great deal of money in the transfer window but they made plenty of signings last season and they will all have bedded in now so I fancy them to have a decent season. Unfortunately they have a tricky set of fixtures at the start of this campaign and none more so than Arsenal first up so I'm going for a 3-1 home win to the Gunners.

In the three o'clock kick offs on Saturday I am going with West Ham to win a close encounter with Bournemouth 1-0; Brighton to put Luton to the sword at the Amex Stadium with a 4-0 win; Everton to get their campaign off to a good start with a 1-0 home win over Fulham. I think Everton have an excellent manager in Sean Dyche and I reckon he will have them tightly drilled from the start this season meaning that they won't need to go through the now familiar anxiety of a relegation scrap. Newly promoted Sheffield United face Crystal Palace at Bramhall Lane and I'm going for a 2-0 away win for Roy Hodgson and his men and in the final three o'clock kick off I am going for Newcastle United and Aston Villa to play out a low-scoring 1-1 draw in this one for me.

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