Liverpool won 2-1 against Chelsea in Cardiff and won the Community Shield. Can anyone here see Chelsea not winning the league this year and someone beating them to it?

I'm hoping so, buying two titles ought to have been quite enough for Abramovich

Seriously though, hard to take anything from one game. Maybe it's their blip out of the way...

It was a good game and Liverpool deserved to win



I can see it being a very close title race

So... are you going to introduce yourself NEBA?

I think you may be a current or former member in disguise, as it's slightly unusual to join a Deal Or No Deal forum and then make your first and so far only post about football!

Chelsea must be red hot favourites - I know they lost today but no Makelele, Gallas, Cole, Cech, Ballack (for most of game), all of whom will be first choice.

Liverpool played well but they will lose games to teams like Portsmouth and Fulham so they won't get close enough.

Thought we deserved to win. We were the better team in the first half and then things evened themselves out in the second half.

It's a nothing game but any win is nice against Chelsea and it's another trophy in the cabinet. It gives us confidence going into the new season and that's the most important thing. Confidence breeds success and we need to hit the ground running at the start of the season if we are to seriously challange for the title.

I think that's totally wrong. It's actually the opposite situation. Under Benitez we don't struggle against the lesser teams like we would under Gerard Houllier. We've turned Anfield into a fortress again and have a very impressive record against the smaller teams. We have problems when it comes to the big teams - Arsenal, Chelsea and Man United.

Last season:

Chelsea P2 W0 D0 L2
Arsenal P2 W1 D0 L1
Man United P2 W0 D1 L1

We only managed 4 points out of 18 and that was our main problem. Had we beaten Chelsea in those two games we would have finished top of the league, 3 points ahead of them.

The gap is not that big. Whether or not we can win the league this season will depend on how much we can continue to be consistent and how we perform against the bigger teams. Also, how much Chelsea will improve with their new signings.

Personally, I think it'll cause them a few problems to start off with but Mourinho is a fantastic manager and he'll eventually sort it.

I'm hoping Chelsea take their eyes off the League and concentrate fully on winning the Champions League. That may give other teams a chance to stay amongst them.

We don't play Chelsea every week, there are 18 other teams in the league - alot of points to be won.

For the first time in my lifetime (I'm 20) we've actually said we're going to seriously challange Chelsea with belief, rather than hope.

What gives me that hope? Rafa Benitez. Top manager.

This wasn't an important game and tells us nothing about the forthcoming Premiership season, but if you can say that about Chelsea, then as a Liverpool fan I am entitled to say we played today without 4 of our main men. Hyypia, Bellamy, Alonso and Gerrard (we're supposed to be a one-man team). We started with 2 new players and started the game Sissoko and Zenden in the middle against Ballack, Essien and Lampard. We were not at full strength ourselves.

I can't see Liverpool winning the title (says an Evertonian), but I can see Manchester United coming very close to winning the title.

I don't think we'll win it either but I can see us being the closest to Chelsea. United still have weaknesses in their team. They still haven't replaced Keane but have reinforced their midfield by signing Carrick (very different player). They've also lost 30 goals a season in Ruud van Nistelrooy. Their midfield doesn't get as many goals as they used to with that awesome quad of Beckham, Keane, Scholes and Giggs. And they don't have the strength in depth that they once had. There are still alot of problems to be ironed out there.

van Nistelrooy never got off the bench to score 30 goals a season.

01/02 - 39 Games, 36 Goals
02/03 - 54 Games, 45 Goals
03/04 - 52 Games, 35 Goals
04/05 - 35 Games, 20 Goals
05/06 - 48 Games, 24 Goals

That is an amazing return for any striker. He is one of the very best in the world. For me, only Henry and Shevchenko are better.

United will miss those goals. They don't have a ready-made replacement and look unlikely to bring in another striker before the season starts.