The Carling Cup is at last getting the recognition it deserves. With places at the top of the Premier League becoming more and more competitive with the continued dominance of Man Utd, and big spending of Man City, other big teams are looking over their shoulder, realising that actually, the Carling Cup represents the one solid good chance of winning a trophy, and more importantly a guaranteed way into Europe through the Europa League.

Therefore we are seeing the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea taking the competition seriously with stronger line-ups than they had some years ago.

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1. The winners of the Premiership 2011-2012 is…

A busy, frenzied end to the transfer window ensued, with the Barclays Premier League taking a hammering as clubs went about their business, picking over the scraps left over on deadline day. Though, looking at the quality of some of the signings, they were anything but scraps. How about:

Raul Meireles from Liverpool to Chelsea
Craig Bellamy from Man City back to Liverpool
Peter Crouch from Spurs to Stoke City
Mikel Arteta from Everton to Arsenal (great signing for Wenger)
Owen Hargreaves from Man Utd to Man City (seriously??)
Joe Cole from Liverpool to Lille on loan
David N’gog from Liverpool to Bolton
Scott Dann from Brimingham to Blackburn
Scott Parker from West Ham to Spurs
Shaun Wright-Phillips from Man City to QPR

And a whole lot more…

Arsenal look in good shape again now, so will likely begin their steady climb up the table. Spurs managed to hold on to Luka Modric despite a £40m bid from Chelsea, and the signing of Scott Parker looks a good one.

Liverpool continued to strengthen with a solid back-up striker in Bellamy, despite the surprise last minute loss of Meireles to Chelsea.

Man Utd were very quiet having conducted their business a long time ago…ominously, they still look strong, and none of the above will make a blind bit of difference to where the silverware will end up at the end of the season. It’s Old Trafford all the way….

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1. The winners of the Premiership 2011-2012 is…
2. Liverpool FC Latest Transfer News

In what could potentially be the closest Premier League season ever, it’s a tough one to call on who is going to claim the crown. Can Kenny Dalglish roll back the years and give Liverpool fans what they have been craving for 20 years?

Will the cheque book be the saviour as Man City buy their way to their first Premier League title? Or will the cunning and nouse of Chelsea bring the silverware back to Stamford Bridge? Or how about Arsenal, with a potentially depleted squad, can they quietly sneak up on the outside rails and pull a rabbit of the hat? Or will Harry Redknapp continue to weave his magic at Tottenham Hotspur?

We assess the hopes and aspirations of the forerunners for the 2011-2012 Premier League season, and tell you who will claim the crown.

Man City
They will climb one more place from last seasons 3rd place finish, to grab the runners up spot. Money will continue to talk, however with a few team spirit issues creeping in and robbing them of a few banker points, City will slip up more often than they should. Mancini will see the season as a success, his employers won’t, and he’ll get the sack.

Arsenal
Will be in a dog-fight with Tottenham and Liverpool for 4th/5th place. Wilshere and Ramsey will be their saviours, but unfortunately the promise of last season will not be witnessed this time around. Arsene Wengers days could be numbered.

Liverpool
The magic of the King’s return will not be enough to get that league title they so desire. With a couple of his new signings not performing (one likely to be Andy Carroll), the reds will still grab 4th place, after a promising start to the campaign, they will falter.

Chelsea
Man City have overtaken them as the rich boys, and they will be overtaken by them in the placings, with Chelsea finishing 3rd. And they will not exactly set the world alight getting there.

Man Utd
Sorry, but they will be top of the pile come May 2012. We just can’t see past them – Sir Alex and his boys have already shown how things are going to go with their last minute defeat of Man City in the Community Shield. Title number 20 is coming to Old Trafford.

So what do you think, is this the way the season is going to go? Let us know below.

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Liverpool FC Latest Transfer News

There was really only one place to be on transfer deadline day and that was at Melwood, training ground of Liverpool FC.

It had been a fairly low profile transfer window: Traditional big spenders Manchester City had made their one big signing in Edin Dzeko and then silence. Arsenal and Manchester United were predictably quiet and even Spurs, never ones to shy away from throwing around some post Christmas cash, made two modest signings and then withdrew from the market.

All that changed last week with a sensational bid from Chelsea for Fernando Torres. Initially the fee was believed to be in the region of £35m and was flatly rejected by Liverpool, but Torres seemed keen to speak to the London club. Desperate for some Champions League football, he had a buy out clause in his contract stating that he could leave if Chelsea, or anyone else for that matter, came back with £50m. FA Cup weekend was now upon us and we waited for more news. Clearly, Monday the 31st was going to be a memorable day in the history of Liverpool Football Club.

And so it proved: The day began with the news that Paul Konchesky would be joining Nottingham Forest on loan but this was small compared to the incredible developments that were to follow. Liverpool had been linked with Luis Suarez, the Uruguayan who, up until now, was widely known for an infamous handball in the 2010 World Cup. Suarez has been playing his football with Ajax for the last four years and his goalscoring record has been phenomenal. A similar player to Torres, he seemed an ideal replacement and the deal was wrapped up for a fee in the region of £22m.

Liverpool weren`t finished there and as the day wore on, news filtered through that they were also looking to sign Andy Carroll from Newcastle. Carroll`s record doesn`t really compare to the likes of Suarez but he has huge potential and at £35m, Liverpool have clearly seen a massive future for him.

With these deals done, the path was obviously clear for Torres to leave and he duly signed on at Chelsea for an incredible £50m to round off one of the most memorable transfer windows ever.

All of this news seems to have been met with mixed feelings from the Anfield faithful. Clearly, many feel betrayed by Torres and are unsure that either Suarez or Carroll can really take his place. Others feel that Torres was too injury prone and once a player has expressed a desire to leave then he`s unlikely to deliver his best football.

Many believe that Liverpool have come out as winners in this situation. The prospect of Carroll and Suarez up front is a breathtaking one and if any club can bring out that potential in Carroll then surely Liverpool can. This incredible day of transfer dealing could be a big turning point in the future of the club.

After a difficult start for the returning Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool have won two league games in a row to take them up to seventh place. They are still some way from challenging the Champions League places but in the next few weeks live football streaming will show what an impact their new acquisitions have.

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