Thought about starting one of these the past few seasons, as I love discussing the game. This is futbol/soccer. For discussing results, controversies, transfers, competitions and the like. Anything goes. For the record I am a Liverpool supporter, so take my biases and opinions for what they are worth (United fans should take no offense :D). But I reckon we have many here who follow the game, so let us know what's on the mind. Club football, international football, it's all good.

With all major leagues set to kick off the new campaigns, I thought I would start this thread off with my predictions of title winners for some of the top European leagues

England : Liverpool. Yeah, biased, but I think this might be their year, and end the decades-long drought for the league. With their UCL medal in hand, perhaps they can pull off a title run. City's a tough rival though. We shall see.

Italy: Juventus. Who else? Napoli? Inter? I can't see anyone changing the order here. Juventus once again

Spain: I'm going with Atletico. Barca are due for an off-year, and frankly their squad has holes and is aging, and is over-reliant on Messi. If he goes down for any length of time they might find results hard to come by. But maybe not. Madrid's in a mess. So Atletico for a shock title.They've made some shrewd signings and I expect them to be in it right to the end.

Germany: Dortmund. So close a year ago, and Bayern seem in a funk, even if they won it last year. Is Kovac overmatched? Should be an interesting season in the Bundesliga.

Netherlands: Ajax, I think. Every year they sell their best players yet still compete. Amazing club.

And just a headline I'd never thought I'd see

Harry Maguire, world's most expensive defender

Comments, predictions, other stuff?

Oh, it's THIS "football". Never mind.

Good, now that that's out of the way....

Dortmund beat B-M 2:0 the other day. B-M didn't look that good.

Yeah, Bayern's struggled to bring in many of their targets. Ribery's gone, Robben's gone. They need to get younger and faster. They seem to have set all their focus on England U-21s. After the success of Jadon Sancho it seems that German clubs mostly look to England now (Hudson-Odoi for example).

I have my doubts about Kovac frankly. He doesn't convince.

You won't find me in here too often Mr Bond. I used to follow the Premiership (long time Chelsea supporter) but now I can only get interested in the World Cup and not so much the men's game as I revealed in that 'other' thread

Same here. When the US is in the WC I'll actually watch the games but that's it.

It's OK Chucky, we've talked before about this. This thread isn't for everyone, especially those who don't follow it

I said to someone that I bet I get more posts talking about how they don't like the sport than comments about the sport. Just the way it is.

I can keep the thread going just bashing United for the next 9 months though.

I will admit that WC match between the USA and England was pretty epic. I was thrilled we got a 1-1 tie!

Stoke City fan for my sins DBond Hoping after a disastrous few years since falling from the premier league that we go up from the Championship this season..A 2-1 home defeat in our 1st game doesn;t fill me with optimism though.
Same basic errors and a manager although well liked by the majority of fans refuses to switch from his favoured diamond formation but ..we'll see

Premier League..Close very close its gonna be Man City or Liverpool i cant see Man U,Spurs or Arsenal getting near them.

Italy Yep. Juve cant see it going anywhwere else.

Spain..Good shout with Ath Madrid but i cant see past Barca,Real are in a mess i agree completely.

Germany..I watched Bayern pre season they look fast but maybe Ribery and Robben will be a bigger loss than they realise. With Neuer in goal though they wont concede many.

And Harry Maguire. Ive heard when Moyes was at Man u he wanted to sign Maguire from Sheff Utd in 2013 for....£4m haha brillliant so a few yrs later they pay £80m. You couldn't make it up

I was rooting for our guys recently in the world cup but then I saw that they were playing against women from other countries and thought that just wasn't right...

Adger, Potters eh (avatar's a clue )? I can see them coming up this year, why not? Lost Bojan though I see.

What do Stoke fans think of Wolves these days? I was talking to someone about Wolves, about how their close relationship with the agent Mendes seems to give them an advantage, and especially so when they were still in the Championship. An advantage that other sides in the league didn't enjoy, and look at them now. That they could attract players like Vinagre and especially Ruben Neves, players you'd never think would sign for a club like Wolves. I never see much talk about it, but I was thinking a Potters fan might have an opinion. Wolves now look to be one of the best of the rest and I can see them challenging for Europe this season.

You're probably right about La Liga, but I can see Barca struggling if players like Suarez and Messi lose significant time to injury. They've mostly avoided this over the years, but it can't go on forever. Madrid seem so dysfunctional, and the Bale saga is sure to hurt them.

Another prediction....neither Solskaer or Zidane see out the year.

Hi DBond,yes mate it's ironic that the guy in the avatar is our own local lad Andy Wilkinson who achieved his dream of playing for his beloved Stoke City before a head injury forced him to retire a few years ago. It's his birthday today aswell.

Bojan was some player for us before injurybut he was never the same again after that,his rapport with Stoke fans is great and we all to a man wish him well in the future. We've had some brilliant players over the last 10 years when we were in the Prem..Nzonzi,Shaquiri,Arnautovic..Bojan I could name more pal. We IMO need a 18-25 goal a season striker in this league to get out and I don't think we've got one if I'm being honest. There's 2 days left in the transfer window so I'm hoping that someone comes in. Dwight Gayle from Newcastle is mentioned often and he scores for fun in this league ..£15m might be a bit much for us to pay though.

Wolves..One of our Midlands rivals when we were in the same division and they've been in our shadow up until a few years ago. They have a big vocal supporter base. Very pacey and a strong team,they surprised me but some of their football was brilliant at times last season and I agree they should definitely be aiming for Europa football mate. Top 4 for me is a tall order but 6th-7th is not beyond them.

Yeah the Bale saga is strange..I've seen him play he's quality,I can't understand how the only bid that's come in is from a Chinese club?? Surely there at least a dozen top teams around Europe that'd take him in a heartbeat it must be his wage demands? but yep I agree I can't see Zidane lasting the season. Barca yep Messi is the man..lose him for a significant amount of time and they could get pipped. Still think Ronaldo is the better player only because ..he's proved it around Europe not just at one club. Seen him live aswell,the mans a beast a truly phenomenal player.

I'd have to say though the 2 greatest performances I've ever seen against us was 1. Peter Beardsley against us in the Coca Cola cup many yrs ago..he ripped us apart whilst playing in a great Newcastle team that had Shearer,Ginola etc ..He won a mountain bike for being Motm,and gave it to a young Stoke fan that had been burnt in a house fire a few years earlier.. A great touch from a model pro. And 2. Robbie Fowler for Liverpool In a cup game they won 8-0 Fowler scored 4 he could have scored more,he pulled us to pieces even though we lost badly I always remember (it was 19 years ago) applauding him off,to this day I've never seen a individual with the brilliance that he had for the entire 90 mins has he had that day mate.

I think I remember that 8-nil game. Carling Cup wasn't it? Around 2000 or so. Liverpool in their ghastly orange kit

Two strikers with decent reputations just arrived in the Championship, maybe Stoke could have snapped 'em up instead...Welbeck and Rooney! Just joking. Welbeck's got the game, but not the body for it. And Rooney? Player-coach? An intriguing new wrinkle in the League.

Edit: Nevermind, Welbeck signed for Watford didn't he?

The problem with Bale is his wages, spot on. He's on £350,000 a week. Couple that with any transfer fee at all and who's going to stump it up? I think if Zidane really wants to see the back of him, Real need to consider just letting him go on a free. A few clubs might consider it if there is no fee on top of the exhorbitant wages. By comparison....

Modric's on 180k, Kroos 200k, Ramos 200k, Asensio just 80k. So Bale is far and away the top earner. Perhaps Real should consider subsidising his wages to offload him.

What they really should do is keep him and make him an integral part of the starting eleven. But egos don't you know.

Deadline day in England today. Should be interesting.

Lukaku's move to Inter looks done and dusted. Arsenal have made a few new signings, including David Luiz, and promising left back Kiernan Tierney, who I signed for Wolves in FM 18, and who went on to become a club legend

Where will Neymar, Bale, Dybala, Ozil and the rest of the window's oft-mentioned players land?

United look short of strikers at the moment. Hard to believe that Mason Greenwood looks set to be counted on for substantial minutes. Maybe they pull off a deal for Mandzukic eh?

Just about over the line now and let's look at some of the business conducted today and over the past few days. Gotta say, if transfers and deadline days generate no comments then this thread is going to prove unpopular

Lukaku to Inter Milan : This one was always going to happen I reckon. United got a good fee and Conte got his man, but it leaves United short of cover at center forward. I am no fan of Ed Woodward, I think he's one of the worst in the league, and this deal, with no incoming to offset it, seems strange. I guess Alexis Sanchez is needed after all....

Lo Celso to Spurs: Spurs, having gone a whole year with no signings, are suddenly overstocking midfielders. Lo Celso is a good player, and his loan at Betis last season was a success (16 goals from midfield is outrageous). Argentine like Pochettino. Good fit it seems to me, except..... Eriksen's still there. This makes a lot more sense with Eriksen sold doesn't it? The window only closes today in England. The rest of the leagues go to September 2, so still time to sell players. Maybe they still manage to sign Dybala?

Ryan Sessegnon to Spurs: Two years in the making, another transfer that felt inevitable. Sessegnon is versatile and pacy, seems a good fit. But he's not done much at the top level. One for the future perhaps.

Arsenal had a busy window as Emery attempts to reshape the side in his image, adding David Luiz and Kiernan Tierney to Pepe, Saliba (loaned back out) and Ceballos. Kocielny left for Bordeaux. Pepe is quality, and we will see what these changes mean to the Gunners going forward.

Newcastle welcomes back the prodigal knee injury... Andy Carroll! Can't make this stuff up. I have Toon relegated this year, but with Andy Carroll's three weeks of injury-free contribution, maybe it will be enough? Oh, wait, Steve Bruce is in charge.

Not the most exciting deadline day, maybe partly because it's only in England, but I might say this window is more about who hasn't moved than who did, though as said three weeks still remain for most leagues

If I were to pick what I think is the best piece of business I'd say it's Everton signing Moise Kean. He's going to be a star and it's a major coup for the Toffees in my view. Everton had a bad run of transfer business the last two years, but it's starting to come together now. Can't have the blue half on the rise!

Comments? How'd your team do?

Who wins on opening weekend?

In the EPL KK?

OK, these are my predictions... (home side listed first, winner in bold)

Liverpool v Norwich City
West Ham United v Manchester City
A.F.C. Bournemouth v Sheffield United
Burnley v Southampton
Crystal Palace v Everton
Leicester City v Wolves
Watford v Brighton
Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa
Newcastle United v Arsenal
Manchester United v Chelsea

Ay up DBond..Yep it was fairly quiet I expected Zaha to go from Palace,don't believe Mandzukic was ever going to go to Man U. Thought Everton have equipped well and if they had got Wilf Zaha it would have been a fantastic window. Bale linked with PSG? I believe. The others mentioned went nowhere. We managed to get Berahino off our books and Afobe out on a seasons loan to Bristol City.

We had a couple come in,none to set the world on fire but like any new signing I welcome them to our club and hope they put the graft in that Stoke fans appreciate mate.

Good signings made by the 2 big London clubs..Tiernay could become a real class act,don't think English Premiership or Championship can sign players mate only sell until Sept 2nd but I could be mistaken. Yep Lukaku going didn't surprise me..Not getting a 15-20 goal striker in has a replacement? Very surprising. Andy Carroll?? Haha I didn't see that,thing is..it might give him the motivation to get fitter etc and a fit Andy Carroll is a defenders nightmare he's a right handful when he's in the mood,he's horrible to play against.

My predictions this weekend same has yours except il go

Burnley to just Nick it against Saints.
Leicester v Wolves draw

Have a good weekend pal.

I'm rather impressed that Palace managed to hold on to Zaha. But you run the risk of a disgruntled player poisoning the dressing room. We'll see how it plays out. Palace without Zaha are relegation material. With him, they are pushing for top-ten I reckon.

Quite right about Carroll, but he is just too fragile. I'd be surprised if he played 20+ games this season.

United's bungled it again in my view. Woodward has to go. And that's from a Liverpool supporter! I'm fine if he stays, I welcome it actually. But if I were a United fan I'd want Woodward as far from recruitment as he could be. They crow about a new technical director, but it'll just end up being Rio Ferdinand or Fletcher or some former player. Ole is saying United are a better side than a year ago, have a better attack. Maybe that's true?, but they still miss out on the CL I'd wager. They are relying on Rashford, Martial and Greenwood for the goals. I rate Rashford, but Martial has failed to impress and Greenwood's 17 for crying out loud.

I have a theory about Solskaer's methods that I might lay out at some point. I think he was the wrong appointment and United jumped the gun after his impressive start. They should have waited until the summer to address the manager's position in my view.

I have a question about Berahino. I saw a story that he got nicked for drink driving. He was fined like 72,000 pounds. Is that true? That's a massive fine. Is that how it is in England, or was he a serial offender?

Of my predictions, these three are the hardest calls

Burnley v Southampton
Crystal Palace v Everton
Leicester City v Wolves

But I had to pick one of them. Leicester look to be a tough side to play against, if Vardy hasn't lost any pace over the summer.