Do you feel you’ve been sitting on the bench too long this season? Are you itching for a chance to get out there and show what you can do? Confident you can show all those pundits how little they know about the game?

Well, my friends. Now. Is. Your. Chance.

Scores have been so low in our modest little predictions slot that one good week — one! — could see you overtake the vast majority of the Reuters Soccer Blog panel.

With one point for a correct result but a whopping five for a correct score — and untold bonus points on offer for predicting the apparently unpredictable — you could find yourself top of the league in no time.

And considering that The Contest is run on the honour system, you could even award yourself points for style.

The bar being so low here among the Reuters Soccer Blog panel has prompted a few new entries from our bloggers this week, including a combined effort from our Asian Sports Desk, fronted by Ossian Shine. Good luck, newbies.

Right, here are our predictions. Please enter yours in the comments below and keep us posted on how you’re doing score-wise.

Saturday:

Chelsea v Burnley: Two great wins for Burnley in their last two outings. Never two without three, they say in Spain, but this is England and it’s got to be Chelsea. Patrick Johnston: 3-1; Mike Collett: 3-1; Asian Sports Desk: 2-0; Kevin Fylan: 3-1; Miles Evans: 2-1; Justin Palmer: 3-0; Simon Evans: 0-0; Neil Maidment: 2-0; Mark Meadows: 2-1; Paul Radford: 2-0

Blackburn Rovers v West Ham United: I thought West Ham were a bit unlucky against Spurs last weekend and a lot of people seem to fancy an away win on this. Patrick Johnston: 1-1; Mike Collett: 0-1; Asian Sports Desk: 1-1; Kevin Fylan: 1-2; Miles Evans: 1-3; Justin Palmer: 1-3; Simon Evans: 1-2; Neil Maidment: 2-2; Mark Meadows: 0-1; Paul Radford: 2-1

Bolton Wanderers v Liverpool: Two defeats for Liverpool already and this is a fixture that has caused them problems when they’ve come in looking short of form. Patrick Johnston: 0-3; Mike Collett: 0-2; Asian Sports Desk: 0-0; Kevin Fylan: 2-1; Miles Evans: 0-1; Justin Palmer: 0-1; Simon Evans: 1-3; Neil Maidment: 1-2; Mark Meadows: 0-2; Paul Radford: 0-1

Stoke City v Sunderland: Stoke had a pretty formidable home record last season and only one member of the panel, newbie Neil, has been brave enough to predict a Sunderland win. Patrick Johnston: 0-0; Mike Collett: 1-1; Asian Sports Desk: 3-1; Kevin Fylan: 2-0; Miles Evans: 1-1; Justin Palmer: 2-2; Simon Evans: 1-1; Neil Maidment: 1-2; Mark Meadows: 1-1; Paul Radford: 1-1

Tottenham Hotspur v Birmingham City: Three out of three for Spurs and this looks a winnable game as well (except from the point of view of the Asian Sports Desk…) Patrick Johnston: 4-0; Mike Collett: 3-1; Asian Sports Desk: 1-3; Kevin Fylan: 3-1; Miles Evans: 3-0; Justin Palmer: 2-0; Simon Evans: 2-0; Neil Maidment: 3-0; Mark Meadows: 3-0; Paul Radford: 3-0

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Hull City: 14th plays 15th, and Justin Palmer has gone for 4-0 to 15th. Bizarre, eh? Patrick Johnston: 2-1; Mike Collett: 2-1; Asian Sports Desk: 2-2; Kevin Fylan: 1-0; Miles Evans: 2-0; Justin Palmer: 0-4; Simon Evans: 2-1; Neil Maidment: 0-0; Mark Meadows: 1-0; Paul Radford: 1-0

Manchester United v Arsenal: This is what I had in mind with the predicting the unpredictable headline. United got their mojo back with a 5-0 win over Wigan but even then they had to wait a long time for the first. Arsenal have had the pundits weeping with joy but they haven’t played anyone of United’s calibre yet. Patrick Johnston: 1-4; Mike Collett: 1-2; Asian Sports Desk: 0-2; Kevin Fylan: 2-1; Miles Evans: 0-0; Justin Palmer: 1-0; Simon Evans: 2-2; Neil Maidment: 0-2; Mark Meadows: 0-0; Paul Radford: 1-2

Sunday:

Portsmouth v Manchester City: City have just signed “the best centre-back in the Premier League” so this is a foregone conclusion, no? Patrick Johnston: 0-2; Mike Collett: 0-2; Asian Sports Desk: 0-3; Kevin Fylan: 1-1; Miles Evans: 0-0; Justin Palmer: 2-3; Simon Evans: 0-1; Neil Maidment: 0-2; Mark Meadows: 0-2; Paul Radford: 0-2

Everton v Wigan Athletic: Everton are rock bottom but they’ve only played a couple of games, remember. Can Wigan recover from that caning by United and pile on the agony at Goodison? Patrick Johnston: 1-2; Mike Collett: 3-1; Asian Sports Desk: 1-1; Kevin Fylan: 2-0; Miles Evans: 2-2; Justin Palmer: 2-1; Simon Evans: 2-1; Neil Maidment: 2-1; Mark Meadows: 3-1; Paul Radford: 3-2

Aston Villa v Fulham: Villa helped themselves to the three points at Anfield but then suffered a rude awakening in the Europa League play-off, making this another very tricky one to call. Good luck, sports fans! Patrick Johnston: 0-1; Mike Collett: 1-1; Asian Sports Desk: 2-2; Kevin Fylan: 1-0; Miles Evans: 2-1; Justin Palmer: 3-1; Simon Evans: 4-0; Neil Maidment: 1-1; Mark Meadows: 1-1; Paul Radford: 2-1

So there we have it, please give us your predictions and thoughts in the comments and keep checking back.

PHOTO: A football is rests on the pitch during the English Premier League soccer match between Burnley and Everton in Burnley August 23, 2009. REUTERS/Nigel Roddis

How did you get on? I expect it was better than most of us… As a look back to Friday lunchtime’s post will attest, our efforts at predicting the score on the opening weekend of the Premier League covered few of us in any glory.

A lot of people overestimated Chelsea and underestimated Arsenal, but the general feeling that Liverpool would come unstuck at Spurs proved well founded.

As a general guide, I’ve given one point for a correct result — except for those who had Chelsea or Man Utd winning by a hatful — and five points for a correct score. There were precious few of those. I’ve totted it all up very roughly, but the score so far looks more or less as follows…

Owen Wyatt, Miles Evans – 10 points (FROM A POSSIBLE 50!!), Patrick Johnston 9, Kevin Fylan 8, Simon Evans 7, Paul Radford 4, Mike Collett and Mitch Phillips 2.

That includes a bonus point for me as the only person to predict a goal for Hull City. Fair? Well, maybe. Anyway, appeals welcome, as every time I add it up it seems to come to something different. The problems of an arbitrary scoring system…

Let us know if you did much better/worse… and Tune in later for more predictions…

Kevin Fylan, Canary Wharf

PHOTO: Arsenal’s Eduardo (R) celebrates his goal against Everton during their English Premier League soccer match at Goodison Park in Liverpool August 15, 2009. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

UPDATE: Now with added rollcall of shame! Click here for full details of just how badly our panel did…

The new Premier League season is upon us and this year we at the Reuters Soccer Blog have decided to stick our necks out as never before.

Instead of the usual season previews, picking one of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool to win the league and the new arrivals to struggle, we’re doing this the hard way and giving our predictions on a match by match basis.

So without further ado, here are the predictions from a random group of Reuters bloggers. Couldn’t agree more? Couldn’t agree less? Give us your predictions too and see if you can do better than our own modest efforts. We may even keep a running score…

Chelsea v Hull City: Hull escaped relegation despite a disastrous run in the second-half of last season. That was down to their great start but surely they’re not going to come up with another shock here, are they? Worryingly for Hull, Chelsea looked in tune with Carlo Ancelotti’s diamond formation in the Community Shield win over Manchester United.

Predictions: Paul Radford: 3-0; Miles Evans: 4-0; Mike Collett: 3-0; Mitch Phillips: 2-0; Patrick Johnston: 3-0; Owen Wyatt: 2-0; Simon Evans: 2-0; Kevin Fylan: 4-1

Aston Villa v Wigan Athletic: Two sides that have suffered in the close-season. Villa lost captain Gareth Barry to Man City and defender Martin Laursen to retirement; Wigan lost their manager Steve Bruce and midfielder Lee Cattermole to Sunderland and winger Antonio Valencia to Manchester United and there are fears for their survival this year. New manager Roberto Martinez has a big job on his hands.

Predictions: Paul Radford: 1-0; Miles Evans: 1-1; Mike Collett: 1-0; Mitch Phillips: 2-1; Patrick Johnston: 2-0; Owen Wyatt: 1-1; Simon Evans: 2-0; Kevin Fylan: 0-0

Blackburn Rovers v Manchester City: All eyes will be on Ewood Park to see how Man City, the Galacticos Lite, do in their opening fixture. Sam Allardyce made Blackburn a tough nut to crack in the second half of last season. Robinho, Tevez, Adebayor, Wright-Phillips and co must fancy their chances, but their pre-season form wasn’t great, was it?

Predictions: Paul Radford: 1-2; Miles Evans: 1-1; Mike Collett: 2-3; Mitch Phillips 0-0; Patrick Johnston: 1-2; Owen Wyatt: 1-0; Simon Evans: 0-2; Kevin Fylan: 3-3 (humdinger)

Bolton Wanderers v Sunderland: A new manager and a record signing add up to high hopes at Sunderland but this is a fiddly fixture to begin their campaign. Bolton never make life comfortable for visiting teams.

Predictions: Paul Radford: 1-2; Miles Evans: 1-1; Mike Collett: 1-0; Mitch Phillips: 1-0; Patrick Johnston: 1-1; Owen Wyatt: 0-0; Simon Evans: 1-1; Kevin Fylan: 0-1

Portsmouth v Fulham: Portsmouth fans were overjoyed at the prospect of a mega-bucks new owner but with players leaving and few new faces it could be easy pickings for Fulham on the opening day.

Predictions: Paul Radford: 1-3; Miles Evans: 0-2; Mike Collett: 0-2; Mitch Phillips: 0-0; Patrick Johnston: 0-2; Owen Wyatt: 1-3; Simon Evans: 2-0; Kevin Fylan: 0-4

Stoke City v Burnley: Stoke offered Burnley the blueprint of how to survive last season but beginning your first top-flight campaign in 33 years without three first choice defenders through injuries is a bit unfortunate. James Beattie, who made an instant impact after joining Stoke in the January transfer window, must be looking forward to the opening day.

Predictions: Paul Radford: 1-1; Miles Evans: 3-1; Mike Collett: 1-1; Mitch Phillips: 0-0; Patrick Johnston: 3-0; Owen Wyatt: 1-0; Simon Evans: 1-1; Kevin Fylan: 2-3

Wolverhampton Wanderers v West Ham United: Wolves are back but how long will the yo-yo club survive this time? Mick McCarthy has a good track record of getting teams into the Premier League but surviving is another matter.  Gianfranco Zola managed a ninth place finish with West Ham last year despite money problems but can they push on?

Predictions: Paul Radford: 3-2; Miles Evans: 1-3; Mike Collett: 1-1; Mitch Phillips: 1-0; Patrick Johnston: 2-2; Owen Wyatt: 0-2; Simon Evans: 1-2; Kevin Fylan: 1-2

Everton v Arsenal: This is a tough ask first up for an Arsenal side without a big name signing but they do have a proud opening day record under Arsene Wenger and were leading scorers away from home last year. And Everton are struggling with injuries in attack and defence…

Predictions: Paul Radford: 0-1; Miles Evans: 0-1; Mike Collett: 2-1; Mitch Phillips: 1-1; Patrick Johnston: 0-2; Owen Wyatt: 0-3; Simon Evans: 0-0; Kevin Fylan: 1-1

Sunday:

Manchester United v Birmingham City: Cristiano Ronaldo is gone, so has Carlos Tevez, but United still looked pretty dangerous in the Community Shield last weekend. Birmingham’s promotion to the Premier League was built on a solid defence - but they didn’t have to face Rooney, Berbatov and Owen last year.

Predictions: Paul Radford:1-1; Miles Evans: 2-0; Mike Collett: 4-0; Mitch Phillips: 3-0; Patrick Johnston: 4-0; Owen Wyatt: 2-0; Simon Evans: 3-0; Kevin Fylan: 3-0

Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool: Liverpool begin life without Xabi Alonso, and with an injury crisis affecting their defence this could be an uncomfortable start. They lost at Spurs 2-1 last season, in Harry Redknapp’s first game, and you can bet Peter Crouch and Robbie Keane will be looking to prove a point.

Predictions: Paul Radford: 2-2; Miles Evans: 2-1; Mike Collett: 1-2; Mitch Phillips: 1-1; Patrick Johnston: 2-1; Owen Wyatt: 1-1; Simon Evans: 1-0; Kevin Fylan: 2-2

So go on then … give us your predictions.

(Mini-previews by Patrick Johnston)

PHOTO: Michael Ballack wins friends at the Community Shield, Wembley Stadium, August 9, 2009. REUTERS/Darren Staples

When Pablo Zabaleta signed for Manchester City this time last year he admits he wasn’t really expecting to be playing on the same team as Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor.

How times change. City are now being referred to as part of the “Big Five” in the Premier League and a Champions League qualifying place must be their target for the season.

Click on the video above to see Owen Wyatt chat to Zabaleta about the coming season.

We welcome comments on our blog site, and if you’re feeling more adventurous please feel free to leave your own video response. Upload it somewhere, send us a link and if we like it we’ll showcase it on our site.

There’s been a fair bit of speculation, here and elsewhere, about whether Manchester City could actually win the Premier League title but a more realistic goal is a top four finish. That being the case, the summer spending spree seen by some as being brash and uncoordinated is actually very shrewd.

Look carefully, and what City have managed to do, with the recruitment of Gareth Barry from Aston Villa and Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure from Arsenal, is to weaken two of their rivals for fourth place.

Last season Villa and Arsenal fought tooth and nail for that position and with his transfer policy Mark Hughes has struck an early couple of blows in this season’s fight.

Note that City also have their sights on defender Joleon Lescott from Everton, another team with Champions League aspirations.

Add to that the hugely satisfying signing of former Manchester United forward Carlos Tevez and there would seem to be a pattern to their spending spree — even if results are not yet going their way.

Liverpool’s Rafa Benitez may feel he got a good price for Xabi Alonso but he is in no danger of dislodging Arsene Wenger as the Premier League manager with the Midas touch.

Wenger has received criticism of late for not ‘spending big’ on replacements for departing first-teamers. He should be receiving credit for earning a huge pile of cash for players no longer in his plans. Does anyone in football generate as much money from transfers as Wenger?

The wily Frenchman has built a career on signing young prospects for small fees and selling them for gigantic ones when he feels the time is right.

Most recently Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure moved to Premier League rich boys Manchester City for a reported combined fee of 39 million pounds after being brought to Arsenal for much less.

They follow the likes of Nicolas Anelka, Emmanuel Petit, Marc Overmars, Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira in enjoying great success and form under Wenger before moving on to pastures new to the benefit of the Arsenal bank balance.

Success-starved Arsenal fans, frustrated by the absence of a trophy since the FA Cup in 2005, may look upon the departures of such players as a defeatist approach but Wenger has a bunch of hungry youngsters waiting to come in and yearning for success.

Between them they should be able to replace Toure, Adebayor and, if Everton get their wish, the Swiss defender Senderos, shouldn’t they?

LUCRATIVE SALE: Marc Overmars signs for Barcelona in July 2000, for a fee of more than $40 million. REUTERS/Gustau Nacarino

Fuelled by millions of petro-dollars from the apparently bottomless pockets of their Abu Dhabi owners Manchester City have spent the summer accumulating what is beginning to look, on paper anyway, a squad that will challenge for the title.

Significantly, the players bought by manager Mark Hughes are tried and tested in the Premier League which augurs wells for City’s chances of shaking up the established pecking order in English football.

Opposing managers must have watched with a growing sense of awe and no doubt a little envy as Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn Rovers), Carlos Tevez (Manchester United), Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal) joined to form a formidable looking strike force while defender Kolo Toure (Arsenal) was recruited to beef up the back four and England midfielder Gareth Barry signed from Aston Villa.

Consider the likes of Robinho, Craig Bellamy, Shaun-Wright Phillips, Wayne Bridge and Micah Richards, who were all part of last season’s team, and City already boast arguably the strongest squad in the Premier League with the transfer window nowhere near closing.

But can they win the league? Are the new recruits going to bridge the 40-point gap between champions Manchester United and City last season or eben the 20-odd extra points they will need to challenge for a Champions League spot.

Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill certainly thinks so.

“City might not be favourites to win the league, but they should be,” O’Neill said last week. “They have as good a chance as anybody of winning it.”

Vast riches are no guarantee to silverware but as Chelsea proved when Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003, factor in a coherent transfer policy and an astute coach and anything is possible.

It did not happen immediately at Stamford Bridge and it wasn’t until a year into the Abramovich reign that Claudio Ranieri was sacked, Jose Mourinho recruited and Chelsea won the league for the first time since 1955. Another title followed as Chelsea became the dominant force in English football for a while.

Man City are a similar size club to Chelsea, both in terms of support and history.

They have not won the league since 1968 and you have to go back to 1976 for their last major domestic silverware when they won the League Cup.

Should they fail to end that long wait this season Hughes would almost certainly pay with his job. There can be no excuses from Hughes this season. He has been given all he wants and no manager will be under the spotlight more than the Welshman.

It would be a major surprise if City are not challenging in or around the top four before long this season, though. Arsenal look particularly vulnerable to the new threat from the North West, while even champions Manchester United, minus star player Cristiano Ronaldo, will be keeping a close watch across the city.

Buying success may not be popular, unless you support the team in question, but it has been done before and watching City’s progress will be fascinating this season.

Just spare a thought for the other clubs who clawed their way to the fringes of the top four in recent seasons such as Villa and Everton.

O’Neill summed up the mood. “I’m deflated by it,” he said last week. “You think, ‘Well, you got quite close last year and suddenly another club has just stepped over you’. It kind of punctures you.”

So what do you think? Are Man City title contenders?

PHOTO: Emmanuel Adebayor (R) of Manchester City is challenged by Thomas Sweswe of Kaizer Chiefs at Loftus stadium in Pretoria, July 25,2009. REUTERS/Denvor de Wee

How long is the spending spree at Manchester City going to last and what implications will it have, asks Phakamisa Ndzamela.

City’s new owner Sheikh Mansour stands among men with the biggest war chests in England.

They have spent millions signing players like Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor, Roque Santa Cruz, Gareth Barry, Kolo Toure. The list goes on and the spending does not stop.

In a clear sign that purse strings are still loose, Everton rejected an improved 18 million pounds offer from City for defender Joleon Lescott, having turned down a 15 million bid two weeks ago.

For now the only thing that can stop the spending is when the transfer window closes next month.

Then what? Can the flurry of signings yield immediate results or will manager Mark Hughes be looking over his shoulder again after a lacklustre season?

PHOTO: Manchester City’s new signing Carlos Tevez and Roque Santa Cruz (L) shakes hands after a news conference at the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi July 16, 2009. REUTERS/Mosab Omar

Has John Terry got a bit big for his boots by questioning whether Chelsea’s ambition matches his own?

The defender and club captain said that was the reason for the delay in him nailing his colours to the Chelsea mast in the wake of Manchester City’s reported 200,000 pounds per week offer to take him away from Stamford Bridge.

Nothing to do with money. Nothing to do either with the fact that he has peaked as a player and with injuries niggling away at his joints, the England skipper is likely to find it more and more difficult to excel at the highest levels of the game.

Fans of the club will take some convincing that Terry still has his heart fully at the club despite his words to the contrary.

They might also argue that losing Mr Chelsea for an enormous fee to a club not even in the Champions League would have been a good piece of business and not the disaster some predicted.

Terry is still a world class defender but is certainly replaceable. He is no Cristiano Ronaldo after all. He will be one of the first names on Carlo Ancelotti’s team sheet as the new season kicks off but City are unlikely to have been totally put off the scent.

Terry said he hoped to have a good season and then sit down and talk to the club about a new deal….any loss of form, however, and club owner Roman Abramovich might just decide that Mr Chelsea is expendable after all.

PHOTO: Chelsea’s John Terry keeps his eyes on the ball as he falls on the pitch during the second half of their 2009 World Football Challenge soccer match against AC Milan in Baltimore, Maryland, July 24, 2009. Chelsea won 2-1. REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang

Manchester City are finally shopping at the luxury end of the market, as befits their status as the richest of the rich, and as a result the fans can start to get excited about the new season.

Back in January I blogged about the depressingly familiar rollcall of mediocre players being linked with City: the likes of Scott Parker, Roque Santa Cruz, Craig Bellamy and Matthew Upson.

I suggested they aim a bit higher and sure enough they went in at the nosebleed end of things with a bid for Kaka. As we all know, it didn’t come off, and no one of that quality came in in January, but with the arrival of Carlos Tevez (and to a lesser extent Gareth Barry, who was wanted so badly by Liverpool) things have changed.

Now Tevez is there, I’d expect more big names to follow. Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor may be among them, and there’s still an outside chance that John Terry could fellow.

Whether those moves come off or not, things are already looking up for City fans. The arrival of Tevez means they are players at last. Watch out Real Madrid!

PHOTO: Argentina’s striker Carlos Tevez smiles as he leaves after a training session at the squad’s camp on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, June 4, 2009. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci