A season of two halves and it is not even half time yet

Heading into the traditional busy Christmas period for football, seems a good time to look at what's happened so far in the Premiership.

For DWS's head of distribution and sales, Andy Clark, it's been a bit of a roller coaster season already.

As an Arsenal supporter the season started in the same way the previous one did, with the team's fantastic fluent football destroying the opposition, and the team's unbeaten run in the Premiership continuing.

All that changed after Arsenal lost to Man United in what the tabloid newspapers later dubbed the Battle of the Pizzas, after pizza was allegedly thrown at United manager Sir Alex Ferguson after the game by an Arsenal player.

The game seemed to mark a turning point in the season, with the invincibles of Highbury being overtaken by the millionaires of Stamford Bridge, Chelsea.

Andy says: 'To coin a footballing cliché, it has been a season of two halves already - and the season isn't even half way through yet. "Arsenal started off the season like a steam train, and the bookies had almost started paying out bets on them winning the Premiership already.

"Chelsea by contrast were grinding out 1-0 wins in a boring way, a bit like Arsenal under George Graham in the 1980s and 1990s.

"Then suddenly Arsenal lose to Man United, in a game they didn't deserve to lose, and they go through a very stick patch.

"Chelsea not only catch them in the league and go five points ahead, they started to play attractive flowing football thanks to the arrival of Arjen Robben.

"It's been a unique season in that sense already."

After the fixtures last weekend (Saturday and Sunday 18th and 19th December) the clubs will still not quite be half way through the 38 game Premiership season.

Andy adds: "I think one thing is clear, that the title race is going to be a two horse race - Arsenal and Chelsea.

Everton

"With all due respects to Everton, every season there is a Bolton-type side, one which plays way above expectations, and starts to flirt with a European place before falling away. This season it is Everton, in the past it has been the likes of Bolton and Charlton.

"David Moyes has been very circumspect about what the team can and cannot achieve, although after they beat Liverpool in the Merseyside derby he started entertaining talk of Europe.

"If you look at the number of games they have won 1-0, you'd have to say this couldn't carry on if you were a betting man. They have a very mean defence which is obviously helping but they are also not scoring many goals. Of the sides in the top half of the Premiership, only Charlton have scored less goals than Everton." Clark expects the usual 'suspects' to be contesting the rest of the European places by the end of the season.

Man United

"I expect Man United to be up there, but not realistically challenging for the Premiership title. I said at the start of last season, I didn't feel they had really bought that well and replaced players like Beckham, and I still think that's the case.

"The players they have bought have started to bed in this season when they are all fit, but I still think compared to Arsenal and Chelsea they do not have enough high quality players throughout the team.

"United should make the Champions league, with the fourth place between Liverpool and Newcastle."

Liverpool

If Liverpool don't make it then that is likely to heighten speculation about the future of the club's captain, Steven Gerrard.

According to Clark: "Gerrard is the one player both Chelsea and Arsenal would both like to have, so you could say we both have a bit of an interest in Liverpool failing to qualify for the Champions League.

A bidding war would then start for Gerrard. He would be brilliant at Arsenal, but I guess Chelsea supporters would love him as well."

Aston Villa

Another major focus for Clark and DWS this season, is Aston Villa, since the group entered into its sponsorship of arguably the biggest club in the Midlands, but also one of the original founders of the Football League. As manager David O'Leary points out the club, despite being one of the sleeping giants of English football, is hampered by having one of the smallest squads in the Premiership.

The team has been hit hard by injuries this season and the January transfer window is the time when the club will look to add a few players to the squad.

The club has been linked with a number of players, not least of which is Southampton striker James Beattie. Aston Villa reputedly had bids in the region of £6m for the England striker turned down in the summer, and there has been much speculation that they will go back and bid again in January.

O'Leary is too circumspect to comment on another club's players in public and new Southampton Harry Redknapp has said he feels the club would be mad to sell Beattie in January when they are so close to the bottom of the league.

Clark, now a regular watcher of Villa games, says: "David O'Leary and the players have done exceptionally well, given the tight resources and injury list they have had so far this season.

"But the club is on an excellent footing, and there is the foundation to take the team and the club forward. "If they can sign a couple of players in January to strengthen the squad, it will give them to impetus to have an even stronger second half to the season.

"A good run could take them into Europe via the Uefa cup. That place is always up from grabs for anyone of half a dozen sides, such as Everton, Bolton, Middlesboro, Spurs, and Charlton, and I see no reason why Aston Villa can't emerge from that pack to take that place."

Clark is also hopeful that Aston Villa can have a good FA Cup run. One of the reasons Villa are referred to as a 'big' club is because of its record in the FA Cup. The club has won the cup seven times and been runners up four times, a performance only bettered by the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United among others.

Clark says: "Villa are a good cup side, and it will be five years in May since they last made the FA Cup Final, so I think they are due a decent run. The tournament has become a little predictable in recent years with the dominance of the clubs like Arsenal and Manchester United, but with these teams plus Liverpool and Chelsea all in the knock-out stages of the Champions League, it could be a season when the winners comes from outside the usual clubs.

"We'll be keeping our fingers crossed it's Villa's year, because we'd love to see the DWS name at the Millennium Stadium!"

Relegation candidates

At the bottom end of the Premiership, it's much harder to call which three clubs will face the drop, according to Clark.

He says: "I think West Brom are down already. It is going to take Bryan Robson a bit of time to turn things around, and they're biggest problem is scoring goals on a regular basis.

"After that I think Blackburn look like another strong contender. I'm not sure what has gone wrong there, but the club has gone from being a contender for Europe a couple of seasons ago to really struggling. It would be ironic if two ex-Manchester United players, Robson and Mark Hughes, Blackburn managers, get relegated in the same season."

Does that mean Villa's bitter Midlands rivals, Birmingham, managed by another ex-United player Steve Bruce, could follow?

"I do not think so, " says Clark. "Bruce will probably spend a bit of money in January, and I think they will hang on. It is always said there is one surprise relegation side each season. I think this year it could be Manchester City.

"There is a lot of speculation that their main striker Anelka going to Barcelona is January.

"If that was the case it would leave them a bit short of fire power and they are not exactly scoring a lot of goals already this season.

"They looked like they were going to drop last season, and were probably only saved by tightening up their defence at the end of the season, which is ironically not what Kevin Keegan teams are known for. So I think Man City could be the surprise package of the season on that front."

You could follow the season with Andy Clark's comments and thoughts throughout the year in the pages of Investment Week, plus win tickets to Aston Villa matches on a regular basis.

Lawrence Gosling is publishing director of Football First, the national sunday football paper.