Frankly, the Blues are buzzing

Scolari has impressed everybody at the club since his arrival and has given the players the same sort of belief that Jose Mourinho instilled when he first came.

The Brazilian is a winner, is very astute tactically and understands that Roman Abramovich, and the fans, want to see entertaining as well as winning football.

He's been very calm and low key so far. But when the season kicks in, and the pressure is on, expect some fireworks either with the press or Sir Alex Ferguson.

Robbie Keane's signing will strengthen Liverpool, and Arsenal's youngsters will be one year older - and wiser - but it ' s still between Chelsea and Manchester United for the title. If Dimitar Berbatov does move to Old Trafford, he will only improve them even more and already I can't wait for when they clash on 21 September.

Scolari has some very difficult decisions to make this season with team selection as Chelsea have one of the strongest midfields in world football.

I know it's only been pre-season, and he won't get as much time on the ball as he's had in China and Russia, but Deco has been exceptional. He could be the type of player down the middle that we've not seen at the Bridge since Gianfranco Zola. He plays deeper than Franco did, but has already struck up a great relationship with Lampard.

Michael Essien, with the arrival of Bosingwa, won't be needed at right-back and will beat Jon Obi Mikel to the holding midfield role. Michael Ballack had a great campaign last time around and Joe Cole was rightly player of the season but it seems their places are not secure if Scolari decides to go with two strikers, especially if he signs Robinho.

Up front, Nicolas Anelka has been on fire in pre-season. He'll be begging Scolari to partner him with Didier Drogba once the Ivorian is fit and on current form he deserves his place.

Who knows how the Chelsea boss will set his team out once everyone is fit? One thing is for sure is that it will be four at the back which pretty much picks itself. With Alex, Wayne Bridge and Paulo Ferreira in reserve at the back and Shaun Wright-Phillips, Florent Malouda and Salomon Kalou further forward, Chelsea have the strongest squad in the Premier League.

It was a massive disappointment to lose the Champions League Final back in May. But it's been two years now since the Blues lifted the League title and that's where the priority lies.

John Terry has already said so. United deserved to win it last season but I believe it will be Chelsea's captain who will be raising it this time around. And, I hope, the Champions League too.

Meanwhile, ex-Gunner Martin Keown believes that Arsenal can be title contenders if Arsene Wenger recruits a new midfield enforcer.

The key to Arsenal's season will be signing a new experienced midfielder as soon as possible and then getting off to a flying start.

The Gunners have every chance of sprinting to a five or six-point lead by Christmas because it is quite conceivable that they could win their first six matches - against West Brom, Fulham, Newcastle, Blackburn, Bolton and Hull - while Manchester United are wrestling with trickier opposition like Portsmouth, Liverpool and Chelsea, all away.

But having lost so much experience with the departures of Gilberto, Mathieu Flamini and Alexander Hleb, Arsenal fans need to see who is going to fill that void. Denilson could be one.

Abou Diaby, although he is missing the start of the season with a thigh strain, could be another and £12million signing Samir Nasri has been bought as a direct replacement for Hleb.

These players still have to prove themselves, though, so it was heartening to hear Arsene Wenger talking yesterday about bringing some reinforcement in before the transfer window closes.

When I was playing for Arsenal, we suffered something similar and had to face the loss of some big names - Patrick Vieira, obviously, and Marc Overmars; later it was Thierry Henry. So Arsenal fans will be disappointed to lose their latest stars but this means Wenger's record of taking young unknowns and turning them into superb players will need to be relied upon again.

It may be, despite all the financial constraints, that he is able to perform that near miracle once more.

Without doubt, Theo Walcott will play a big part of Arsenal's future and that game against Liverpool in the Champions League quarter-final - the amazing run which ended with a goal - was the moment we had all been waiting for.

Unfortunately, he didn't get the credit he deserved because the goal was lost in ultimate defeat. But this, I feel, will be the year he consolidates his position in the team. Nicklas Bendtner could also become a regular this term. Now is the time for these young guns to turn into men. It is also important for Wenger that Emmanuel Adebayor performs after his on-off transfer saga.

Now the speculation circus is over and we can get back to reality.

There will be agitation amongst the fans and a little bit of a backlash against Adebayor and other players, like Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Barry, who intimated they wanted to leave their clubs this summer.

Last season, Arsenal's squad proved not to be strong enough to win the Premier League. Injuries to key players at vital times of the season was too big a burden for an inexperienced squad to carry.

Much was made of the William Gallas incident after the game against Birmingham and the message it sent out to the football world, but, up until that point, the captaincy had inspired him.

He wasn't the same player following that incident and with the spotlight on him for the remainder of the season, his performances came up short. But I feel certain, having been given the captaincy again, Gallas will not make the same mistakes.

This year, however, even though Arsenal will continue to entertain, they will need to deploy a more cutting edge and ruthless streak in front of goal if they are going to overtake United and Chelsea at the top.