Published: 7 August, 2014
by STEVE BARNETT

THE fantasy football leagues are back up and running, and Ray Winstone’s big head seems to be popping up on our screens even more than usual. Yes folks, the football season is almost upon us. 

Granted we had the World Cup to help try to break up our summer, but the truth is that it was just too far away to fill the void. Or perhaps it was the fact that England simply weren’t good enough to make us forget our clubs. 

So as Arsenal prepare to take on Manchester City in the traditional curtain raiser at Wembley on Sunday, I decided to be brave enough to put my predictions for the coming season in print. Feel free to cut this column out, and play my Gunner Goals Bingo – email me as you tick each one of my Gunner Goals off the list. 

GUNNER GOAL ONE: Wojciech Szczęsny will have a Christmas No 2 hit. A blunder or one of those red-card-resulting rash challenges he keeps in his locker will see the shot-stopper given plenty of time to practise his League Cup selfies as David Ospina becomes first choice. 

GUNNER GOAL TWO: Future captain Calum Chambers is given more time on the pitch than any of us expected. 

Arsene Wenger will flirt with the idea of making him the next Phil Jones (when he was good at Blackburn, not the cab-fare borrowing, short-changed player he’s turned into at United) by playing him as a defensive midfielder. The Saint will also be filling in during all of Mathieu Debuchy’s suspensions. 

GUNNER GOAL THREE: No matter who Arsene replaces him with, captain Thomas Vermaelen will be missed. When Barcelona and Manchester United are chasing a player, it’s safe to say it’s probably one you should keep. 

GUNNER GOAL FOUR: Remember those years Arsene was criticised for not having English players in the ranks? Well this season irony will be wearing a Gunners’ shirt when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain takes Jack Wilshere’s place in the centre of midfield. 

The Ox might be listed as a striker on the club’s website, but if I was Jack I would put the fags away, cover myself in bubble wrap and start reminding fans why I was once considered England’s next big hope. 

GUNNER GOAL FIVE: As the season progresses Santi Cazorla will play more and more like his heart is in Spain, raising the question should Arsene really have let Fabregas join Chelsea? 

GUNNER GOAL SIX: If “new-signing” Abou Diaby survives the season without getting injured he will join Juventus next summer (I want bonus points and Messiah-status if I’ve even managed to guess the right club!). 

GUNNER GOAL SEVEN: Joel Campbell will be a revelation, and then promptly leave after being allowed to reach the final 12 months of his contract. 

And GUNNER GOAL EIGHT: It will emerge that Yaya Sanogo used up 90 per cent of his goals quota for the season in the Emirates Cup win over Benfica. Alan Hansen will be seen on Match of the Day more times this season than Sanogo’s funky-swaying dance goal celebration.