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Premiership Betting: New signings Giovani, Modric and Bosingwa to star on the opening day of the Premiership

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"Mystical" Mike Norman looks into his crystal ball to see which of the Premierships' new signings will be shining for their respective clubs on the first day of the season. Not long now...

With the fixtures now announced, the build up to the new Premiership season is officially on. Fans up and down the country will be making notes in their diaries so that they can reject any wedding invitations on the day they host their fierce rivals.

It's a no brainer - Tottenham v Arsenal or your brother's wedding, United v City or the christening of your son? Football comes first.... end of!

So now you've pinned the fixtures to the wall and hatched a plan to cancel those important engagements, the only thing left until the big kick-off is to browse the net every hour to see which wonder kid your club have signed. Will he turn out to be an Ade Akinbiyi or a Zinedine Zidane, will he settle or will he go AWOL? Only the future holds the answers!

Last season was a poor one for Tottenham in the Premiership, and they've wasted no time in strengthening their squad with the addition of Giovani dos Santos and Luka Modric.

Giovani looks to be an excellent signing in my book. I first caught glance of him when watching the U-17 World Championship in which he was adjudged to have been the second best player of the tournament (behind Man Utd's Anderson). He can play either as an attacking midfielder or as a striker and is one of those players that will assist more than he scores. At just 19 he has a lot of pace and strength and the hustle and bustle of the Premiership shouldn't be a problem. The only worry I have for this Mexican international is that he is a young man living a long way from home. If he settles, he will be a big hit.

Anyone watching Euro 08, and Croatia in particular, can't fail to be impressed with the performances of Modric, who at £16.5m equals Tottenham's record transfer fee paid. Modric is a tremendous athlete who covers every blade of grass as he holds the midfield together. He is an excellent reader of the game, good at getting forward, even better at tackling, and could be just the player Spurs have been crying out for.

For me, the visit of Tottenham to Middlesbrough on the opening day of the season is a mouthwatering prospect - let's hope my beloved Boro have added similar quality by then. I'd expect Spurs to be trading around the [3.5] mark once the 'Winner w/o big 4' market takes shape and I reckon that's a cracking bet as I expect them to have a really good season.

One club who are certain to be active in the transfer market this summer is Chelsea, and under the influence of 'Big Phil' Scolari it's quite possible that we will see the likes of Deco and Ricardo Quaresma in a blue shirt. One Portuguese star already signed is defender Jose Boswinga, who joins the club from Porto in a deal worth in excess of £16m. He has looked solid and reliable in his few Euro 08 outings, and is sure to make the right-back slot his own at Chelsea, who kick-off their campaign at home to Portsmouth.

Chelsea are [3.2] to win the Premiership, just ahead of Arsenal ([6.6]) who host newly promoted West Brom when the new season commences. The Gunners have had more departures than arrivals so far, but in Aaron Ramsey they have an exciting prospect. The Welsh teenager's career at the Emirates could well resemble that of Theo Walcott however, and I'd be surprised if he breaks into the Arsenal first team within the next year.

With Manchester United entertaining Newcastle , Liverpool ([8.8] to win the title) are the only members of the 'big four' on their travels come the big kick-off. A trip to Sunderland will be a tough test, though with Philipp Degen (a free transfer from Borussia Dortmund) and Andreas Dossena (almost certain to join from Udinese) in their squad, Liverpool have certainly strengthened defensively.

Degen is a Swiss international who plays right-back and is described by Rafael Benitez as, "an offensive player with great energy and a winning mentality", while Dossena is a left-back and will become the first Italian international to play for Liverpool. I've seen little of them in action but would expect both to adjust well to the Premiership in the same style that most Europeans do.

Doubtless there will be many more new signings to report once Euro 08 is over, and here at Betfair we will do exactly that, but for the time being let's just marvel at what we've already got and look forward to Saturday August 16th when the 08/09 Premiership season starts.... that's just 61 days away you know!

Full list of first day fixtures;

Arsenal v West Brom
Aston Villa v Man City
Bolton v Stoke
Chelsea v Portsmouth
Everton v Blackburn
Hull v Fulham
Man Utd v Newcastle
Middlesbrough v Tottenham
Sunderland v Liverpool
West Ham v Wigan