Manchester United WILL Win the Premiership

After watching Manchester United's 2-2 draw against hosts Arsenal this Saturday, I was left with one clear impression: As I predicted before the season, Manchester United are the team to beat and will defend their Premiership title this season.

To be fair, Manchester United were the better side at the Emirates and if one team was going to win that game, it was going to be the Red Devils. Owen Hargreaves clearly wasn't even fully fit but still played well, Michael Carrick and Louis Saha are just getting back into form, and Nani didn't even play, but still Manchester United had pretty good control of the game. Ronaldo looked as dangerous as ever late in the game and as I've said before, Rooney and Tevez are the top striking duo in the Premiership, if not Europe.

On the other hand, you can argue all you like that Robin van Persie didn't play either and that his return from injury will make all the difference. Here's the thing: it won't. Arsenal are less-than-convincing up top; Adebayor is a very, very poor man's Kanu and doesn't have the ability to score goals against top teams when he's up front by himself, da Silva is barely worth mentioning, and Theo Walcott is more of a wing player anyway. I'm not sold at all on Almunia in goal, and when you combine him and Lehmann you have yourself a shaky combination on the best of days. Fabregas is bound to cool off; there simply is no way he maintains this goalscoring pace all year, there isn't any precedent for it in his history.

When I look at Arsenal, I see a team who has feasted off a relatively soft schedule to start the season and struggled when they've had to play tough competition. They didn't deserve to beat Fulham at home in the first game of the season, barely beat Sunderland at home, and picked up only ties on the road against Blackburn and Liverpool. They've played 7 home games already this season compared to just 4 away from the Emirates, and 2 of those away games were in London! Give me a break! They haven't proven themselves at all yet.

Manchester United went to Portsmouth and got a tie (and that was when they had injuries and suspensions galore), won at Everton, beat Chelsea at home, won at Aston Villa handily, and have now tied Arsenal on the road. United are the team who are going to enjoy the soft portion of their first-half schedule now and with the run of form they're on, even an Arsenal win at Old Trafford on April 12 won't be enough for the Gunners to catch the Red Devils, mark it down right now.

Glory Glory Man United!

Billy Davies Next to Go?

Let's face it, the Premiership is a business. In a business, it's expected of those in charge to produce results and if they don't, something has to be done about it.

Pundits across the world gave Derby County almost no chance to stay up this season; some went as far as to predict that the Rams would set a record for the fewest points ever in a Premiership season (Sunderland-15; two years ago). At this point in time the former certainly appears it will be true, and though at their current pace Derby will end up somewhere in the neighborhood of 18-20 points, that's just not good enough.

At some point in time, those in charge have to be held accountable and manager Billy Davies really isn't getting it done with Derby. His team has a goal differential of -21 after 12 games and have yet to score a goal on the road. Their only victory of the year came against perennial underachiever Newcastle and in all honesty, the Magpies were unlucky not to come out of that game with a point. They were knocked out of the Carling Cup in the second round at home against Championship newcomers Blackpool.

Even if ownership is resolved to the fact that they will be going down, it's important to not show this to the players and to make every effort to try and turn things around. Changing managers could inspire the team enough to snatch a few points in the run of upcoming games and in the long run, a point here, a point there may be the difference between the Premiership and Championship. Billy Davies simply isn't getting his message across to his players and when you look at the roster, they're a better team than they've showed thus far. You have to bring in a fresh face to get the most out of the players.

Billy Davies appears to be the odds-on favorite in the "sack race", though certainly you could make a case for Gareth Southgate as well. If you're going to change the manager at all, you have to do it before the situation gets completely out of hand and all hope is lost. If you're a Derby fan, you have to get this poor run of form nipped in the bud before you're condemned to life in the second tier of English soccer.

Goodbye, Chris Hutchings

Six consecutive losses and just 8 points from 12 league games forced Wigan chairman Dave Whelan to make a managerial change today as Chris Hutchings has been given the axe.

"This has been a very difficult decision for me and the board to make but I felt we had to act in the best interests of the club and its long-term future.

'Chris has worked very hard since becoming manager and I cannot fault either his effort or commitment to the cause. However, it is crucial for the development of Wigan that we maintain our Premier League status this season and following results and performances in recent matches, we feel it is critical to act now.

'My energies will now be fully focused on getting the right man, firstly to stop the decline we have suffered in the last two months or so, and secondly, to take us forward in the future," said Whelan in a statement.

Realistically, Wigan know they're in a fight for their Premiership lives and this move has the markings of one to give the team an immediate, short-term spark in a hope to turn the season around. I picked this team to finish 18th, the last relegation spot, and I stand by my prediction. Wigan don't have the players and don't have the money to go out and acquire much talent in the January transfer window. Their only hope is for teams like Middlesbrough and Bolton to keep struggling, as we all know Derby will finish last.

Former boss Paul Jewell has been linked to reclaim his old position in charge but he's too talented of a manager to be stuck with a team that's probably going to be relegated; Jewell would be idiotic to take this job. He's in a decent position to become England's next manager once Steve McLaren gets fired (and he inevitably will, sooner or later), and there will be more attractive domestic jobs out there than Wigan.