Spurs look set to beat Liverpool in battle of new managers.

A full scale rebuild is needed at Anfield and Spurs look poised
to finish above Liverpool once again, argues Hannah Duncan, as she
examines two big clubs under new management...

At the time of writing, we're a little under 48 hours away
from the new Premier League season. Now, we probably all say this year
after year, but how, just how, did that happen?

I don't think my heart rate's returned to normal yet from
Sergio Aguero's last minute goal to clinch the title and I'm pretty sure
I'm still holding my breath from Didier Drogba approaching the penalty
spot in Munich.

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But here we are again - via Euro 2012 and the London Olympics - it's like football's never been away!

Many of the biggest transfer stories over the summer have come on the managerial front.

Paul Lambert swapped Norwich for last season's strugglers
Aston Villa, Steve Clarke has stepped into the limelight at West Brom,
while Swansea have taken a gamble on Michael Laudrup.

But two of the most notable changes came at Liverpool and Tottenham, to varying degrees of surprise.

After sacking Kenny Dalglish following a poor league
campaign, in which the Reds once again finished outside of the Champions
League places and - perhaps less forgivably - behind Everton, Liverpool
looked to a promising young manager in the form of Brendan Rodgers.

Tottenham, meanwhile, parted company with Harry Redknapp and
hired Andre Villas-Boas - sacked from London rivals Chelsea in March
after a near disastrous tenure at Stamford Bridge.

Both are eyebrow raising appointments, but can they prove the sceptics wrong?

It's probably safe to say we can discard the odds on either
side winning the Premier League, but both are at a relatively fancied
10.0 on Betfair to lift either the FA Cup or Capital One Cup
respectively, while last season's FA and League Cup finalists Liverpool
are a decent bet at 20.0 to do the domestic cup double.

Despite having what can only be described as a 'shocker' at
Chelsea, Villas-Boas won't have the same atmosphere to contend with at
White Hart Lane as he did in west London. There's no prominent 'old
guard' to break up and there's far less in the way of player-power.

He's inherited a good young squad from Redknapp, with the
likes of Gareth Bale, Jake Livermore and Kyle Walker at his disposal -
and he's already made good signings in highly-rated Gylfi Sigurdsson and
Jan Vertonghen.

Despite a solid pre-season, where Spurs have lost just the
one game to Valencia, he still has his work cut out with the on-going
Luka Modric transfer saga to deal with, while Tottenham's strike force
leaves a fair bit to be desired.

Spurs are 3.0 for a top four finish, which may be a tough
ask for Villas-Boas's side, with Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester
City and even Arsenal - despite the loss of Robin van Persie - all
strengthening this summer, while Newcastle look set to hang on to some
key players.

At Liverpool, Rodgers really has to hit the ground running.
Roy Hodgson was barely given time to remove his coat before being shown
the door again, so there's likely to be little time to adjust for the
former Swansea manager, who's already admitted his transfer budget has
suffered due to a lack of Champions League football in recent seasons.

Like Villas-Boas, Rodgers has made a couple of decent
signings in Fabio Borini and Joe Allen, but Liverpool are in need of a
massive dressing room overhaul if they are to genuinely challenge for a
European place.

He's already started cutting the wage budget, with the likes
of Dirk Kuyt, Alberto Aquilani and Craig Bellamy all departing
Merseyside, but Liverpool fans will be hoping Rodgers can replicate his
time at Swansea in terms of getting the best out of players, especially
with the likes of Stewart Downing, Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson.

He's already had the benefit of competitive games leading
upto the start of the domestic season, having played two legs against FC
Gomel in Europa League qualifying. which they eased through as 4-0
aggregate winners, although they've suffered mixed results in their
pre-season friendlies.

In a developing market the Reds and Spurs both trade around
11.0 to win the Europa League, but Rodgers is new to the European scene
and their threadbare squad may struggle to compete on several fronts.

Overall, it looks to be a season of transition for both
sides and both managers will have to adjust quickly. But while Spurs
look to have a squad capable of another solid season, Liverpool may find
2012/13 another fraught with inconsistency, unless they loosen the
purse strings.