The transfer of an oft-injured back-up is not usually something that warrants its own space, but when two of the league’s elite are involved, it’s worth a note.

Mikael Silvestre was one of the longest tenured Red Devils, having been with the club since his move from Inter Milan almost ten years ago.  In recent years, the 31-year-old center/left back has been an infrequent contributor.  Injuries and the acquisition of players like Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra have cut into his playing time.  Though he saw some time at the end of last season, Silvestre was losing traction on United’s depth chart and looked unlikely to get playing time.

He had been rumored with moves all summer, but loan agreements with AS Roma and Bordeaux could not be worked out.  This week, it surfaced that Silvestre was on the verge of a move across town to Mancehster City.  Then Arsene Wenger swooped.  Arsenal hijacked Manchester City’s target, wtih Silvestre having to call City to apologize for being so close to a deal yet having to withdraw his interest in the face of an opportunity to join Arsenal.

It did not take long for Wenger and Alex Ferguson to work out a rare transfer.  Wenger joined Arsenal in 1996, and this is his first deal with United.  Ferguson joined United in 1986. and this is his first deal with Arsenal.  The last deal between the two clubs was in 1974!

Silvestre’s role with Arsenal is unclear, though with the Gunners slightly less set in the middle of their defence than United, Silvestre may see a few more games in London than at Old Trafford.  With these two clubs unlikely to do business again anytime soon, Silvestre will not have to play to become the new answer to a trivia question.

One of the stranger transfers of recent memory?  Tell us your thoughts.  Gunners fans:  where does Silvestre fit in?

Striker Djibril Cisse found himself on the bench this weekend as Marseille rolled through Auxerre, 4-0.  The benching was a mild surprise, given Cisse was Marseille’s leading scorer last season.  But with Mamadou Niang and Bakari Koné play well as a duo, Cisse’s benching seemed tactically viable.

Now it appears there may be another reason for Cisse being excluded from the lineup, one derived from the striker’s desires to move back to England.

Today Marseille announced that the former Liverpool player will join Sunderland on a season long loan.  Cisse will fill the striker void Roy Keane has been trying to address since Kenwyne Jones hurt his knee in May.  Cisse will give the Black Cats a number nine who can play with El-Hadji Diouf up top.

Cisse had been seeking a move back to England, as his wife is British.  With him being out of the starting lineup this weekend, Cisse renewed his request of club president Pape Diouf for a move.  Diouf, on the club’s website, said that after coach Erik Gerets had Cisse out of the lineup for the Auxerre match, he would not stand in the way of Cisse moving.

Diouf said hat Marseille had also talked to Manchester City about a move, but after this weekend he quickly finalized a deal with Sunderland.  The Black Cats, coming off a strong albeit losing showing against Liverpool on Saturday, will add some much needed scoring potential to the squad.

Cisse scored 22 goals in 50 games last season for Marseille, helping the team to a third place finish in Ligue 1.  His last season in the Premier League was 2005-06 when he scored 17 goals in 58 games for Liverpool.  He moved from Anfield to Marseille after seeing his playing time decrease toward the end that season.

For all you EPL or Ligue 1 fans out there, what do you think?  Is this a good move for Marseille?  And how much of an impact will this have on Sunderland’s season?

Manchester United fans may want to bemoan their club’s inability to get three points in their opener at Old Trafford, but solace can be found 930 miles to the southeast, where another storied European club was held to a tie in the home opener of their title defense.

Without three of their best players, FC Bayern Munich held on for a 2-2 victory over Hamburger SV in the Bundesliga opener on Friday,. Munich was playing without leading scorer Luca Toni, German Footballer of the Year Franck Ribery, or their best defender, Martin Demichelis. In other words: It happens.

The Red Devils got the benefit of Newcastle playing without their captain, Michael Owen, but Manchester United were still without Cristiano Ronaldo (injury, long-term), Carlos Tevez (bereavement), Nani (suspension), Anderson (Olympics), and Owen Hargreaves (injury) - all players that would have been expected to contribute in attack. That they were still able to create more and better opportunities throughout the match should be encouraging to Alex Ferguson and his supporters.

The lack of a cutting edge was, however, noticeable. Wayne Rooney played the whole match, whereas he was once thought to be out recovering from an illness acquired in Africa, but he lacked his world-class form, and it was evident when he was unable to make himself dangerous with the ball at his feet around the box. Frazier Campbell had three strong chances and should have had a goal early, but Manchester United’s only goal came when Darren Fletcher, two minutes after Newcastle went ahead off an Obafemi Martins header, guided a Ryan Giggs cross into the net. It was Fletcher’s way of evening the scales after he left Martins alone for a goal off a Magpies’ corner. After twenty-four minutes, the match had it final score.

Giggs was United’s best player during his sixty minutes on the pitch, a good news-bad news proposition for the Devils. The good news is the legendary left winger, who is thought to be in his final season at Old Trafford, looks able to contribute, where many had wondered what he had left in the tank. The bad news for Manchester United is that he was their best player, something (at best) peculiar for a European championship team. It was one example of how Manchester United’s injuries and absences had taken a toll on the pitch.

The injuries for the champions were not limited to before the match. Michael Carrick, who had been named to Fabio Capello’s England national team for Wednesday’s friendly against the Czech Republic, left with an ankle injury and will be out for three weeks. He has been replaced by Tottenham’s Jermaine Jenas for Wednesday, but with Owen Hargreaves still suffering from knee problems, it’s unclear Ferguson will be able to replace his holding midfielder as easily.

Ryan Giggs was not substituted because of age, form or fatigue; rather, he also suffered an injury and had to be removed. At the 2/3 mark of the match, Giggs left the match with a right hamstring injury which will also see him sidelined around three weeks. Late in the second half, center back Nemanja Vidic injured his knee with a supreme effort to get his head on a corner kick. The ball ended up going off the crossbar, and Vidic finished with a noticeable limp after hurting his right knee.

At the end of the match, names like Campbell, Rafael de Silva, and Rodrigo Possebon joined reserves like Fletcher and John O’Shea in United’s side, and while it was a team that was still able to trouble a Newcastle side that played over the last fifteen minutes as if to preserve their point, it was not enough to get a second goal. Newcastle’s two Argentinian imports saw to that.

The Magpies came into the season as the Premiership’s worst returning defense, but summer acquisitions Jonas Gutierrez (right midfield) and Fabricio Coloccini (center back) had a huge impact in preventing the champions’ a second goal. Gutierrez was the match’s best player, having a unparalleled activity rate between the boxes, an adept defensive sense that broke up many Red Devil attacks, and a couple of moments in attack that made him mildly dangerous. Coloccini was active in the middle of the back line - a rangy, physical presence who was frequently finding ways to disrupt the home side’s attack. Those two additions made a profound difference between the Newcastle that finished last season and the team that took a point from Olf Stafford on Sunday.

For Manchester United, the draw stings only because of what happened earlier in the day at Stamford Bridge. In isolation, the draw is defensible, but on the same day that Chelsea put up a 4-0 domination of Portsmouth, the draw becomes a source of worry. Again here, United can look to Germany, where Munich’s draw against Hamburg was made the more worrisome when Schalke 04, the Bundesliga’s third place team last season, dominated Hannover on Saturday. From a distance, it is difficult to convince the casual Bundesliga fan that Munich’s fortunes changed so much after two matches. With the distance of a couple of rounds of the Premiership going by, we will probably be looking on Sunday’s results with the same refrain.

In other words: it happens.

The article’s headline does not do justice to the performance Chelsea side turned in Sunday during the Luiz Felipe Scolari’s managerial debut. Against Portsmouth, the FA Cup holders who have been tabbed to challenge for European football, the Blues posted a 4-0 win, a score that undersells how convincing they were.

Chelsea nullified the striking duo of Peter Crouch and Jermaine Defoe, exposed a completely undermanned Pompey midfield, and showed no reverence for the respected Portsmouth defense. Harry Redknapp’s side, for their part, did not play especially poorly. Save a couple of David James curiosities, there was little the visitors could do to slow down the Blues. As Roman Abromovich applauded from the stands upon seeing the first returns on his investment, a new, clear Premier League favorites were crowned.

That crown, however long it stays at Stamford Bridge, sits firmly on the head of Deco. Chelsea’s one high-profile summer acquisition was the man of the match, providing an absolutely scary display of distribution for a team that had lacked a true midfield playmaker in season’s past. Chelsea has had Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack, and Micheal Essien, all of whom are world-class players, but they have been without somebody like Deco, whose immediate utilization of the hyper-active Joe Cole looks to be a potent (and annoying) combination. With somebody like Cole willing to work for him, Deco could unseated Cesc Fabregas as the league leader in assists.

If Deco was the man of the match, Cole was not far off, giving a performance that makes all the rumors of a Robinho acquisition seem ludicrous. Off an adroit pass from Michael Ballack (a one-touch punch off the outside of his foot that found Cole bursting past the line), Cole open’s Chelsea’s book just past the ten minute mark. It was the type of play that could only come from two, world class players who have played together as often as Ballack and Cole. The moment Portsmouth gave the ball away to Ballack’s feet, Cole was bursting past Sylvain Distin. Ballack put him in alone on James.

Unlike the Chelsea FC of last season, this club did not rest on its laurels. The second goal from Niclas Anelka, a header from a ball popped-up in front of the goal line while David James was out for a walk, was the result of constant pressure. Rather than attack on turnovers, Portsmouth seemed to exhale in relief when Chelsea gave up the ball. Without any talent in midfield that could compete with Deco, Ballack, Lampard and Jon Obi Mikel, Pompey was left parrying attacks throughout the first half. They needed Pedro Mendes. They needed Sulley Muntari. They needed some midfield help, and they needed it help more Chelsea pressure helped created a penalty kick off a hand ball just before half time. Lampard’s first goal of the season put Chelsea up 3-0 at half.

It was a scary, relentless performance that hinted at a sea change at Stamford Bridge. The Chelsea players finally seem convinced at how good they are. In this window before Arsenal’s youth matures, Chelsea has the most talented collection of players in the league (and have had for years). Scolari seems to realize this and has encouraged the players to show their skills. The fluid football the Blues showed in their China tour and during their two matches in Moscow at the Russian Railways Cup was still on display Sunday. Just like in the preseason, Chelsea’s players looked to be having fun, challenging themselves to play beautiful and (to Abramovich’s pleasure) exciting football.

Even at match’s end, when Pompey had conceded they had no chance to dent Chelsea’s armor, the team’s ambition was on display, with Deco putting a 30 meter shot past James while Portsmouth’s back line stood back, shell-shocked. As he left the field, Deco shook his teammates’ hands while his teammates shook their heads at him. Deco’s arrival may have changed everything in the Premiership, and it took two months for us to realize it.

Harry Redknapp needs midfield reinforcements, but will be hard for him to take too much from this match. Even before stepping onto the pitch, everybody know Portsmouth was short of Chelsea’s class. The question everybody has as Pompey leaves London: Is anybody in the same class as this Chelsea club?

That’s how impressive the Blues were.

For a fanbase desperate for some team, any team to unseat one of the Premiership’s Big Four, Tottenham was a beacon of hope. Over the summer ,the other North London club has been linked with seemingly every wantaway player in Europe, casting hopes and wishes into the minds of those hoping Liverpool could be brought back to the league. But for all those picking Tottenham to crack the cartel at the top of the table, Saturday at the Riverside proved a rude awakening.

It was a fair result, 2-1, beyond just Middlesbrough outplaying Spurs. If anything, the 2-0 scoreline posted before Tottenham’s late, resigning goal was more just. Though not dominant, Boro controlled the entire match and truly looked the better team, sending notice to a league fanbase that had overlooked Gareth Southgate’s young squad while swooning over Spurs and Portsmouth. From the opening lineups, when it was known Dimitar Berbatov would not be playing, when you could make a side-by-side comparison of the teams, you could see how the same Tottenham back line that was so porous last season, Darren Bent as their lead striker, and a couple of unremarkable names in the midfield made for a club not so much different from Southgate’s, who nobody is picking to make the top four.

On the pitch, there were stark differences. Middlesbrough was able to control the middle of the field, rendering Luka Modric practically invisible. Whereas Middlesbrough’s defense was efficient in dealing with the few challenges Bent and Giovani Dos Santos provided, Tottenham’s defense showed no improvement over last season. Middlesbrough scored two goals but had other good opportunities. It was only poor finishing from Afonso Alves that kept the Brazilian from multiple goals. Stewart Downing outplayed David Bentley, and David Wheater added to his growing reputation as Middlesbrough showed they may have the best players of the two teams. The Modric having an off-day and Berbatov on the sidelines for most of the match, Southgate’s stars were shining brighter on Saturday.

This was not just a one goal loss on the road, something that would be forgivable for almost any club in the Premiership. Tottenham did not play Middlesbrough to within a goal. Their late tally masks the fact that they were rarely dangerous, and in the second half, when Middlesbrough turned the screws, Spurs had no means of responding. When Dimitar Berbatov came on the pitch Tottenham’s attack started show the fluidity Juane Ramos wants. But aside from those twenty minutes, they did not threaten.

That is not to say they won’t. Switching David Bentley to the left side using his brilliant right foot to put the ball on as opposed to across the net is an inspired choice from Ramos. Berbatov’s skill makes the team noticeably more dangerous as the speed of Modric and Dos Santos can play off the big target man. Bent becomes viable when playing off Berbatov. If Spurs keep the Bulgarian and convince him to play, there attacking problems will be solved.

And they will need to solve those problems if they are to compete. I’m talking about Middlesbrough here, not Liverpool. Middlesbrough can be a top ten team, and they played as such on Saturday. If Alves can finish a bit better and the team (especially the goalies) can learn as the year progresses, Boro will be good.

Tottenham needs to worry more about how they are going to beat the Middlesbroughs of the world than how they are going to execute any Big Four attack plans. With Dimitar Berbatov lost, whether by transfer or by psychology, the top of the table is as far away as it was in May.

Some will think Gretar Steinsson’s better, but Fernando Torres’ game winning goal against Sunderland has the benefit of being unambiguously intentional - a laser from just outside the box in the 83rd minute that was beyond Craig Gordon seemingly before he could leap. Off an innocuous build-up in a match that Liverpool and Sunderland has played somewhat even, Torres gave his fans another reason to think him the best player in the world. He took a performance that was by-the-book, recent vintage Liverpool - uninspiring, playing down to their opponents, potentially leaving points on the field - and salvaged the weekend with a win.

Given what happened Wednesday (a 0-0 draw in the first leg of Liverpool’s Champions League tie against Belgium’s Standard Liege), Torres salvaged the club’s week. Given what happened this summer (famously failing to get Gareth Barry), Torres may have salvaged the team’s last two months by finally giving LFC fans something to cheer. Given the subtle whispers that have started humming about Rafa Benitez’s status with the club, Torres may have temporarily unplugged the rumor mill.

But Benitez did not look his normal, confident self on the sidelines today. He seems legitimately concerned that his talented roster had so much trouble. The Reds tied against the champions from Belgium, and against Sunderland - a lower-half team without their biggest scoring threat - they were played surprisingly even.

In typical Liverpool fashion, they granted their opponents very few opportunities. Aside from some heart-starting miscues from Sami Hyppia and Andrea Dossena (miscues that made Liverpool backers thankful for the presence of Jamie Carragher), Sunderland were not afforded opportunities. At the same time, Liverpool showed almost no ambition in attack, allowing almost the same stalwart description to be applied to Sunderland’s defense. The difference, of course, is that the Reds have Torres, Steven Gerrard and Robbie Keane. Liverpool should expect more of themselves.

The continued inability of Benitez to get his team to play to their talent level has to be the first charge in his indictment, a charge that looked all the more valid when you consider what Roy Keane is working with. Against one of the eight or ten most talented teams in the world, Keane assembled a collection of cast-offs and still almost salvaged a point. The Black Cats played tight and smart, but they did not bring out the bus. They did try to score, if they weren’t exactly ambitious. When you have players like Andy Reid in your starting XI, there’s only so ambitious you can be.

What would Roy Keane be able to do with Liverpool’s talent? It’s almost a scary question to ask, and there seems little doubt he would do more than Benitez has. And because Benitez was matched-up with Keane today and barely salvaged a point, it is as if the Spaniard lost, though his team got three points. For eighty-three minutes, Liverpool let Sunderland play even with them. If, on the season’s opening day and three days after an slightly embarrassing result in Belgium, Benitez can not get his players to be the dominant force their talent dictates, then will Liverpool ever play the consistently great football it will take to challenge for the league title?

Saturday’s match gave us every reason to believe Roy Keane’s growing reputation well-earned. He appears to be on the verge of taking the Tottenham cast-offs he has acquired and making them into a team that might rise to the middle of the table. On Saturday, they looked as good or better than half the teams in the league.

Benitez, on the other hand, is forcing followers to ask questions. It is only one game, and Liverpool could still go on to have a great season. Yet, the match was so incredibly emblematic of every criticism leveled at Benitez over the last few seasons. If they can not show better in matches like today’s, when will they show?

Hopes that Fulham would carry momentum from last season’s miracle finish were squashed today. Opening their Premiership campaign at recently promoted Hull City, Fulham was without the urgency that saved them from relegation in May. Though the Cottagers got an eighth minute goal when Seol Ki-Hyeon put his head to the end of a Jimmy Bullard cross, Fulham was always behind the play. Phil Brown had his Tigers prepared for their debut, and they carried an intesity throughout the match that Fulham could not match.

Hyeon’s goal could have been enough to quell Hull’s opening day aspirations. The circumstances surrounding it were disheartening. Moments after a great Mark Schwarzer save kept a sharp Geovanni header from opening scoring in the Tigers’ favor, Bullard was given enough time on the right flank to pick his spot. His cross was nothing special, but - hard working Hyeon was able take advantage of a slightly out of position Michael Turner in the middle of Hull’s defense. Hyeon’s ball was not as strong as the one Geovanni had saved, but it was enough to give the Cottagers a lead.

Hull could have taken the goal as a sign that their best would not be good enough, even against the last team to stay in the Premiership. The Tigers, however, persisted, creating the better chances while preventing Fulham from building a consistent attack. Fulham’s few possessions were defined by attempts at long balls targeting Bobby Zamora, not the ideal target man. Hull, on the other hand, was creating quality chances.

The hosts finally broke through with a magnificent left-footed strike from Geovanni in the 22nd minute, the effects of which could be seen draped across the coach’s faces for the rest of the half. Hull manager Phil Brown remained composed in orchestrating a team which had been sharp and persistent from the get-go. Fulham’s Roy Hodgson, on the other hand, looked worried, knowing his team would need to improve if they were to keep pace. It was a sad commentary on the state of Fulham FC. Against a team playing their first-ever Premiership match, their manager was left worrying within the first thirty minutes.

Through the mid-point and into the second half, each team played with ambition, though Hull continued to have the better of the play. John Plantsil was a highlight at the back right for Hodgson’s team, providing a physical presence and some ambition. But the other Cottagers were unremarkable, especially in comparison to a series of Hull players who played as if determined to make history. Anthony Gardner, Nick Barmby, Ian Ashbee, George Boateng and Ricardo Garcia all distinguished themselves, continuing to stifle Fulham’s attack while giving Brede Hangeland all he could handle at Fulham’s back.

It was Geovanni, though, who starred. Though he failed to distinguish himself for Manchester City last season, Geovanni’s signing raised some eyebrows this summer, providing Hull was an unexpected injection of skill. Today, Geovanni cast doubt on why Manchester City let him go. Beyond the two excellent chances Geovanni created in the first quarter of the match, the Brazilian midfielder, who at the onset played as a kind of supporting striker for Marlon King, continued to threaten Fulham. He was the most dangerous player on the pitch, and until he assumed a slightly deeper role after Phil Brown brought in two new strikers, Geovanni was continuously in Fulham’s area.

The switch came in the 62nd minute when Brown brought offseason purchase Peter Halmosi in for Barmby. It was the first of three changes in Brown which continued to bring more attacking players on the pitch. His approach was the opposite of Hodgson’s, who seemed to be trying to make it to full time with the point his team was in position to earn. By the middle of the second half, Fulham was noticeably less ambitious, brought almost no attack to the match, yet Hodgson went without a change.

The coach’s inactivity would cost him shortly after he swapped Zamora for Clint Dempsey. A ball played at left back Paul Konchesky was botched by the defender. The Fulham back was moved off the ball by substitute Craig Fagan. With Konchesky haven fallen to his back, Fagan rolled a pass through the box for Caleb Folan (pictured). The final Hull City substitute side-footed the winner past a sprawling Fulham defender.

The cheer of the crowd at the final whistle will be a highlight of the weekend. The city which had never had a club in the top flight of English football realized the moment. Their club, having played the match as if to make history, had provided the memory.

Fulham was never able to match that intensity. As a result, the Cottagers will not only find themselves at the bottom of the table after one week, but they will have let slip away the chance to get some points away from home, an opportunity which they may come to rue if they end up battling Hull nine months from now.

Arsenal opened the season with an unimpressive 1-0 victory over West Brom Albion, holding a one goal lead for 86 minutes after Samir Nasri scored minutes after making his Premiership debut.

Nasri was one of Arsenal’s best players, but the summer acquisition was not as dominant as some post-match summaries have described. The only player on the pitch who was close to dominant was Arsenal left back Gael Clichy, who continues to make his case as being the best left back in the world.

Nasri’s fourth minute goal was the result of some sharp play up the left side from Clichy and midfielder Denilson. Clichy played a ball towards the touch line, right of goal. Denilson sped through the box to put a ball back to the trailing Nasri for an easy goal when West Brom’s center backs failed to read the play in time.

For the rest of the match (save some flash in possession in towards the end), Nasri was indistinguishable from the rest of Arsenal’s club, a team that showed little desire to secure the match after being foiled in their deliberate attacks during the initial twenty minutes. After West Brom weathered an opening onslaught, through which they looked utterly star-struck, Arsenal barely threatened. They were still ambitious in their play, but they rarely tested WBA netminder Scott Carson.

Much of Arsenal’s ineffectiveness could again be placed at the feet of Emmanuel Adebayor, though the Togoan striker was not bad. In fact, he was the defining aspect of a Gunner attack that constantly fed through balls between WBA right back and right-center back. Adebayor exploited that slot, established a left-side attack that was bolstered by Clichy, but always seemed to do one, subtle mscue to prevent Arsenal from having a real opportunity. Often he was too conservative, making a meaningless pass instead of shooting. Other times he read the play wrong or gave away a good opportunity with a bad touch. For every nice piece of skill or athleticism he exhibited - and there were plenty of those - there was a touch that would remind you of last season and all the complaints Gunners’ backers held in April and May.

More than mere decision-making problems, Adebayor missed two chances that you would expect a striker of his stature to convert. Arsenal should have put more distance between them and Albion, and Adebayor is the main reason why they did not.

The Gunners played without Cesc Fabregas and elected not to start Robin van Persie or Kolo Touré. Arsene Wenger was clearly confident in his side’s ability to get three points in their home opener. Albion, however, showed why they look to avoid the drop. They were overwhelmed against an Arsenal team that exploited what was a porous back line, yet they still showed an ability to create opportunities. That ability almost drew them even in the fiftieth minute when work initiated by Ismael Miller led to Manuel Almunia being beaten before an Arsenal defender cleared the ball off the line.

Miller, in particular, should be able to score goals in this league. He showed an athleticism and persistence that will serve him well throughout the year, and while he tried some skills which will not work against the more seasoned defenders of the Premiership, he looks capable of adjusting. If Tony Mowbray will finally play Miller and Roman Bednar together in a 4-4-2 (as opposed to the 4-3-3/4-5-1 they played today), they will be able to better exploit the half of the table against whom they can be expected to get points.

The highlight of the match was seeing Bacary Sagna and Gael Clichy playing together again. Sagna missed the last two months of last season with an ankle injury. When he’s playing, Arsenal has the best pair of wide backs in the world. Because Arsenal elected to play up the left side more than the right, Sagna was not on the ball as much as Clichy, but in his opportunities, has was just as brilliant. In the first hlaf, a rifle left footed shot off a ball coming out of the West Brom area lmost gave him his first goal since the match in which he was injured. A Brom defender was able to get in front of the ball just outside the eight.

If William Gallas’s play today showing he may be ready to put last season’s turmoil behind him, he, Clichy, and Sagna could least Arsenal to a much improved back line.

The English Premier League kicks off tomorrow with seven matches. Those fixtures serve as a prelude to Sunday, when the league’s top finishers, Manchester United and Chelsea, kick off their seasons. Those two sides have won the last four Premierships, and many are predicting the title to stay within that two-team dynasty. But revitalized Arsenal and Liverpool sides will be more than just passive bystanders as the pressure mounts for each club to secure some silverware. At the top, the league is as competitive and deep as any time during the post-Abramovich era.

The race for the league’s three other European soccer spots will be no less contentious, with four legitimate contenders vying for three spots. With the hegemony of the “Big Four” threatening to continue for another season, fans are hoping one of Aston Villa, Everton, Portsmouth, and Tottenham can transcend UEFA Cup aspirations and challenge near the table’s top.

For the first time, American Soccer Reader will be providing you with coverage of what is sure to be a memorable Premiership campaign. As the race for the title and European football unfolds, we will be providing updates and analysis to help bridge the Atlantic and bring the highest profile league in the world a little closer to you.

That coverage starts with this preview, the team-by-team versions of which have been posted over the last two days. If the fight for the league title and the Europe births is as tight as we are expecting, any number of small factors can render this prognosis moot. Such is the nature of predictions, though: they can only look at the evidence we have at a given point in time. What happens tomorrow will change everything, and when it does, ASR will have something to say.

This is how we see the league, as it heads into the 2008-09 season. Let us know what you think! Use the comments section to give us your thoughts on this year’s Premiership.

Click on the club name to see the team-centric preview of the 2008-09 season.