Together at the summit of the Premier League table, the thought of the last 32 of Europa League, rather than the glamorous knockout stages of the Champions League, provides the stark contrast by which Manchester City and Manchester United must define their seasons.

After winning the FA Cup last season, and qualifying for the Champions League, sky looked to be the limit for Roberto Mancini's side.

Reports in the English media have consistently linked unsettled Juventus forward Amauri with a move to the Barclays Premier League in January.

The player's agent has added fuel to the fire by saying that there is a '70 percent' chance of him moving to England in January, compared to much lower odds of considering further stay in the Serie A.

Liverpool's 2-1 victory over Chelsea will certain be a memorable result for Kenny Dalglish and his team, with Glen Johnson's wonderful winner the stuff of legend.

But the contest at Stamford Bridge, while admittedly very exicting, serves to prove one crucial point; the Premier League title will remain in Manchester.

Following his match-winning header in England's 1-0 triumph over Spain, various news outlets have linked Frank Lampard with the LA Galaxy.

The American side, currently in the MLS Cup Final with help from former Premier League stars David Beckham and Robbie Keane, are looking for another star to keep their global profile high, and the England and Chelsea star fits the bill.

Tomasz Kuszczak's recent declaration that he is being treated "like a slave" at Manchester United is certainly a dramatic overstatement but the goalkeeper's situation also warrants sympathy.

Many have countered that if being a slave is training everyday and picking up a hefty paycheck, more than a lot of people make in a year, then they would happily accept the hypothetical shackles the Pole is chained to with Sir Alex Ferguson's side.

In light of the recent economic and fiscal policies that have been employed in Europe to stop the massive financial crisis, there is no time like the present to be reminded how much business affects the football world.

Manchester City's endless flow of capital has given them the ability to buy the best products, and chase the success every club desires, bringing glory to the club and its supporters, and higher profits which can be spent as self-generated revenue.

To start, declarations that Manchester City are now guaranteed to win the league or triumph in Europe come as extremely premature overreactions.

But the possible reverberations concerning Manchester City's potential future conquests in the wake of their clinical 6-1 destruction over England's most dominant team and Europe's runner-up only to a seemingly invincible Barca do tend to evoke the sense that Roberto Mancini is on the verge of pushing their "noisy neighbors" tag into oblivion by reaching the stratosphere of the world's clubs.

Manchester City are alone at the summit of the table, for now at least, and are beginning to look more and more like potential favorites to lift the trophy, or at least provide a very serious threat to their cross-town rivals Manchester United as well as last season's runners-up Chelsea.

But one of the key components of this rise, a man whose signing was a signal of intent to the world, is now left to train by himself and wonder what will become of his future, which surely lies away from the Carrington training grounds he now practices on by himself.

With England's ticket to the 2012 European Championships now booked, Fabio Capello's thoughts will be away from the colder temperature and focused on his 23 man squad selection for the tournament next summer.

The question of who to take, and who to leave out, always excites a media frenzy, with the age-old debates of club form, age, and experience brought out to trump up heroes or tear down villains.

With just two matches left in the qualifying process for the 2012 European Championships, the Republic of Ireland remain in with a very real chance of getting to their first major tournament since the 2002 World Cup.

Thierry Henry and France's controversial- and undeserved- win meant heartbreak for the Boys in Green in the 2010 World Cup play-offs.

Just when it seemed Fernando Torres may be coming to the tail-end of his awful slump for Chelsea since joining from Liverpool last January, a red card against Swansea City marred an otherwise brilliant performance and again brought criticism from the press.

The subsequent three match ban will have come at the worst time for the Spaniard, just when he is starting to produce in the last few matches.

By Andrew McCarten

The final of the 2010 World Cup. Your country has never won the tournament despite being universally acclaimed for a football philosophy that has developed over the course of time. Your side has knocked out heavy favorites Brazil in the quarters, and survived an absolute battle against Uruguay to make it to the final, and now you find yourself in a match that has been hard-fought to say the very least.

By Andrew McCarten

For many, the exit of Martin O'Neill as Aston Villa manager at the beginning of the previous season was the prime reason for their decline. When O'Neill took over for the 2006/07 campaign, Villa had finished a lowly 16th the year before under David O'Leary, managing only 42 points.