Confirmed qualifiers in alphabetical order: Australia, Argentina (yes, they did it - and it wouldn't have been the same without them), Brazil, Chile, Denmark, England, Germany, Ghana, Honduras, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, North Korea, Paraguay, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and USA.

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TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR Last Season: 8th 5 Key Players: Defoe, Modric, Keane, Lennon, King Style of Play: Wide play, quickness, quick build-ups. Not the best defensively, mind you... Key Additions: Crouch (Portsmouth), Walker (Sheff. Utd), Naughton (Sheff. Utd.), Bassong (Newcastle) Key Losses: Zokora (Seville), Bent (Sunderland) When We Play Them: August (a), January (h) Rafa's Record: 5 wins, 1 loss, 4 draws In 3-5 [. Click to continue reading...

With the Premiership season only days away, it is the proper time to take a look at the clubs we will be facing over the course of the season and what changes they have made, as well as the success Click to continue reading...

We left off with Burnley in VOLUME ONE of the Premiership Preview: The Opposition, where LFC-News covered Arsenal, Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Blackburn, Bolton and Burnley... as I mentioned just a short while ago. That means we start here with Chelsea, a club who will be looking to win the league for the first [. Click to continue reading...

After a hugely successful, albeit trophyless, 2008-2009, Liverpool head into the new season with mixed expectations. On one hand, we grabbed Glen Johnson and Alberto Aquilani, two players with quality and that can be looked at as major upgrades. On the other hand, we lost Xabi Alonso... and nothing can heal a wound such as [. Click to continue reading...

The two-time defending champion of England and current champion of Europe experienced quite the drawn-out saga this summer, as there were times when it seemed certain that Cristiano Ronaldo, the most talented player in the world, would be leaving Old Trafford for Real Madrid. He stayed put, delaying his inevitable move to the club he supported as a boy for at least another season. Click to continue reading...

For Liverpool FC, it's all about the Premiership this season. Another deep run in the Champions League would be nice, don't misunderstand, but the primary focus for Rafa Benitez and his team is the domestic league. Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, the two leaders of the club, have said as much since the middle of last year. Click to continue reading...

Chelsea has not finished outside the top two in five seasons, a span in which they're averaging a mind-blowing 88.5 points a season. They've won two Premiership titles, two Carling Cups, an FA Cup, and, for what it's worth, a Community Shield, during this stretch. They have an impressive, slightly overrated in my opinion because of the number of draws, unbeaten streak at home in the league -- 82 games and counting. Click to continue reading...

2008 hasn't been a great year for Arsenal and their fans. In February, they watched their hated North London rivals Tottenham win a major trophy (Carling Cup), something Arsenal hasn't done since winning the Premiership four seasons ago. They've watched Spurs bring in several high-profile players this summer already and significantly strengthen the team, whereas Arsenal has taken a step backwards with what they've done. Click to continue reading...

It's a busy weekend for me, what with the start of the Olympics, the Community Shield tomorrow, and finally attempting to get things organized for my move-in at college in a couple weeks. With those things in mind, I've decided to delay the release of my last four Premiership previews for a couple days. Click to continue reading...

Aston Villa surprised many neutrals last season, and probably even some of their own supporters, with their 6th-place finish. In 2006-2007, the Villans checked in at a respectable 11th, a nice improvement from 16th the season before. Villa's emergence, led by manager Martin O'Neill, came with one of the smallest, if not THE smallest, first team rosters in the Premiership. Click to continue reading...

The 2007-2008 season was a roller coaster for Tottenham Hotspur. Martin Jol was removed from the manager's post in late October, but only found out through a text message sent to his nephew, who then forwarded the news to the Dutchman's phone. A team that was a trendy pick to break into the top four at Arsenal's expense was sitting around 15th place at the time, and for all the plaudits received by Juande Ramos for the job he did after he took over from Jol, Spurs still only wound up in 11th. Click to continue reading...

Just like Manchester City and Everton, Portsmouth is coming off their best season in England's top division in years, and I'm not sure there'd be much argument from the South Coast side's supporters by saying it was the best season in club history. Portsmouth wound up in 8th place, their highest-ever finish in the Premiership (though not in the old First Division). Click to continue reading...

Manchester City's 2007-2008 campaign was their best since rejoining the Premiership after a few years of purgatory in England's lower levels. Manager Sven-Göran Eriksson compiled a very respectable 19-11-15 record in his first year on the job, guiding the club to a 9th-place finish, a trip to the Carling Cup quarterfinals, and a berth in the UEFA Cup through their fair play record. Click to continue reading...

As much as Everton fans may not want to admit it, their club will always operate under arch-nemesis and cross-town rival Liverpool. There's no way around it; Liverpool is statistically the most successful team in English history, having won more league titles (18), Carling Cups (7), and European Cups/Champions League trophies (5) than any other club in the country. Click to continue reading...

I think it would come as a surprise to many to know that West Ham, not Middlesbrough, not Aston Villa, not any of the promoted clubs, had the highest average of English players in their starting lineups (6.61/11) in the 2007-2008 Premiership season. That surprise serves as of a commonly-held feeling towards West Ham from outside those associated with the club in one form or another: apathy. Click to continue reading...

In his four-season tenure at Blackburn, Mark Hughes guided the club to three top-10 finishes, including 7th place last year, and two appearances in European competition. He compiled an 82-47-59 record in competitive games over that span, and his team conceded over 50 goals only once. It's fair to say that he turned the fortunes of Blackburn Rovers around after their lean years in the late '90's. Click to continue reading...

When Sam Allardyce left by "mutual consent" in early January, Newcastle turned to a familiar figure to turn the club's fortunes around. I said it then and I'll say it now: Kevin Keegan, who spent over a decade away from St. James Park before returning to take the reins, is a blast from the past and isn't the answer going forward. Click to continue reading...

Backed by the loudest supporters in the Premier League last season, measured at average peak volume at 129.2 decibels, almost as loud as a jet, Sunderland will look to improve on last season's respectable 15th-place finish. The Black Cats were the only newly-promoted team to survive in the Premiership, an accomplishment in itself, but manager Roy Keane has made it clear through his summer signings that he wants more from his club. Click to continue reading...

According to the BBC in an online article published in December of last year, Middlesbrough's youth academy has produced the most graduates (9) eligible to represent England at international level and start in at least five senior games for the club since the 2002-2003 season, including Stewart Downing, Lee Cattermole (now at Wigan), David Wheater, Stuart Parnaby (now at Birmingham City), Andrew Taylor, and Adam Johnson. Click to continue reading...

They play some of the ugliest soccer in the Premiership. Their field surface is undoubtedly the worst in the Premiership and sits in one of the league's smallest stadiums, which is also shared with a rugby club. They have no star players to speak of, and are run by a 71-year-old chairman with questionable financial know-how. Click to continue reading...

Fulham's "Great Escape" was one of the best stories of the '07-'08 Premiership season. The Cottagers looked down and out so many times, so close to the end of the year, but a shocking 3-2 come-from-behind victory at Manchester City was the first of three consecutive triumphs and the second of four in five games that vaulted Fulham from certain relegation to safety for another year. Click to continue reading...

For everyone outside of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Arsenal, success in the Premiership can be fickle. We saw it last year with Tottenham, who wound up an extremely disappointing 11th after two straight 5th-place finishes. We saw it last year with Reading, a club that was relegated a season after finishing comfortably in 8th place. Click to continue reading...

After two years in the Coca-Cola Championship, West Brom returns to the top flight of English soccer as the team best primed to make a run at survival amongst their fellow promotees. Tony Mowbray's club made a surprising appearance in the FA Cup semi-finals last year before being knocked out by Portsmouth, the eventual winner of the competition. Click to continue reading...

The most profitable single game in the world was won by...no, not Manchester United...no, not the New York Giants...Hull City last season, as the Tigers' 1-0 Coca-Cola Championship playoff final victory over Bristol City at Wembley will net the East Yorkshire club an estimated $120 million when all is said and done. Click to continue reading...

August is finally here, and with it comes the final run-in to the start of the 2008-2009 Premiership season. You all know my preview plans by now -- I'll cover all 20 teams in the next 10 days -- and it all starts today. Without further ado, let's light this candle.
20. Finishing 2nd in the Coca-Cola Championship last season was a great accomplishment for Stoke City, the second-oldest club in the Football League after Notts County. Click to continue reading...

Yours truly will be on the airwaves again, this time joining my good buddy Johnathan Starling, host of The Third Half, to preview teams A-F in the Premiership. We recorded a couple solid segments yesterday afternoon, and the podcast will become available for download on iTunes at some point later today after its first airing on CSRN. Click to continue reading...

As hinted to in earlier posts, it's almost time for my second annual Premiership preview.
Beginning this Friday, August 1, I'll be covering two teams a day for 10 days, starting with the club I believe will finish dead last this year and working my way up in order to the eventual league champion. Click to continue reading...

If you're a neutral observer like me, this weekend's slate of games really doesn't have any compelling storylines or reasons to get excited, at least from the outside. None of the big teams are playing each other and there are no rivalry games. The closest thing to a true derby is the Fulham-Arsenal affair at Craven Cottage tomorrow but I don't think anyone expects that game to be pleasing to the eye. Click to continue reading...