FULHAM

Manager Lawrie Sanchez has cleared out the dead wood in Claus Jensen, Michael Brown, Tomasz Radzinski and sent Icelandic striker Heidar Helguson packing to Bolton Wanderers. In their place comes a strikeforce with real pace, in Leeds United’s David Healy and West Brom’s Diomansy Kamara. The former is currently the top scorer in the 2008 European Championships qualifiers with minnows Northern Ireland. If first impressions are anything to go by, breaking his Premership duck against Arsenal after barely 53 seconds may just have won over the fans.

Kamara, has played at this level before for Portsmouth and West Brom, and proved frustratingly inconsistent—able to conjure up beauties from nowhere on certain days, and equally capable of horrendous misses on others.

The duo should be adequately supplied with service from the flanks in the shape of American Clint Dempsey and new signing Hameur Bouazza from Watford. In the middle, the makeshift partnership of Steven Davis and Alexei Smertin, the former joining from Aston Villa in the off-season, looks solid if unspectacular, and there’s still Papa Bouba Diop and shaggy-haired Jimmy Bullard in reserve.

However in defence while the towering Zat Knight may have shown signs of finally becoming reliable asset, it will be harder to find a consistent partner who can play in tandem with him. The American Carlos Bocanegra is notoriously inconsistent, as shown by his costly rash challenge on Arsenal’s Kolo Toure which offered Arsenal a route back in the game, and new signing Aaron Hughes will need time to settle. Outside on the flanks, the trio of Moritz Volz, Liam Rosenior and Paul Konchesky are decent going forward, but not so adept when tracking back in defence.

Player to watch: Healy. The former Leeds United man got his Premier League career off to the best possible start and it’ll be interesting to see if he finds can maintain his goalscoring form.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

Amidst all the hype among the papers that North Londoners could finally break into the top 4 this season, only one fact remains—Tottenham have a long, long way to go before they can even truly consider themselves ready.

Splurging a king’s ransom for promising young players is one thing, getting them to fulfill their potential is another. So far, the expensively assembled strikeforce of Dimitar Berbatov, Robbie Keane, Darren Bent and Jermaine Defoe have contributed to a grand total of zero goals in 2 games (their only goal this season has been scored by Anthony Gardner) and at the time of writing, the club find themselves propping up the league table.

At the back, boss Martin Jol signed Southampton’s 18-year-old Gareth Bale and Auxerre defender Younes Kaboul for a combined fee of around £18 million ($30 million). Granted, injuries to first-choice centrebacks Michael Dawson and Ledley King have no doubt weakened the club’s cause to push for glory both in the league and in the Uefa Cup this season, but a team that dreams of achieving big really needs to have a large and capable squad. Sadly, Spurs haven’t shown that they’re up to the mark yet.

Picking up points early on is essential if Spurs are not to become bogged down by their European exploits later in the season, but unless they improve on their atrocious start fast, dreams of finishing 4th will remain as it is, just a dream.

Player to watch: Berbatov. The Bulgarian enjoyed a dream debut season, but really needs to start firing in the goals regardless of who he partners up front.

BIRMINGHAM CITY

If Birmingham City don’t take anything else away from this season, at least they could claim they nearly prevented Chelsea from notching a record 64 home matches without defeat. The side ran last season’s runner-ups close, with new signing Olivier Kapo, signed from Italian giants Juventus for a bargain £3 million ($9 million), showed glimpses of his undeniable talent with a gem of an equaliser.

Other than Kapo, manager Steve Bruce has made a few shrewd signings to add all-round experience to his side, with Franck Queudrue, Liam Ridgewell and Stuart Parnaby all adding width to the defence, while Scottish striker Garry O’Connor was thrown a lifeline from the frozen pitches of Russia to play a part in the Blue revolution. Dutch winger Daniel de Ridder, is another promising star to look out for and is sure to make an impact in England sooner rather than later.

Bruce has also raided Arsenal’s reserves to good effect, and Swede midfielder Sebastian Larsson, English midfielder Fabrice Muamba and Swiss centreback Johan Djourou (on loan) will all be plying their trade with the Blues this season. The trio will likely play a major role in ensuring that Birmingham remain in the top flight for another season, as their experience and quality gleaned from playing under Arsene Wenger should help see the Blues through to a comfortable mid-table spot.

Player to watch: Kapo. If the French-Ivorian attacking midfielder can keep injury-free and turn on the flair for Birmingham this season, midtable safety shouldn’t be a problem.

ASTON VILLA

When I asked an Aston Villa fan what he thought of his team’s prospects for the new season, he replied, “Just refer to the Liverpool game.” He may be right. In many respects, the season opener was a real anticlimax, and should one take a look at the club’s summer signings so far, the word anticlimax looks to be potentially a reality for the Villans at the end of the season.

That is because we all know what wonders manager Martin O’Neill can work on a squad of limited ability, let alone a team brimming with such youthful potential and talent as Aston Villa’s. The inspirational Northern Irishman raided fellow Premiership rivals West Ham’s stables not once, but twice in the off-season, snapping up sulky ex-Hammers captain Nigel Reo-Coker for £8.5 million ($25.5 million) and striker Marlon Harewood for £3 million ($9 million). With his famed man-management skills, don’t expect to wait too long to see these 2 smiling on the pitch again.

The duo are added to a squad currently overflowing with youthful British attacking talent, with strikers Ashley Young, Shaun Maloney, Luke Moore and Gabriel Agbonlahor all already listed on the club’s books, and whose combined age adds up to a mere 87 years. Along with the erratic but brilliant Norwegian giant John Carew, and the Bulgarian Stiliyan Petrov dictating play from the middle of the park, Villa’s attacking options look immensely promising.

However this season may yet turn out to be a case of déjà vu for Martin O’Neill’s men. Last season, the Villans shot right out of the blocks and were in the European places until just before the turn of the year, when injuries weakened the side and caused the inevitable tailing off in terms of performances.

Besides the 2 ex-Hammers, the only other additions so far this season are goalkeeper Scott Carson on loan from Liverpool and 18-year old American defender Eric Lichaj. Unless O’Neill can lure a couple of big faces to bolster his injury-prone side, midtable for Villa may just be about right this season.

Player to watch:Agbonlahor. Martin O’Neill revealed that the 20-year-old was played out of position for much of last season. Should he be allowed to display his pace upfront this time, watch out for some trembling centrebacks.

READING

Easily the biggest success story in the Premiership and a scriptwriter’s dream come true last season.

The Royals barely missed out on the Uefa Cup places last season, but in truth (and as manager Steve Coppell will probably tell you), that’s probably a blessing in disguise. The last club which finished in similar uncharted waters was Ipswich Town in 2001, clinching a marvellous 5th position and qualifying for the Uefa Cup in their debut season. 12 months and several big signings later, they crashed out of the top flight, never to return.

Perhaps this is why wily boss Coppell did his utmost best to ensure that Reading didn’t enter Europe this season. He has repeatedly reinstated his desire to focus on the Premier League. In changing as little of last season’s crew as possible has probably endeared his side even more to the romantics. The only new faces at the Madejski Stadium so far are Kalifa Cisse, a £1 million ($3 million) French midfielder from Portuguese side Boavista, and Emerse Fae, an Ivorian midfielder signed from Nantes for around £2.5 million ($7.5 million).

Coppell’s best piece of business has been retaining the unheralded strike partnership of Kevin Doyle and Leroy Lita which yielded 20 goals last season and the much-vaunted left-back Nicky Shoreyi. Even though midfield general Steve Sidwell has left on a free transfer for Chelsea and a top-half finish may be beyond them this time around, the likelihood of achieving safety before May shouldn’t be scoffed at.

Player to watch: Doyle. He’ll have to cope with increased attention from defenders this season. Another double-figure haul would be truly impressive.