England

The top is pretty standard with one pleasant exception. Liverpool was replaced by Aston Villa in fourth place. Nothing is going well for the Reds this year. Arsenal Holds standard third position and waits for a slip from the top two. Yes it is true they have many injury problems but so does ever body else. Manchester United is currently second and trailing by four points. It seems that whenever Chelsea gives them a chance to catch up they fail to do so. Chelsea is mighty strong this year and if they hold the pace they should not have a problem winning the Premier League. But in January there is the African Cup and some teams will be hurt by the event. One of them is Chelsea. Maybe this is the time for Manchester to kick up a gear. I do not see anybody else near first place but Chelsea and Manchester United.

Of course I cannot finish England side without mentioning the world’s richest club. No money can’t buy you trophies.  I hope they realize that before spending another 200M€. I am also a little bit disappointed about Everton. Struggling with injuries but still should do better than 15th place and eleven points behind EUROPA cup spot.

Germany

The tables have also turned in Germany. Leverkusen and Schalke are in front followed by FC Bayern. Fourth HSV and fifth Dortmund follow closely. First five teams are separated only by five points, making it anybody’s game. Wolfsburg is trailing but they are fighting two fronts. Accordingly to the number of points this league promises to be the most interesting.

Spain

Nothing new here one would say. Barcelona first with two slips and all-star team Real Madrid trailing by two and then quite a gap before the third placed Sevilla. Although the first two spots are taken it is not yet decided who will take it. “El Classico” could determine the winner if nobody slips again. Ronaldo is the key player for Real and Messi for Barcelona. Missing either one and the opponent wins. For the third place again standard team Sevilla, Deportivo, Valencia… A bit boring perhaps.

Italy
Inter is currently king of the castle. So far nobody can upset them. AC Milan is back in form and is holding second place. Juventus slipped last round against last placed Catania at home. These mistakes cannot happen again if they want to catch the Mourinho’s boys.  Fourth and fifth are, maybe a bit unexpected, Roma and Parma.
Based on the picture in Europe’s competitions I would expect Fiorentina and Genoa to be higher but obviously playing in two competitions has proven too much for them.

I believe Inter should not have a problem staying in first place all the way to the finish.

France

Bordeaux has gain an advantage of eight points against Marseille. But this is the only big gap in the table. Seven teams are then squeezed inside five points gap. Lille is third which is a nice surprise.  I must say I expected more from Lyonn. Montpellier was second but lost at home previous round and is currently in five position.

I miss PSG in top five as well as Auxere. Both should do better than 9th and 7th place. Monaco is also struggling in 12th place.

First place is currently reserved for Bordeaux but there is a lot of team pushing for the second place and this is where it could get interesting.