[MY BUM]

I know it's early in the season,but what is with all these darn upsets.Bayern Munich not able to score(AT HOME!!!!) against Nurnburg??? Chelsea losing to Middelsboro? Arsenal losing to City?? A 10 man Everton beating Tottenham(IN TOTTENHAM???) I am glad I haven't re-upped my account for this season yet as I am one who parley's heavily favoured teams.If I do get the nerve to re-up I see my money teams being Chelsea and Internazionale this year.

[mad]

Not sure My Bum (lol, cool name). I have a theory that between everything; regular season, european commitments, World Cup, international friendlies and now the Euro qualifiers a lot of the top players at the top clubs are just knackered. They haven't had a decent break from playing since last year.

[MY BUM]

Yes Mad that makes a lot of sense.How about the world champs Italy not beating Lithuana.I'll bet people lost their shirts on that one.

[adriano]

An experienced bettor should not back Italy in that spot, with a lot of second string players and after such a big achievement as winning the WCup.

Top players play about 50 games a season in recent years, this is not only affecting their clubs' results, but also the quality of the games played in Europe, the game is becoming more ever so boring and academic, no inprovisation at all. I would like to see some changes in the rules, but that's another long topic.

[Dark Horse]

Couldn't agree with you more about the rule changes. We'll get back to that for the next WC.

[althelegend]

Also, with key players moving between clubs, it will take a few matches before true form becomes apparent.
This is especially so in the English Premier League, where Chelsea, Man Utd. Arsenal have all made significant changes to thei playing staff.

Watch out too for clubs such as Bolton, who continue to improve, and also Aston Villa who can be expected to show improvement under both a new owner and a new well respected manager in Martin O'neill who has an excellent track record.