Season 2007-2008 in Focus

After American Malcolm Glazer's Manchester United wrested the Premier League title away from Chelsea's Russian owner Roman Abramovich last season, Liverpool's Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr. have opened their wallets to bring the trophy down the road to Anfield this season. Gillett, who owns the NHL's Montreal Canadiens, and fellow American partner Hicks bought control of Liverpool last season. They have given manager Rafa Benitez the funds to make 16 new player signings since the Reds finished third last term and lost to AC Milan in the Champions League final.

Benitez has brought in Spanish star Fernando Torres, Dutch international Ryan Babel and Ukraine's Andriy Voronin to join a strike force that already features Dutch star Dirk Kuyt and England's Peter Crouch.Liverpool, which won the Champions League in 2005, is now more determined than ever to win the English league for the first time since 1990 - before the Premier League began.

"The squad has improved, the manager has been backed with good money and he's spent it well and now it's time for the players to deliver," captain Steven Gerrard said. "The Premier League, that's the one. That's our main priority."

Glazer, who also owns the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, will be out to stop Liverpool and has given Manchester United's veteran Scottish manager Sir Alex Ferguson millions to spend to strengthen an already impressive squad lineup.United has finally acquired Calgary-raised England midfielder Owen Hargreaves from Bayern Munich as well as Portuguese forward Nani and Brazilian Anderson. Argentina striker Carlos Tevez is on his way from West Ham, providing United can cut through red tape.

"The top four have all done a bit of buying and added to their squad," Ferguson said. "Chelsea have a big, strong squad, so you don't expect much change there and both Arsenal and Liverpool were over 20 points behind us last season. They won't want to be 20 points behind us again."

Chelsea, with the biggest spending power of all since Abramovich bought the club three years ago, has been comparatively modest in the transfer market compared with previous years. But the Blues have still brought in Claudio Pizarro from Bayern Munich, Florent Malouda from Lyon and Tal Ben Haim from Bolton.

"Our rivals have strengthened but so have we," Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said. "I don't think it's going to be who spends the most money who wins the league. That has never been the case. It's always been who has the fighting spirit, togetherness and which of the big players had the better season.

"Cristiano Ronaldo had a good season last year and was the main reason United won the league. This year we need two or three important players in attack to come up with the goods and that's what we'll be trying to do."

Arsenal, which is reportedly the target of a possible takeover by American businessman Stan Kroenke, has settled for Brazilian-born Croatian striker Eduardo da Silva after reluctantly selling Thierry Henry to Barcelona.

If the transfer dealings are a guide, Liverpool and Manchester United appear to have the most ambition of the traditional four big contenders, suggesting their rival American owners will be fighting it out for the title next May.

But they are not the only big spenders.

The clubs in the world's richest soccer league now have even more cash to spend thanks to a huge hike in TV revenue, attracting more overseas investment. There could even be a strong and long overdue challenge from Manchester City, which is now owned by former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and managed by former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Eriksson previously led teams to league and cup double triumphs in Sweden, Portugal and Italy. Because he failed to take England past the quarter-finals at two World Cups and a European Championship, however, City fans don't have a huge amount of faith in the Swede. He could be under pressure quickly if the team falls behind early in the title race.

Tottenham has come close to breaking into the top four the past two seasons and would love to do so this year at the expense of bitter north London rival Arsenal, which has finished fourth twice in a row.Tottenham's Martin Jol is well respected as a pragmatic coach who values talented players. He has added England's Darren Bent to a strike force that includes Dimitar Berbatov, Robbie Keane and Jermaine Defoe, and signed rising German star Kevin-Prince Boateng from Hertha Berlin.

Everton finished sixth last season without showing any sign of reaching the elite. Fans of Martin O'Neill's Aston Villa, controlled by Cleveland Browns' owner Randy Lerner, will demand that the team captures at least a UEFA Cup spot by finishing in the top six or seven.

Newcastle is probably the most enigmatic club.With more than 50,000 boisterous fans at every home game, it's hard to explain why the Magpies haven't won the league title since 1927 or any trophy since the European Fairs Cup (now UEFA Cup) in 1969. Sam Allardyce, the tough-talking former Bolton coach, is the new manager and has made many changes to the squad in the hope of a top-six finish.Last season, Newcastle placed 13th of the 20 clubs with England striker Michael Owen sidelined for most of the season. Owen should be back on a regular basis this season.

West Ham, which avoided relegation on the final day of the season, has also been busy in the transfer market. Icelandic owner Lennart Magnusson won't be satisfied with another relegation struggle.Of the three promoted clubs, Roy Keane's Sunderland looks to have the best chance of making an impact. The former Manchester United captain led the Wearsiders to promotion to the top flight in his first season as a manager. He'll now come up against Ferguson, his former boss at United.

Birmingham City's Steve Bruce will be chasing little more than 17th place, which means survival, while Derby County, promoted through the playoffs, is almost certain to struggle.Reading will do well to repeat last season's eighth-place finish, while Portsmouth, Middlesbrough and Blackburn likely will stay in the middle of the pack.Bolton, without Allardyce's firm control, could slide down towards relegation trouble and fight for safety with Fulham, Wigan, Birmingham and Derby.