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Bolton: Bolton have lost both Daniel Sturridge and Johan Elmander, leaving Wanderers with a lack of firepower up front, and if they must invest in a forward to partner the reliable Kevin Davies if they are to challenge for European football. Retaining the services of Gary Cahill is also key to the clubs bid for continental football. However the club has strengthened in midfield, bringing in Darren Pratley and Nigel Reo-Coker, as well as Chris Eagles from Burnley, who joined along with Tyrone Mears. Overall the club should do enough to achieve a mid-table place, although Owen Coyle must do more to bring European football to the Reebok.

Prediction : 11th
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Fulham: After an eighth place finish last season, Mark Hughes decided to jump ship and was replaced by Martin Jol. Dutchman Jol who turned Tottenham from a mid-table club into one pushing for Champions league football, should be able to get the best out of this defensively sound team of which the core still remains from the Hodgson and Hughes era’s. John Arne Riise has returned to the Premier League and a healthy Bobby Zamora will be welcomed back by fans. I expect the Cottagers to start well, although ultimately a side that has been playing competitive football since mid-July will eventually tire out and an end of season slump to mid table is to be expected.

Prediction: 12^th
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West Brom: Although many thought the sacking of Roberto Di Matteo was rather harsh in February, it was his replacement Roy Hodgson that lead the Baggies to a surprisingly comfortable run to survival, and an 11^th place finish, their best in nearly 30 years. The return of cult hero Zoltan Gera and the signing of Shane Long should prove popular with fans, and if Peter Odemwingie can continue his form from last year West Brom should have no safety problems under the greatly experienced Hodgson.

Prediction: 13^th
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Wolves : While it is difficult to know whether their summer business is enough to keep the side up for another year, Wolves looked at times, much like a top six side last season, beating the likes of Chelsea, Villa, Liverpool and Man City, while smashing eventual Champions Man United’s undefeated record. However, McCarthy’s men found themselves in too many off days against too many beatable teams and looked doomed towards the end of the year before a late run-in secured safety on the last day. Should Doyle and Fletcher keep fit and Roger Johnson help fix the defensive problem, Wolves should at least be safe for this season at least.

Prediction: 14^th
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Wigan : After yet another last gasp escape from relegation in a campaign which began with a 4-0 defeat at home to Blackpool and ended with a Hugo Rodallaega goal 12 minutes from time to stay up, Wigan are realistic ahead of the pending campaign. Charles N’Zogbia did depart for Villa, but his exit should mean more starts for the promising Victor Moses. Midfielder David Jones has also arrived from Wolves, but easily the finest signing of the summer was to retain the services of manager Roberto Martinez. I expect Martinez’s decision to stay to be rewarded by a committed Wigan side eager to give their all for their young manager, ensuing a hard fought fight to survival.

Prediction: 15^th
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Join us tomorrow for Part 3 when we will be looking at the bottom half of the top ten.

Keane, 30, has had a difficult time in his second spell at White Hart lane, returning to Spurs after a disappointing season at Liverpool, and found himself slip down the pecking order behind Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch and Roman Pavlyuchenko.

The Irishman has spent the majority of the last two years out on loan at Celtic and West Ham, but is hoping to finally settle down and find form after gaining a reputation as somewhat of a journeyman.

Keane has plied his trade at eight different clubs, but as he enters the twilight years of his career, he will hope to find a home to rejuvenate his club form, and it is also believed that he wishes to remain in the English capital.

New Fulham boss Martin Jol has openly taked about his admiration for Keane, while fellow Londoners QPR will look to bring Premier League experience to their newly promoted side as they hope to secure the services of a proven goalscorer. Tottenham are also thought to be keen to unload the striker, who has one year remaining on his contract, as they look to wipe his £65,000 a week off their wage salary.

Keane took his international tally to 51 goals in Macedonia on Saturday, making him the top British or Irish international goalscorer. Equally as impressive, Keane is now level on international goals with Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, in 15 less caps for his country (with poorer service it has to be said).

The Irish skipper is almost certain to be on the move this summer, whether it be a loan move or a cut-price transfer, but either way he will surely be a bargain for his new club.

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Mr Al Fayed, pictured here in front of the statue, was a friend of the late Jackson and decided it would be a fitting tribute to the man known as ‘The King of Pop.’

The Fulham fans seem to disagree with their owner on this one and the statue, which is fairly shite looking to be fair, has come in for heavy criticism.

“It makes the club look silly. I thought it was an April Fools joke.” declared one Fulham fan.

Mr Al Fayed reacted angrily to the fans who have criticised the status by saying: ”If some stupid fans don’t understand and appreciate such a gift this guy gave to the world they can go to hell.”

Al Fayed added: “I don’t want them to be fans. If they don’t understand and don’t believe in things I believe in they can go to Chelsea, they can go to anywhere else.”

One word to sum up the whole thing, bizarre.

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Konchesky, 29, has failed to impress during his spell at Anfield and has unsurprisingly come in for some heavy criticising from the Liverpool faithful.

Fulham boss Mark Hughes is keen to bring Konchesky back to the club before the transfer window shuts on Monday and it is now expected that will happen.

Konchesky has made just 18 appearances in a Liverpool jersey, but it looks as though he won’t be wearing the red of Liverpool again, something which I am sure Liverpool fans won’t be too upset about.

For a club like Liverpool, it really was a bizarre signing to make. Konchesky isn’t the worst left-back in the world, but he certainly isn’t the best and I for one don’t think he is Liverpool standard.

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Anyway, Fulham keeper Mark Schwarzer has been strongly linked with a move to Arsenal. However, it appears unlikely that the Australian will make the move to the Emirates. That’s according to BBC’s David Ornstein.

Arsene Wenger is understood to be keen to add a keeper to his squad before the window slams shut at 6pm this evening but after weeks and weeks of speculation surrounding Schwarzer, it looks as though he will remain at Craven Cottage.

The 37-year old has yet to play for Fulham this season with Mark Hughes opting to pick David Stockdale. It had been suggested that Arsenal made an improved offer of £4 million for Schwarzer this morning.

It will be fascinating to see if Wenger makes a move for another keeper before the window shuts later this evening. Make sure to stay tuned to Football Corner for all the latest.

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Now, the club are set to offer him a new five year contract worth £70,000 a week, a massive £42,000 a week pay rise. The club also want to put Hart further off-limits by placing a £20 million price-tag on his head.

But, where to next for the Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given?

Given, 34, has been linked with a move to Arsenal, Celtic and Fulham over the previous weeks and now it seems AS Roma have entered the race to sign City’s out-of-favour goalie. One Italian paper reported that City were looking to recoup £2-3 million for the former Newcastle man.

Given had previously warned that he would leave if he was dropped as City’s number one and now that has happened, it seems Given is sticking to his promise.

It seems City now want to sign Stoke goalkeeper Asmir Begovic as backup to Hart. Chelsea recently had a £4 million rejected by Stoke for Begovic but City are understood to be monitoring the situation as they prepare for life without Given. Begovic is particularly attractive to top clubs because his time at Portsmouth’s academy means he qualifies as a home-grown player under new Premier League rules.

So where do you think Given will go next?

Personally, I believe Mark Schwarzer will go to Arsenal and Given will re-join his old manager Mark Hughes at Fulham. But that’s just what I think, we want to hear where you think he will go and whether or not you reckon Hart is deservedly City’s first choice keeper?

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In England, the incredible European exploits of Fulham have made many neutral observers sit up and taken notice of manager Roy Hodgson and his football team. They may not be a team full of superstars but their record in getting to the final speaks for itself. Starting with victories against FK Vetra and then getting through to the group stage by overcoming Amkar Perm, Fulham really began making headlines when they progressed further and managed a win and a draw against Shakhtar. Next up were the Italian giants Juventus, and, after losing 3-1 in Italy, Fulham looked to be on the brink of exiting the competition. The return match at Craven Cottage will probably go down as the greatest performance in the history of the club as they overcame a 4-1 aggregate deficit to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Since that momentous night they have brushed aside Wolfsburg and Hamburg to earn the right to a place in Wednesday’s final.

For Atletico, the match in Hamburg will be their first European final in 24 years so you can bet that they will be just as fired up as Fulham to get their hands on some silverware. In a way there is a similarity between the two teams in that both are struggling to emerge from the shadow of near-neighbours. In Fulham’s case it is of course their fellow West Londoners Chelsea and in the case of Athletico it is Real Madrid. Athletico have had to overcome Galatasaray, Sporting Lisbon, Valencia and Liverpool along the way in order to reach the final so they are clearly a force to be reckoned with in Cup competitions even though they are mid-table in the domestic league – another similarity they share with their opponents in the final.

So who will win the Trophy? According to online betting websites the odds on Atletico Madrid winning are 8/13 while the odds on a Fulham win are 6/5. This game has all the makings of a classic Cup Final and looks an enticing prospect for football betting fans, though many will already have an eye on the possibilities of World Cup football betting.

Hopefully the game on Wednesday will also go some way to silencing those who have claimed that the Champions League is the only European competition that matters.