Surprises in Leagues across Europe

The top leagues across Europe are five to seven weeks old, but surprisingly all seem to be not be running as per the usual script. What is such a script? An unwritten rule is that bigger club sides are in the top half of the league and smaller sides fight for survival. Lets have a look what which sides are currently on the wrong side of the league table.


England

One of the biggest surprises is that record champions FC Liverpool are amongst the bottom three of the Premier League. Off the field the Merseyside club have been problems for month's and in to days a 237 Million punds payoff will have to be made to RBS. But after a dismal last season in which the club couldn't finish amongst the top four, this year things look much worse under new coach Roy Hodgson. The club is 18th with only six points from seven games with only a win to the Reds. They will hope for better results in the coming weeks with local rivals Everton starting as bad them into the season, only that the Blues have a better goal difference.

At least at the top things are normal with champions Chelsea FC leading the pack.


Germany

The Bundesliga are the craziest of all leagues with minnows Mainz 05 on top and VfB Stuttgart bottom of the league, while last years runners-up FC Schalke 04 are second from bottom. For Stuttgart the situation seems to be a deja vu as last season too they found themselves early on in the relegation zone, but it wasn't as bad as this year. At Schalke coach Magath played puzzle in putting his new squad together to be able to challenge bigger sides in the Champions League, but it has backfired in the league as the new team haven't been able to get their act together. And their only win of the league so far was more luck then a good performance.


Spain

In the Spanish Primera Division it is the story of former La Liga champions Deportivo La Coruna. The club from Galicia have been going through tough times and they have reached the lowest low with the club winless after six games and bottom of the league. But it is early in the season, so they can work their way out of the relegation zone.


Italy

The relegation zone in the Serie A is a who is who of Italian football. Bottom of the league are Udinese Calcio, above them AS Roma and FC Parma plus just above the relegation zone are AC Florentina. All these clubs have played European competitions in recent years and would look to turn things around. But the results over the first six rounds haven't been the way these clubs would have wanted them.


France

The French league is also playing crazy. Stade Rennes are on top ahead of AS St. Etienne while RC Lens are in the relegation zone as 19th after eight rounds, while Olympique Lyonnais with a win over the weekend moved out of the relegation zone. Lyon is a regular participant in the Champions League and earlier this decade had won seven league titles in a row. While another club in AJ Auxerre moved a little away from the danger zone with a 4-0 win against bottom club AC Arles-Avignon.


But for all these clubs the season is young and chances are there to turn the season around with a series of wins. But if things continue this way until the winter then some of these clubs will have to readjust their ambitions for the 2010/11 season.