Welcome to the 3rd Soccer/Football Blog Carnival! With the Premiership season set to get underway in 5 days, many of the submissions talked about the upcoming season.

The pick of the week is the 2006-2007 EPL Season Preview for the top four teams last year over at Justifying Insanity. Huzaifa has insights into why Chelsea might be distracted enough to be beaten, Arsenal’s difficulties competing domestically and in Europe, Man U’s various troubles, and Liverpool’s search for consistency.

Over at EPL Talk, Bruce Gottesman talks about Newcastle United’s upcoming season. He took some grief in his comments early on (how DARE an American comment on the EPL), but quickly got a lot of support from his readers. Quote of the week (from the comments) "I too have a distaste for americans, but online… you cant hear their accents so its ok." Alrighty then! I admit even as an American I found that quote hilarious.

Barry over at A Funny Old Game, talks about speculation that Jose Antonio Reyes may leave Arsenal for Real Madrid.

It looks like Manchester United continues to set records with their ticket sales. Footie at Sporati highlights Man U’s latest numbers.

Another post at Sporati talks about David Beckham being left off the England’s roster and how it may be a blessing in disguise.

Finally, my own humble submission was written in response to the folks at DCenters wondering about the recent announcement by MLS that a new youth development program will soon be announced. Many American fans have wondered why MLS teams don’t have proper academies. It turns out financial resources are not they only difficulty.

Don’t forget, the 4th Soccer/Football carnival is set to be hosted over at Sporati on August 21st. Get those submissions in now! Next up on tap is the 4th American Soccer Carnival set to be hosted at My Soccer Blog on August 18th. Submit posts now for that carnival (topic: the US Open Cup).