These are giddily money-soaked days for the English Premier League. While its constant trumpeting of itself as the world’s best league is torpedoed week after week by the sheer banality of many of its games, there cannot be the slightest shred of doubt that the EPL is the world’s richest soccer league.

Last May, the EPL signed a television deal worth $2.3 billion for live rights to its games within the United Kingdom. Last week another $1.2 billion was added to that from sales of overseas rights to 208 countries.

Yet, this is a league in which only the four richest clubs can be considered potential winners: Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United.

As it happened, this past weekend saw these top EPL clubs going to head to head in two heavyweight games. The underdogs, if there can be underdogs at this elite level, came out on top: third-place Liverpool beat second place Chelsea 2–0, while fourth-place Arsenal saw off first-place Manchester United 2–1.

The 60,000 fans at Arsenal’s shiny new Emirates Stadium in north London saw a wonderfully skillful and competitive game with a fairy-tale ending as Arsenal came back to win with two goals in the final 10 minutes.

Arsenal’s two goals were scored by Robin Van Persie, a Dutchman, and Thierry Henry, a Frenchman. Liverpool’s winner against Chelsea came from Dirk Kuyt, another Dutchman. The foreign flavor is highly significant, for it helps account for the immense interest in the EPL apparent throughout the world. Players from 55 different countries now play in the EPL, each one the nucleus for television interest back home.

The EPL is English only in name. Of the 44 players who started this weekend’s two crucial games, only 11 were English. Arsenal’s team was composed entirely of foreigners. Watford, the EPL team with most English players (24 out of a roster of 30), is firmly cemented in last place. Of the 22 games it has played, Watford has won but one, and has scored only 12 goals.

Chelsea, champions for the past two years, started the season as hot favorites for a three-peat performance, but things have not gone as planned. Now six points behind leaders Manchester United, Chelsea looked strangely apathetic in its loss to Liverpool — an attitude that possibly reflected the rumors of discontent in the club. Coach Jose Mourinho has become increasingly critical of his situation, lamenting that he is “only the coach” and has no say in deciding which players the club buys. Chelsea has an injury crisis and needs a top class defender or two, but Mourinho has so far made no move — or perhaps not been permitted — to bring in new players.

The talk that billionaire owner Roman Abramovich was pulling the strings on player signings began this summer when Chelsea broke the English transfer-fee record by spending $60 million to sign Ukrainian goal scorer Andriy Shevchenko. Was this a Mourinho signing, or was the Russian Abramovich having his way? Whichever, Shevchenko has performed feebly for Chelsea, scoring only three goals in 20 games. Mourinho rarely puts Shevchenko in the starting lineup these days.

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Shevchenko’s former club, AC Milan (where he scored 127 goals in 208 games) has problems too — not due to his absence, but resulting from last season’s scandal in which the club, along with Juventus, was found guilty of suborning of referees.

Milan were docked eight points — a burden that puts winning Serie A out of reach. At the moment, it is in ninth place, but 30 points behind the league leaders, its bitter city rival Inter-Milan. Inter won its 13th game in a row over the weekend, a new Serie A record, and now leads closest challenger Roma by 11 points.

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In Spain, it’s the same old story with Barcelona and Real Madrid tied on 38 points at the top of the league. With a slight difference: also up there on 38 points is an interloper, Sevilla FC. Barcelona, having played a game fewer than the other two, can take the undisputed lead by beating Real Betis in a makeup game tomorrow.

Real Madrid has been battling internal turmoil, with the saga of David Beckham’s exit to the Los Angeles Galaxy dominating the headlines. But Real also has a problem with its Brazilian goal scorer Ronaldo, who has strongly expressed his wish to leave the club.

Behind the dissatisfaction of Beckham and Ronaldo lies the simple fact that coach Fabio Capello dropped them from his starting team. Superstars do not take kindly to a place on the bench.

How different the situation at Barcelona. In 2001, Barcelona signed the 19-year-old Argentine Javier Saviola, who had been a prolific goal scorer with River Plate. He continued to score with Barcelona (17 goals in his first season), but when new coach Frank Rijkaard arrived in 2003, Saviola was soon off the team. He was loaned out for a season at Monaco, then for a season at Sevilla. At the beginning of this season, Rijkaard made it known that Saviola was not in his plans. But a serious injury to regular striker Samuel Eto’o gave Saviola his chance, and his recent form has been electrifying. In Barcelona’s last four games, he has scored seven goals.

In Sunday’s home game against Gimnastic, Rijkaard took Saviola off the field with 20 minutes remaining — a move that was greeted with a barrage of boos and whistles from the Barcelona fans. The fans may boo, but Saviola has never criticized Rijkaard. “I like his attitude,” Rijkaard now admits, adding that maybe there is a place for Saviola at Barcelona after all. One would hope so. In an era when players switch clubs with nonchalant ease, Saviola’s loyalty deserves reward.

pgardner@nysun.com