With each English Premier League team having played at least six games of the Premiership, it seems like a good time to examine the table and take a look at the surprises and disappointments thus far.
The Champions League qualifiers
While Newcastle United’s place in the top four is certainly an early-season anomaly, the three legitimate title contenders occupy the other three spots. The two Manchester clubs, United and City, are in a virtual tie for first place, each with six wins and a draw through seven games. The Red Devils hold a slight edge with a 19-goal differential compared to the Light Blues’ 18.
The rogue choice of these contenders is Chelsea. Sitting in third place, the Blues only loss is to Man U, and when they played, Chelsea had yet to work out all the kinks of their lineup.
Now, with a midfield clicking on all cylinders thanks to a semi-revival of Frank Lampard and an attacking unit boosted by the resurgence of Fernando Torres and the emergence of Danile Sturridge, the Blues are a force to be reckon with, as long as they can stay healthy.
The Champions League contenders
While the undefeated Magpipes — that’s right, undefeated — shouldn’t get comfortable in of fourth place, Newcastle will be a viable contender throughout the EPL campaign.
After the departures of striker Andy Carroll and midfielder Joey Barton, the Magpipes looked thin among offensive options. Brought on to replace Carroll, former West Ham striker Demba Ba has been superb thus far, chiming in with four goals in six league games.
Sitting right behind Newcastle’s 15 points is Liverpool with 13. The Reds’ ultimate goal was to return to Champs League glory, and after pumping over $100 million in transfer fees into their roster, it’s where they belong.
January transfer purchase Luis Suárez has proven one of the most exciting strikers in the Premier League and has found the net four times this season.
The lingering issue with Liverpool is the incorporation of midfielder Steven Gerrard into an already crowded position. While the Liverpool skipper continues to regain his fitness after a long time off the field with a groin injury, it’s vital that the Reds figure out a way to orchestrate Gerrard into their lineup sooner rather than later.
While the Reds are the odds-on favorite to grab the final Champs League spot, North London squad Tottenham could play spoiler to the Reds’ Champs League aspirations as they did in the 2009-10 season.
The Spurs looked very active during Sunday’s North London derby, where they added to the pile of Arsenal’s anguish, which seems to be growing by the week.
Looking incredibly spirited throughout the game, Spurs midfielder Scott Parker turned heads with his nonstop pace in Tottenham’s 2-1 victory over the Gunners.
The Spurs have an abundance of attacking options, with Welch winger Gareth Bale constantly feeding striker Emmanuel Adebayor and midfielders Rafael van der Vaart and Luka Modric.
The fourth and final undefeated team, Aston Villa will be in the hunt for the Europa League bid, as will pesky Stoke City and their new goal-getter, Peter Crouch. In addition, two squads — Everton and Fulham — that feature American-born stars, will challenge for a spot amongst Europe’s second-tier, as forward Clint Dempsey looks to score for Fulham and Everton goalie Tim Howard looks to keep the ball out of the net.
The bottom-feeders
Oh, Arsenal, where to begin?
With every goal star striker Robin Van Persie scores, he’s one step closer to joining Manchester City in January. Other than that, one of their only respectable defenders not already nursing an injury, Bacary Sagna, will be sidelined until January with a broken leg.
There’s little good news to come out of the Gunners’ camp this year other than a fine showing by young French midfielder Fancis Coquelin in the loss to Tottenham. They sit at 2-1-4 in the Premier League thus far.
Unlike Liverpool’s fall from grace last year, Arsenal’s way out isn’t a quick fix, and the higher brass at Arsenal have never shown a willingness to dish out money to begin with. While the Reds brought in a new manager and some quick tinkering to manage a sixth-place finish a year ago, Arsenal would need to wipe the slate clean to dream of a sixth-place finish.
If Van Persie decides to jet for greener pastures in January, the Gunners will be in significantly worse shape.
All three promoted clubs have picked up two victories apiece to sit in the middle of the table, with Queens Park Rangers most likely to stay the course after adding proven EPL veterans Joey Barton and Shaun Wright-Phillips.
Sorry, Wolverhampton, Sunderland, West Bronwich, Wigan, Blackburn and Bolton, you’re not worthy of mentioning in the first portion of the Premier League.
