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EPL Review – Reactions to Week 4

By on September 15, 2014

Chelsea are the team to beat
The Premier League table takes at least a few months to sort itself out, but the gap Chelsea have already formed at the top is astonishing. Just four games into the season The Blues are not only the only team with an unblemished record, but are one of just three teams to have won even three of their games so far. Currently, they are sitting five points ahead of their nearest title rival. Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur sit on seven points, while Arsenal and Liverpool are further back at six.

Jose Mourinho teams are usually accredited for their defensive stability, not their creativity and attacking flow, however, Chelsea have already scored fifteen goals, six more than Everton, the second highest scoring team. Diego Costa currently leads the league in goals and Cesc Fabregas in assists, with Ramires not far behind in the latter count as well. That comes with a cost, though, and no team below Chelsea until Everton has allowed more goals. Granted, three of those goals came just from their meeting with The Toffes.

Cesc Fabregas has tactically been a brilliant defensive midfield partner with Nemanja Matic in Mourinho’s 4-2-3-1, with the former pushing forward and providing creativity when Chelsea attack while the latter stops most counter-attacks from breaking. Deadline day signing Loic Remy doesn’t seem a bad substitute for Costa, either, scoring on his debut this weekend. Chelsea haven’t faced any of their title rivals yet but will be the team to beat after Manchester City dropped points in a disappointing defeat to Stoke City and Arsenal kept up to par with on Saturday, and not just on the scoreboard, on the pitch as well.

Manchester United really aren’t that far behind
It took a while for Louis Van Gaal to properly assemble his side, up to this weekend, in fact, and United clearly struggled, winning just two points from their first three games. However, with a convincing win this weekend that suggest United’s new “galacticos” look will certainly have them challenging for Champions League football, if no the title, they have benefitted from poor starts by Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Tottenham, and now lie just one point behind their biggest rivals for a Champions League spot. In fact, over the last two weekends United have won more points than any of those teams.

The last time United won just two points from their first three games, in the 2007/2008 season, they went on to win the league title and the Champions League. Their season is far from over, and don’t even have to play that much catch-up.

Bottom four in a battle for the first sacking of the season
It comes as a surprise that not won team has lost all four of their matches so far, and only Queens Park Rangers have lost three. And QPR won once putting them on three points, and have already faced Manchester United and Tottenham. Four teams are tied on points at the bottom of the table, and while two points from the first four games usually doesn’t drive teams to panic just yet, all four managers of those teams sitting on the bottom are fighting for their jobs, for different reasons each.

1.Burnley still goalless
Burnley drew Manchester United right before the international break, and have already faced the league leaders Chelsea, however, still have two points to show. Yet manager Sean Dyche will still be fighting for his job, namely because they are currently in a streak of over 350 minutes without scoring a goal. Not since the seventh minute of their first match have they scored. Even the debut of deadline-day signing George Boyd, a forward himself, couldn’t spur Burnley into scoring against Crystal Palace this weekend.

2.What Happened to Newcastle?
And Newcastle, oh what in the world happened to Newcastle? In the 2011/2012 season they qualified for Europe in fifth position, and just last season finished in tenth. In fact, they kicked off this season with a strong performance against Manchester City, though it ended in a loss. But since then they drew Aston Villa and Palace, and this weekend succumbed to Southampton in an embarrassing 4-0 defeat. Stewards had to be called to keep angry fans away from Pardew, while Newcastle’s assistant manager John Carver was seen confronting fans giving the team their grief. To say the least, Pardew is feeling heat, despite the fact he is currently the second longest serving manager in the league behind just Arsene Wenger.

3. Palace and West Bromwich Albion have both only faced one tough match against a European challenger each, but still only have two points to come out from their first four matches. West Brom have now lost both of their last two while Palace drew at the weekend.

A multitude of scrappy performances undermining Hull City’s actual talent
Hull’s class, including Gaston Ramirez and Hatem Ben Arfa has been undermined by multiple scrappy draws, like their draw with West Ham United today.

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.