Seems pretty accurate to me,nice analysis.

It is a bit of a cliche, and is used every season, but I have feeling this season January might well turn out key.

If United/Chelsea/City are way behind come January 1st, will they go out and splash out £80m to try to claw it back?

Pretty much spot on.

Arsenal are looking good, but a few injuries would test their squad, especially in defence and up front. Spurs have some depth to their squad and are dark horses imo. City are my favourites, followed by Chelsea, Spurs and Arsenal.

Utd look a shadow of the team they were under Ferguson. They may scrape the top 4, but it's by no means guaranteed. A lot will depend on the form of van Persie.

Liverpool and Everton if they can avoid injuries have an outside chance of the top 4, but I expect them to fall short.

This is going to be an exciting season and is very hard to predict, with the influx of new managers at 4 out of these seven clubs.

Arsenal have been unexpectedly good at this stage, but of the six other teams mentioned in this article they've only played Spurs at home, so there's plenty more tests to come.

Spurs have a great squad but are finding goals hard to come by. I think they should hope to be finishing 4th.

Chelsea and City are in similar positions. Both have had okay starts but nothing special, yet I'd still bank on them to be the top two come May.

United will get better but clearly the Summer's inactivity is costing them. I'm sure they will finish in the top four but a title seems unlikely.

Liverpool are very similar to Arsenal in that both have had good starts, but both have only played one other top team. As the tough games start to wrack up, I imagine we'll drop off the pace and finish 6th.

Some inspired signings mean that Everton have a good chance of being the best on Merseyside again, but they've also only played one of the other 6 in this article do it's difficult to judge yet.

Arsenal have been unexpectedly good at this stage,
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I don't get why it's still 'unexpectedly good'.

We've been the best team in 2013 in the Premier League, results wise. What more do you want?

pretty much agree also term,

Arsenal are the only ones who could be a surprise package as far as league title goes, don't think Spurs are there just yet.

i see it as a 4 way fight for 2 spots between us,utd,spurs and Arsenal, but then as said if they are a real threat to the title, that leaves one spot for us,utd and spurs to fight for, be some doing if we managed it.

still cant see past city or chelsea for the title, as already said they can spend silly money in jan if in trouble, and probably still have cl football by then as well to offer players.

I think things can only improve for Liverpool now.
When Coutinho and Johnson return, we will have a much more balanced look about us.
We obviously missed Coutinho of late, and my only concern would be lack of a link man in that midfield position if he's injured again.
We have Joe Allen to return, but he doesn't give you the direct attacking option from midfield like the young Brazilian does.
We will challenge for top four this season, but obviously its going to be difficult, but with Suarez and Sturridge up front, we always have a chance.

Also think City will win the league

Arsenal won't win the league, and will be amongst the scramble for top four places come the end of the season.
For me, City and Chelsea will eventually fight it out for the title, with United, Spurs, Arsenal, Liverpool, and maybe Everton looking for those remaining European places.

NnCity have looked incredibly inconsistent this season. One week I'd have them struggling down on 6th. The next they'd walk the league. I think it'll take time for Manny to find his best team, where they'll be able to find some consistency. Could be to late for a title push by then though.

Cba with Arsenal has already had a lengthy discussion with an Arsenal friend about them.

Don't care about Utd. Though I've said it for years that their team isn't all that and it's down to Fergie as to why they were winning.

I'd expect Chelsea to win the league but the mentality of the players seems to be giving Jose a headache. Reckon we could see a massive shake up in Jan. That or they start playing better.

Everton look good. Watched the match last night and it was as expected. Played well but were easily found out in the second half and got countered by Newcastle pretty well, despite how awfully they played throughout. I'd expect some pretty performances but in the end nothing will come from it. Much like our first season. Though I think Martinez is a lot more tactically naive than Rodgers so we'll see how they progress from their.

For us. It can easily go either way. Although I do think we have a realistic chance of top 4. Depending on how some of the other teams perform and the injuries we do or don't get.

As for Arsenal i think it depends on a lot of factors:
They have just one striker (sonago doesn't count ) (remember when we have only torres?)
Can they keep their players fit?
Will they bottle it at some point ?

If Arsenal can keep there players fit and maybe buy Benteke in january they will deffo challenge and might even win the league

I don't think chelsea will win the league tbh, can't see them scoring enough goals considering the strikers they have.

I think Chelsea and Arsenal rely on goals from midfield and the wing more than having a top striker.

No problem with that. Bayern are probably the best team in the land, yet have only Manduzkic as their out and out striker.

Played well but were easily found out in the second half and got countered by Newcastle pretty well,

Have Liverpool played a good second half this season?

comment by Chris H - The Wizard of Öz (U15205)
posted 2 minutes ago
I think Chelsea and Arsenal rely on goals from midfield and the wing more than having a top striker.

No problem with that. Bayern are probably the best team in the land, yet have only Manduzkic as their out and out striker.
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Baryern Have fantastic wingers
You lot have theo, chelsea doesn't they have a fabulous no 10 in Mata but Jose doesn't fancy him
A team can't rely on the midfield for goal a whole season... You need your strikers to chip in

Alas. Don't be so touchy.... It's difficult to argue seeing as you were 3-0 up and then let in two goals isn't it?

No need to bite and turn it into club v club, I said neutral. See if you can manage it

I fail to see how Liverpool factor into Everton's second half.

It's a different situation as well. Everton played the way they had been in the first half. And Newcastle adapted and countered your system.

We've just played badly/differently. It's not our system that's being found out, it's the players.

Easier to change or fix players than a manager.

Easier to change or fix players than a manager.

Why hasn't it been done then? Martinez has started his tenure at Everton better than Rodgers did at Liverpool, yet you're finding holes. We're the only unbeaten side in the prem,so he's doing something right. Under Moyes we hardly ever had two good halfs,so maybe it's the players and not the manager.

I don't think any team has won the league losing more than 5/6 games.
United have already lost 3 and will have to be tight as a nuns hosiery from now till the end of the season to have a chance,never right them off under fergus,moyes has it all to prove under massive expectation.

Pretty fair to all teams OP.

I've been slightly surprised by Arsenal, the first game of the season against Villa they looked fragile but since then every game seem to have been controlled. The form of Ramsey and Giroud, two players I've never particularly rated, has been excellent. Still short of a striker but in this season of inconsistency they are surely a title threat.

City are hot and cold. Yaya is looking imperious again but for me an inform Aguero moves them to another level - they look so much more dangerous. I expect them to get it right over the course of the season, probable champions.

Chelsea were my pre-season tip largely due to Jose but something doesn't seem right. I thought Hazard would really kick on but not seen that yet and the Mata/Luiz issues appear to be overshadowing the actual players. Top 3 would be my guess now.

Spurs I don't really know what to think tbc, so much attacking talent purchased and so few goals to show for it. I guess it will take time. Defensively solid though.

Man Utd, almost the definition of transition. I would guess they'll spend in January and claim a top 4 spot but not figure in the title chase.

Liverpool, we'll have good games and bad. Hopefully challenge for top 4 but will probably fall short.

Everton have looked really good so far. Lukaku was a great get, as was Barry (for different reasons obviously). Not convinced about squad depth but with a bit of luck on injuries they could continue to surprise.

Alas - you have an unrivalled ability to turn the most reasonable of discussion into an adversarial Everton-Liverpool argument. It's impressive albeit in a rather tiresome way.

A thought on the Luiz/Mata issue. Both are extremely popular with the fans. Luiz kind of in a cult figure way due to his attacking style of play, not to mention his hairdo! Mata for more straightforward reasons ie player of the season and match winning ability. We all know Jose likes to be the centre of attention, and there's no doubt he yearns cult status amongst the fans. Could it be a simple case of Jose having his ego undermined by members of the team? If so it could spell trouble for team unity.....

Cheers Admins

I have to take objection to us making it difficult for ourself's, atleast for now.

Our only dropped points in the PL this season have been away to top 7 sides, you don't often get a great amount of points in those fixtures. Our big test is actually the next couple of months, we have a run of games we should win (and City), it should be after that run we have a fair judgement on us, imo.

term, i actually asked in the complaint box because i wanted to comment

If you want multi boarding's in future, that's the best way to get the admins attention

I am not surprised by Arsenals form and I find it surprising that so many think that their squad is thin considering they have loads of injuries and are still top. Giroud is key and they have some hard games coming up before January.

City I'm not sure about and I have no idea why Pellegrini has the reputation that he does. Great squad and will finish top three.

Chelsea - they'll be absolutely fine and are my bet to win the league.

Spurs.... lack creativity in midfield and Paulinho looks the only one to have a goal in him and there won't be many of those. Don't know enough about Lamela but I feel he'll have to do well for them to get above 4th. Great keeper but the fullbacks are gash.

Utd - The way they are playing I can see them dropping points away to Sunderland possibly but I think Southampton will get a result against them. They need to start winning but I don't see where it is coming from. I've watched them four times this season and was not impressed in any of them bar Leverkusen.

Liverpool. We'll entertain but where we finish will depend on how we do against the teams listed in this thread pure and simple.

Everton - Couldn't care less. Already out of a cup so that's standard I guess.

I think City will probably have the better record in the top 7 head to head league but i also think at the same time, they will carry on getting far to complacent in games they should win, especially away.

Twice they have dominated, took the lead and gone on and lost, if i was a City fan i would be a bit worried about that.