Premiership Review - up to December 2nd

With over a third of the season gone I thought it was about time to review the season so far and make a few predictions about the outcome of the 2000 / 01 Premier League season.
For the main title challengers the table doesn't make good reading as of December 2nd with runaway leaders Man Utd a massive 8 points clear already. It was apparently a two-horse race with both Man Utd and Arsenal pulling clear of the rest of the Premiership. But a terrible run of results for Arsenal and Man Utd winning their 8th Premiership game on the row at home to Tottenham the gap is now widening and Man Utd don't seem to be taking their foot off the pedal. They can score at will and the defence this season with the addition of Fabian Barthez has looked much more solid than in previous seasons. The emergence of Wes Brown at the heart of the defence with Gary Neville has meant that the loss of Jaap Stam due to injury has not affected the team too much. Amazingly Teddy Sheringham is heading the Top Scorers chart with 11 goals already and with Paul Scholes and David Beckham consistently scoring from midfield it is hard to see who can stop them. On the other hand it seems that Arsenal are lacking confidence after an awful set of results in November in which they failed to beat Southampton and Derby at home and were beaten by Leeds at Elland Rd. I think they rely too heavily on Thierry Henry who is lacking confidence at the moment and not scoring.
Among the other supposed title challengers Liverpool have made the best start with Emile Heskey starting to repay some of his transfer fee after 10 goals so far. After having the best defence last season it is this that is forcing Liverpools title challenge off course in this campaign. Whilst their home record matches that of Man Utd and Arsenal they have conceeded a lot of goals away from home and lost 5 games. Having sacked Gianluca Vialli earlier in the season, Chelsea have not faired much better under new boss Claudio Ranieri who can't speak english. They don't work as a team and they haven't found the right system yet but they have a lot of quality players so if they find the right formation and manage to build a team ethic then they could start making their way up the league, if they learn to win away. Leeds Utd are suffering in the league this season in much the same way Chelsea were last season, by concentrating too much on the Champions League in which they did very well to qualify from their first round group. They have also had bad injury problems but with Harry Kewell on the way back and record signing Rio Ferdinand in defence things are looking up. Mark Viduka has found the transition from Scottish Premier League to the English Premiership a hard one but he is still banging in the goals.
Elsewhere Leicester have made an excellent start to the season under highly successful England under-21 Coach, Peter Taylor, who has led them to third place. They don't score many goals and they concede even less but with a young manager in place they keep grinding out crucial results both home and away. The form of David James and Paul Merson has been the high point so far for Aston Villa. New signing David Ginola has not played much but if fit he could help Villa maintain their place in the top six and pushing for a place in Europe, but I still think they need a proven goalscorer after Luc Nilis was badly injured. Tottenham have a home record to match the best but the worst away record in the league means they are just a top half team. If nothing improves they may lose Sol Campbell at the end of the season, and the fans are becoming impatient about the lack of success and the style of play that George graham likes to adopt. Under ageing Bobby Robson, Newcastle made an excellent start to this campaign and he has turned things round after last season but in order to start challenging again I think a fresh approach is needed because they have some talented players in their ranks. Kevin Phillips has failed to hit the heights of last season with only 5 goals for Sunderland. The Black Cats will be looking for a European slot but will have to score more for this to happen. Everton have made a mediocre start and I would expect them to beat some top teams and lose to some poor teams and finish mid-table. The form of Danny Cadamarteri has been a bonus but I think Walter Smith needs to purchase a few players. West Ham have established themselves in the top 8 over the past few seasons and with Di Canio still able to perform well they continue to get the results. However having recently sold Rio Ferdinand and having a few over-35's at the back I think Harry Redknapp should invest the Ł18m in some new young defenders.
The same old teams are struggling at the bottom again but perhaps surprisingly Middlesbrough are in deep trouble at the bottom. Their abysmal home form is angering the fans and Bryan Robson looks increasingly under pressure with no improvement in results. Bradford are rock bottom but Jim Jefferies has breathed new life into the team who could not score in the league. It took a while for Derby to record their first win but since the introduction of Colin Todd to help Jim Smith they have looked a different team, not conceeding for three straight games. Southampton and Coventry are in familiar territory in the lower half of the league but the lack of goals from Gordon Strachans side worries me most. They could both be in for a long season.
   Among the promoted sides Ipswich have looked most promising with their free flowing football and pass and move style. Marcus Stewart is realising his potential in the Premiership and with excellent young stars like Wright, Bramble and Clapham the future looks bright for George Burley and his side. Charlton have made a decent start and Alan Curbishley has learnt from their last taste of the Premiership. Keeper Dean Kiely has been very impressive and the shrewd signing of Jonaton Johansson has paid dividends for the Addicks. Man City who have not won anything for 24 YEARS will struggle for the rest of the season unless they score more goals and the return of the goat may be the kickstart they need.

Now for my Premiership predictions:

                             Winners: Man Utd
             Champions League: Arsenal, Liverpool
                               Top Six: Aston Villa, Leicester, Leeds
                           Relegated: Man City, Coventry, Bradford