Who will be relegated this season?
While it’s a foolish errand to predict this early, there are worrying portents for a few sides languishing near the bottom.
It’s obvious where Stoke’s problems lie, having conceded 14 goals in five games – the 4-1 humiliation at Palace last weekend was predictably galling. The injury to England goalkeeper Jack Butland cannot be underestimated, but with WBA and Sunderland at home in the next three weeks, Mark Hughes will know a couple of wins could change everything.
I think Stoke will survive – and surely David Moyes has enough about him to keep Sunderland afloat, or does he? Again, he will be looking at upcoming games as Palace and WBA come to the Stadium of Light, with trips to Stoke and West Ham just as crucial.
For me, you can perm three from Burnley, Bournemouth, Sunderland and Swansea.
Can anyone catch Manchester City?
You can’t win a league after five games, but I don’t think in the history of EPL that any team has set down as convincing a marker this early on as Pep Guardiola’s boys.
It’s not just the perfect record, but the way they’ve got results in different ways.
Manchester City celebrate yet another goal (Getty file)
Scratchy against Sunderland first up (2-1), they improved massively at Stoke (4-1). There was an air of inevitability about the West Ham win (3-1), while they held on against a second half onslaught from their Manchester rivals (2-1). Bournemouth were convincingly despatched (4-0) and Swansea must be dreading this weekend.
Interestingly, Pep has already used six defenders, but in midfield he’s much more settled, with Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling and Fernandinho starting every match.
Nolito is suspended and Sergio Aguero had a bit of a calf injury before his three-match ban, but there don’t appear to be many chinks of light for the chasing pack.
Have Watford lost the yo-yo tag?
Watford don’t have a glittering history in the EPL.
Promoted to play with the big boys in 1999, they went straight back down the following season, having won just six games.
Their record was even worse in 2007. Arriving off the back of a play-off triumph, they won just five matches and returned to the dirty old Championship.
But after last year’s heroics it seems very unlikely they’re taking the yo-yo path this time around.
You would think that boss Quique Sanchez Flores would have been given keys to the city after breaking the curse and leading them to mid-table and an FA Cup semi-final last year. Oh no, he was let go and Walter Mazzarri was drafted in.
But Watford are handling the transition well. Wins against West Ham and a lesson in passion and speed for Manchester United have pushed them into the top 10.
You just get the feeling that experienced pros such as Etienne Capoue and Troy Deeney are the real heartbeat of this club right now, whoever’s steering the ship up top.
Why are clean sheets such a rarity?
Remarkably, there have only been seven clean sheets in the last two game-weeks - just 35 per cent of fixtures.
There’s an average of 2.84 goals per game, and the only team with consecutive clean sheets is Spurs.
It’s proving to be brilliant entertainment, but the art of defending appears to be a dying one in the EPL.
Perhaps the only Premier League player who would be rated in the top 10 world-best list is Vincent Kompany – and he’s been blighted by injury for the past 18 months.
Formation changes could certainly be a factor.
No longer the home of the traditional 4-4-2, many teams adopt a 4-2-3-1 in the fast-paced EPL, with a huge emphasis on fullbacks getting higher up the pitch.
As an interesting comparison, there were seven clean sheets in the Spanish La Liga last week and 11 in week two. I know which competition I’d rather be watching.
Do we need so many TV pundits?
Okay, perhaps that question should be rephrased - should we have better pundits?
Let’s be honest, some of them are dreadful.
“He’s a top, top, top player!” “That finish is simply world class.” “He’s done him there…and that’s a great finish.”
The likes of Gary Neville and his technical wizardry at Sky TV have shown everyone how it’s done. We want to know why a player has the space to make that finish. Has the defender got himself in the wrong position? Should the fullback or the midfielder be tracking there? Have the opposition targeted a specific player as a weak link?
We all know they’re top, top finishes… I’d just like some top, top analysis!
Newshub.