Picture the scene. Sepp Blatter, fed up with England’s dominance of European football, decides to ban all non-British & Irish players from the Premier League. In this post-Apocalyptic world, Aston Villa would probably romp to the league title.

Martin O’Neill faced a tricky pre-season last summer. Early season form had wilted under the stresses and strains of UEFA Cup campaign. His talismanic centre back and captain, Martin Laursen, was forced into early retirement. O’Neill responded by making some understated but extremely savvy signings. New signings Richard Dunne, James Collins, Stephen Warnock & Stewart Downing might not have made headline news in the maelstrom of Manchester City’s spending, but they are all made in a similar image – solid, British, with important top flight experience.

Probably his key signing has been Dunne. One gets the feeling that Dunne was not quite sexy enough for the billionaire owners’ liking. But the over-priced, imbalanced pairing of Joleon Lescott & Kolo Toure is proving about as sexy as Iain Dowie in a mankini.

Richard Dunne may not be the prettiest player to watch, but he is mighty effective, experienced, and you can imagine, a very positive influence in the dressing room. He is a poor man’s John Terry, and that is no bad thing.

The result has been to strengthen the spine of a side that can not only compete with their perennial rivals, but take 9 points from 9 against the seemingly dwindling Top Four. O’Neill is both a great creator of teams but also an impressive developer of players. Exhibit A – James Milner, currently reinventing himself as a creative central midfielder, and making a strong case for a ticket on the plane to South Africa.

Without Europa League distractions, there is no reason to question Villa’s ability to penetrate the Top Four. But with Man City and Spurs also flexing their muscles, it promises to be the most exciting finish to the top half of the table in Premier League history.

Time is tight this busy Monday but having a ‘weekend preview’ as the top story is just irritating. So instead we’ve used Football 365′s ever excellent ‘winners and losers’ feature. Cheers…

The original story can be found here.

Winners

Wigan
Defeat for Chelsea, history for Wigan, relief for the chasing pack and welcome credibility for the other half of the Premier League. All in all, quite some afternoon at whatever Wigan’s stadium is now called.

Perhaps their relegation rivals will not have cheered the result so ecstatically as the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal but Wigan’s bottom-half peers can still take heart from their first defeat of a Big Four team at the 35th time of asking.

Before this weekend, the only matches to truly inspire had been top-of-the-table clashes. With Burnley’s victory over Manchester United reliant on a penalty miss and already a distant memory, here was welcome proof that the bottom-half clubs needn’t be mere cannon fodder but could still step forward into the limelight by giving a heavyweight a proper fight.

To their credit, Wigan looked capable of toppling their illustrious opponents even before the game’s critical moment. Petr Cech loses any sympathy for ridiculously asserting that, “I don’t think it should have been a penalty,” when his trip on Hugo Rodallega was blatant, but it remains a ridiculous anomaly of the rulebook that a single offence, even when made with the best of intentions, can carry a three-pronged punishment. Dismissal, penalty and suspension: it is too much. Cech will have until the end of October to reflect on the excess of that triple whammy.

Yet while their goalkeeper was somewhat unlucky, Chelsea were not. Didier Drogba’s 46th-minute equaliser was the result of their first meaningful attack and a rare howler by Chris Kirkland. As Roberto Martinez observed: “The sending-off changed the perception of the game but it would be very unfair to say we beat Chelsea because of that decision. The performance from the first minute to the last deserved that.”

Liverpool
Has the Anfield nut been cracked? Seven home draws were Liverpool’s undoing last season but just two of those setbacks occurred after February and the new season has started with resounding wins over Burnley, Stoke and Hull – precisely the sort of teams that frustrated Pool a year ago into stalemate.

The change can be explained in just one word: Goals. Not only have Liverpool scored four more goals than any other Premier League club since the start of the season but their last ten league matches at Anfield have provided 34 goals.

Rafa Benitez claims that the difference is a consequence of altered belief rather than altered tactics. Yet it cannot be denied that this is a different Liverpool team to any seen previously under his tenure with Benitez encouraging a more adventurous outlook by deploying two attacking full-backs and adopting a horses-for-courses policy of dropping Steve Gerrard back into midfield – as he did on Saturday at Javier Mascherano’s expense – in order to accommodate another attacker. The results have been emphatic: This season, Anfield has been treated to15 goals in four games whereas in their opening five home fixtures for the 2008/09 campaign Liverpool produced just eight.

There will, inevitably, be a price to pay for this increased aggression. But the overall benefit of the Glen Johnson trade-off demonstrates the value of aggressive risk-taking: The right-back’s defensive vulnerability will on occasion be exposed but just how many teams will be capable of exposing his weakness? The number is less than the amount of goals Johnson will either create or score himself.

After a sticky start, Liverpool are positively moving forward. At Stamford Bridge next Sunday we’ll discover just how far they have come.

Fernando Torres
Much more of this and the ‘two-man’ Liverpool team will become a one-striker outfit. Hull’s defending may have been indefensible but Torres’ hat-trick was another faultless exhibition of centre-forward play. He may not have a trademark trick but his ability to step off either foot is one of the secrets to his phenomenal success. He glides past so many defenders not merely because of the quickness of those feet but because it is impossible to predict which way he will turn.

Manchester United
And much more of this and Ryan Giggs will be crowned the new Cristiano Ronaldo. In two games, the Welshman has claimed five assists – more than any other player has managed all season. The inspiration against Manchester City a week ago, he was the game-changer at Stoke after replacing the dreadful Nani with an hour played to create both of the visitors’ goals.

Yet behind the awe at the longevity of both Giggs and Paul Scholes will be concern that United are still reliant on their old-stagers. Nani, the hoped-for ‘new Ronaldo’, flopped at Stoke, with Sir Alex Ferguson’s observation that Giggs “added intelligence” to “that side of the pitch” a particularly damning indictment of the 22-year-old’s display. Patience is surely running out in what is the winger’s third season at the club.

Scholes’ excellence at Stoke was less obtrusive but the statistics do not lie. Of the 260 passes he has attempted since August 16, 251 have been completed. Another telling statistic is that, despite suspension and the need for regular rest, he has started twice as many games as Michael Carrick this league season and his relatively-regular pairing with Darren Fletcher is the closest United have to a first-choice midfield partnership.

Scholes turns 35 in November and Giggs 36 in the same month. To keep relying on both is a dangerous business. Sooner rather than later, Ferguson must find replacements for both, but the bittersweet evidence of Saturday is that he is no nearer to completing that task than he was three years ago.

Ben Foster
What a fuss about literally nothing: Stoke managed just a solitary off-target shot in the entire 90 minutes on Saturday.

Arsenal
For a side renowned for their passing game, Arsenal can be incredibly inaccurate on occasion. Fulham did not even have to hassle the visitors out of their stride on Saturday night because Arsenal, and their captain in particular, were just as prone to surrendering possession even when a white shirt wasn’t in nearby attendance. A statistical revelation of their staggering inaccuracy is that just four of the 18 shots they attempted were on target. And it’s not as if the Gunners are long-range shooters. At a rough count, just one of those 14 off-target efforts was taken from outside the penalty area.

Fulham’s superior accuracy deserved better and Arsenal’s victory was thus dependent on their fourth different goalkeeper in as many months of action actually producing some saves and two touches of class from Robin van Persie. In last season’s corresponding fixture, he missed a golden opportunity a couple of minutes before Brede Hangeland scored what transpired to be the winner. This Saturday, he improved his Premier League record to 41 goals in 85 starts with a lovely left foot control, right foot shot combination. He’d be among the absolute elite if he’d also scored with half of the 18 shots from which he has hit the woodwork since last August.

The Dutchman is a difficult character to fathom and he caused a stir before the game by admitting he has previously “exaggerated” his fall. Still, at least he’s honest enough to admit a degree of dishonesty and he remains one of the few players in the current Arsenal squad who possesses both mental strength and a football brain. In the absence of any other credible candidate – Thomas Vermaelen is too new, Manuel Almunia too vulnerable, Gael Clichy too locked into decline – Van Persie looks destined to be the club’s next captain if and when Fabregas departs next summer.

Bolton Wanderers
Five of their seven points have been won with goals scored after the 86th minute.

Tottenham Hotspur
Harry Redknapp may have his faults but false modesty isn’t among them. “That’s why I’m the manager,” the Spurs boss declared gleefully after Robbie Keane had vindicated his controversial retention with the first four-goal haul of his professional career against hapless Burnley.

An alternative viewing from White Hart Lane was that any of the club’s strikers would have vindicated their selection against a defence as incompetent as Burnley’s and Keane wasted almost as many gilt-edged chances as he scored. Redknapp suggested that the “key factor” was “movement against Burnley’s two big central defenders” but a key was hardly required when any sort of ball directed towards the centre of their defence found Burnley hopelessly unlocked. The headline writers may have been deceived by Keane’s haul but his critics were not.

Louis Saha
To realise just what a player Saha could have been, just appreciate the player Saha has been despite all the many injuries. Since his transfer to England, Saha has produced 92 league goals in 232 appearances – 66 of which were as a substitute.

Gabriel Agbonlahor
Five in five for the Villa striker after just one in his previous 18. But is it not somewhat disconcerting that confidence makes such a difference to his game? Even when in form, feast or famine players are always just a couple of games away from a rut.

Sunderland
When Steve Bruce remarked after Sunderland’s 5-2 victory over Wolves that “the side’s mentality has to change,” one of the shortcomings he probably had in mind was the decision of Darren Bent to let Kenwyne Jones take the Black Cats’ 48th-minute penalty because “of the look he was giving me”.

“It won’t happen again. Darren is one of the best penalty takers in the country,” responded a furious Bruce. “If Kenwyne had missed there would have been hell to pay. It’s something kids do with their mates.”

Bruce’s irritation with the incident will have been compounded by his ignorance of the events until after the game. As he superstitiously turns his back whenever his team takes a penalty, Bruce wasn’t even aware that Jones took the spot-kick and finished the match thinking that Bent had scored a hat-trick.

Losers

Chelsea
Carlo Ancelotti’s grace in defeat impressed but not his admission that “we did not play well and I don’t know why”. Managers are paid to understand and know these things. The Italian’s subsequent confession that he was “surprised” by how well Wigan played may, though, provide the explanation for his side’s below-par outing.

A football team is often said to perform in the image of the manager and Chelsea’s on-field complacency was the mirror of Ancelotti apparently making the fatal mistake of underestimating their opponents.

Aston Villa
A messy, annoying, unnecessary defeat to end a period of encouraging revival. The decision that downed them, with Richard Dunne penalised for an unwitting handball, was poor but the brevity of such a review flatters Villa.

Against a side low on confidence and reduced to ten men for the final 22 minutes, luck, bad or otherwise, shouldn’t have still been available as a decisive factor with 60 seconds remaining.

Burnley
100% at home, 0% away from Turf Moor. Burnley are yet to score a goal on their travels, let alone collect a point.

Almost all teams fare better on home soil than they do away but it is the absolute of the Burnley contrast that makes it worthy of remark while condemnation stems from their penchant for talking up the effect of the intimidating atmosphere at their own stadium. But, like Stoke, who boasted of the Britannia Stadium being “a horrible place for visiting teams” on Saturday, they cannot have it both ways.

If visitors to Turf Moor and the Britannia are to be belittled for shrinking in a supposedly-hostile environment, then what are we to conclude from their own regular disappearances away from home?

Portsmouth
Some of the details in their seven matches to date defy belief.

Phil Brown
And that, surely, is part of the problem at Hull City. It’s not Hull that are being talked about but their manager.

The club has almost become subservient to the Phil Brown story with the man himself, no stranger to third-person references, doing most of the writing. “I can’t expect any favours from Liverpool,” he declared on Friday before talking up the “biggest week of my career” and openly admitting that his job was on the line. In fairness, he did not hide after his side’s 6-1 demolition but perhaps he should have described it as something other than “a demoralising result for me”.

Enough is enough. No other club, not even Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United or Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal, has taken second perspective. Either Hull come first or an unhappy ending up will surely be theirs and his final chapter.

Cesc Fabregas
An additional point about Fabregas, warranted by the sheer staggering wretchedness of his overall display at Craven Cottage.

The Spaniard’s performances have declined, without exception, in every match since he suffered a hamstring strain on the opening weekend of the season at Everton. Having limped through the Champions League encounter at Celtic three days later he was, incredibly, still selected to start the home meeting with Portsmouth on August 22. Predictably, the injury was duly antagonised and he was withdrawn at half-time before missing the trip to Old Trafford. Even more incredibly, he was, like Andrey Arshavin, then released for international duty despite being evidently injured.

At least, unlike Arshavin, he did not return in an even worse condition, but it now seems highly probable that Fabregas is suffering for not being given the period of extended recovery the injury required and may even still require. At the next international break, Arsenal should try saying no for once.

Pete Gill

As we always say, in-depth reports and stats are better found elsewhere – we usually recommend the BBC, but after the Strictly Come Dancing fiasco they can no longer be trusted… so try Times Online instead.

Our mini-round up starts with the Big Four – a couple of weeks after they all failed to score, this time they all failed to win – each of them drawing. Chelsea were booed off the pitch after drawing with Zola’s West Ham, their former darling rapturously cheered upon entry. Scolari has said the fans were right; after dropping points in 6 of their last 9 home games, who can blame them? Arsenal and Boros’ inconsistency continued as they played out a draw, while Hull continued their superb form against the top sides, going 2-0 up to Liverpool before being pegged back and eventually holding on for 2-2. Man Utd will be the least worried of the top sides, drawing with a resurgent Tottenham side.

Villa won in thrilling style again, inspired by one of the most exciting English talents in recent years, Ashley Young. He followed two goals last week with another goal and assist in a 4-2 against Bolton, a game in which Gabriel Agbonlahor also starred.

Mark Hughes is under increasing pressure after City slumped to a home defeat to Everton – Tim Cahill stealing all three points with a last minute goal. But not as much pressure as ex-Man Utd team mate Paul Ince, who is hanging on by a thread – and probably not for much longer – as Blackburn were out thought, out fought and generally out played at Wigan. Steve Bruce, despite looking like an old lesbian woman, holds the bragging rights from that trio. Roy Keane’s memory is fading fast at the Stadium of Light where Sunderland crushed West Brom 4-0. It’s amazing what a chance of manager can do sometimes.

Stoke and West Brom played out a predictably dull 0-0, while the final game of the weekend saw Portsmouth crushed 3-0 by a Michael Owen inspired Newcastle. Perhaps as a result of that, he has today been officially offered a new contract.

Will he take it? Liverpool, Chelsea, Everton, and Villa, to name a few, will be keen to find out.

Both English sides lost last night, but with contrasting consequences – Villa’s surprise 2-1 home defeat to Zilina did not stop them qualifying due to results elsewhere, but Portsmouths’ 3-2 defeat in Wolfsburg meant they could not progress.

Obviously lots of goals last night, which is nice, as thanks to our friends at Wakuba we backed over 2.5 goals in the Portsmouth match. They also gave us an under-the-table long shot of Zilina at 11-1 – we’ll be dining out on that for a while!

If you like tales of betting woe, read on… the other bet we had was the last goal in the Pompey game being after the 74th minute. Joy became despair/anger when we realised Wolfsburg’s third goal was during rather than after the 74th minute (73.25 to be precise – 35 seconds too early). Hope anew with the award of a penalty to the Germans after 81 minutes – only for them to miss it!

A profitable night nonetheless…

15 games in, how have the Premiership managers fared so far this season? We take a look…

1. Chelsea – ‘Big Phil’ Scolari

Up until a couple of weeks ago, there would have been no complaints. But after home defeats to both Liverpool and Arsenal in the last few games, along with stuttering progress (not yet secured) in the Champions League, serious questions are now being asked. Deco has gone off the boil, Lampard has not scored in five, and striking options are limited. Fortress Stamford Bridge has been impregnated – twice – are the wheels coming off? Taking stock, Chelsea are still top of the Premiership and on course for the CL knock-out stages – but all is not well at the Bridge. Chelsea, and Scolari, will hope this is a blip rather than a taste of what’s to come.
Overall – 8/10. Pushed up by a strong start, but the rating is falling fast…

2. Liverpool – Rafa Benitez

For the first season in living memory Liverpool are challenging for the title at Christmas, for which Rafa must take huge credit. They have beaten Man Utd and Chelsea, and won games they would not have in the last few seasons. Champions League progress is assured. However, all of this has been done without playing well! That could be seen as a good thing; but they’ll have to improve to actually win anything.
Overall: 9/10. But need to play better to get glory.

3. Alex Ferguson – Man Utd

The usual stuttering start from the Champions, but now only five points off the summit with a game in hand (although Liverpool go eight clear with a win tonight). They have looked assured in the Champions League, qualifying easily, and Christmas is traditionally their best period. However, there are concerns over Ronaldo, who despite scoring lots of goals has not looked his irrepressible self, and also over the effect Berbatov has had on Utd’s playing style. Nevertheless, they will be there or thereabouts come the end of the season, that is for sure. Whether Tevez will be there is another matter.
Overall 8/10. Will be disappointed to be slightly off the pace, but now clicking into gear like the well oiled machine they are.

4. Arsenal – Arsene Wenger

Should have a job for life for the remarkable job he has done over the last few seasons, yet the the short sighted and short memoried imbeciles have been calling for his head. Yesterday’s result did them a power of good – now only 7 points off Chelsea, whereas defeat would have put them 12 points back. Look unlikely Champions, and very much living up to the tag – ‘A team for the future but never today’.
Overall 7.5/10 - Defeats to Hull, Stoke, and Fulham are immensely disappointing, but beating Utd and Chelsea only reinforce the romanticism Arsene has instilled. Would be lower but for yesterday’s result.

5. Aston Villa – Martin O’Neill

The Irishman has done a fantastic job at Villa over the past couple of seasons, transforming them from mid-table also-rans to genuine top four contenders. Have struggled a little in the past few games for goals in the absence of John Carew, but 5th is a great achievement nonetheless. Slight question marks over his purchases – with the exception of Ashley Young, there is little genuine class – Shorey, Knight, Harewood, Routledge and Luke Young hardly screams a push for the Champions League.
Overall: 9/10. Superb so far – can he push to the next level?

6. Hull – Phil Brown

Surpassed all expectations with a phenomenal start. Have stuttered a little recently, but sitting in 6th with 23 points at this stage of the season would have been beyond their wildest dreams. Looking safe from relegation, but Brown will want to hit the 40 point barrier; despite being top six they are only eight points off the drop zone!
Overall: 10/10. Surpassed all expectations.

7. Everton – David Moyes

Now considered an established top 6 club, with all the money flying around elsewhere Moyes will be worried about Everton’s continuing ability to compete in the upper echelons of the table. Fellaini was his only major acquisition and now desperately in need of firepower with the loss of Yakubu and Saha.
Overall: 8/10. Disappointing start says it all, as they still sit 7th. A measure of the expections Moyes has created with his excellent work.

8. Portsmouth – Tony Adams

Seems to have Pompey back on track after an uncertain start to his reign. Rumours of a fire-sale in January won’t do anyone any good, nor will reports Harry Redknapp is set to raid his old club. Still early to judge – but some encouraging signs.
Overall: n/a. To early to judge Adams, his reign is only 5 games old. Drawing with AC Milan and a couple of other good results inspire confidence though.

9. Bolton – Gary Megson

Arguably the form side of the Premiership. Matt Taylor has found his Portsmouth form, Elmander is back scoring, and other acquisitions such as Gary Cahill and Fabrice Muamba look shrewd. Megson is yet to win over the Bolton faithful – but a comfortable top half finish will do wonders.
Overall: 7.5/10. Dodgy start, great improvement of late. Yet to convince the fans but there’s no better way to do that than winning games.

10. Fulham – Roy Hodgson

Hodgson has turned Fulham into a lean outfit, short on numbers but high on organisation and discipline. Andy Johnson is scoring, and the defence is not conceding. No longer a soft touch on the road, either, Fulham are an entirely different proposition under the erstwhile England manager elect. A fantastic transformation.
Overall 9/10; A miracle escape last season, and kicked on admirably this – but where does he take them from here?

Part 2 to come…

A wholly uninspiring set of results yesterday. You can can get full match reports and details of the tedium elsewhere, so we’ll focus on a more abstract element of each game.

Stoke 1 Hull 1

A debatable 73rd minute penalty, won and converted by Ricardo Fuller, cancelled out Marlon King’s excellent strike on the stroke of half time in the battle of the promoted sides.

Dean Windass endeared himself further to the Hull fans – if that’s possible – by obstructing Rory Delap’s freakish throw ins from the bench. Twice he warmed up deliberately in the path of the ugly one’s mammoth run up – twice he was reprimanded, and once booked. Novel, if not exactly sporting…

Sunderland 1 Bolton 4

Goals from alleged-homosexual Matt Taylor, Gary Cahill, and Johan Elmander (2) won this for Bolton after Djibril Cisse’s early strike.

This game compounded Sunderland’s terrible recent form – 6 defeats in 7 games – and extended Bolton’s good run – 4 wins in 5, including three away from home. Roy Keane is now favourite to be next manager to go, at 11/8 – incidentally followed in the betting by two other Alex Ferguson proteges, Mark Hughes and Paul Ince.

Cahill reiterated the Fantasy Football dilemma; goalscoring defenders who do not keep clean sheets. He notched 14 points, but similarly to Hull’s Michael Turner, you can never back on the shut-out. I’m personally against them; you select a defender for a clean sheet, and there are only rare occasions you would back Bolton or Hull to keep one (maybe 4 or 5 games a season). If you rely on your defenders to score goals for points, you’re clutching at straws.

Wigan 2 West Brom 1

Goals from Henri Camara and Emmerson Boyce won this for Wigan after a trademark error from Titus Bramble let in Ismael Miller to give the Baggies the lead.

With Wigan’s remarkable inconsistency you wouldn’t have ruled out an away win here – evidence of that is that yesterday saw Wigan gain their first back-to-back Premiership victories under Steve Bruce, after a year / 39 matches.

Villa 0 – 0 Fulham

Villa are now unbeatable but cannot score – how much they need big John Carew back to get on the end of Ashley Young’s penetrating crosses. In this game, Gareth Barry missed three and Martin Laursen two chances created by the exciting young winger (no pun intended).

Roy Hodgson is doing a great job at Fulham; a shoestring budget and a threadbare squad, but a well-drilled, well-organised side that are difficult to beat.

In this game Brad Friedel broke David James’ record for consecutive Premiership appearances, making his 167th start in a row for Blackburn and now Villa.

Boro 0-0 Newcastle

Tyne and Tees were united in delight at Sunderland’s demise – but there was little else to warm the cockles in a dull game.

Obafemi Martins provided a rare moment of interest, throwing his armband to the ground and storming down the tunnel after being replaced towards the end of the game. After the abject performance of a patently unfit Michael Owen he was perhaps right to be aggrieved…

Let’s hope today provides us with a few more interesting genuine footballing highlights!

For the first time for nearly a century all of the current big 4 – Chelsea, Liverpool, Man Utd, and Arsenal – failed to score on the same weekend. Arsenal were the only side to lose, 3-0 to Man City, to further compound their misery and disarray. This is the most testing period Arsene Wenger has faced since he took over, and it will be interesting to see how he deals with it. What he would have given yesterday for Fabrice Muamba, who drove Bolton forward, or for Matthew Upson, so strong for England in midweek – both cast-offs from his reign. Arsenal are in trouble, there is no doubt of that. They are no longer in the top 4, and have never looked less likely to go on one of their famous runs. Can ‘The Professor’ sort them out?

For Man Utd, Chelsea, and Liverpool, who all drew 0-0, there is less cause for concern. Each will be delighted not to lose ground on the others. Each were held for differing reasons – Utd versus a genuinely quality opposition (Villa), Chelsea against a team who performed a textbook parking of the bus (Newcastle), and Liverpool having a slight off day against a well-organised and well drilled Fulham side.

They will all breathe a sigh of relief that they have not slipped from their current positions, and redouble their efforts next weekend (after the Champions League in midweek).

Of the other two games yesterday, Bolton secured a well earned 3-1 win against Boro, ending the home side’s 5 match unbeaten run – Matt Taylor reminded us of his goalscoring ability, and Johan Elmander got back on the scoresheet.

Finally, in the battle of the promoted sides, Stoke’s belligerent physical ‘football’ overcame West Brom’s sideways and backwards passing, their 1-0 win thanks to a header from the massive Mamady Sidibe.

Spurs take on Blackburn in just under half an hour – and there’s no place for Frazier Campbell, as Pavyluchenko starts alongside Darren Bent. Brilliant. (See here).

Results, scorers, and less interestingly bookings, in full:

Aston Villa	0-0 (HT 0-0)	Man Utd
Bookings: Davies 77

Chelsea	0-0 (HT 0-0)	Newcastle
		Bookings: Gutierrez 50 Guthrie 86

Liverpool	0-0 (HT 0-0)	Fulham

Man City	3-0 (HT 1-0)	Arsenal
Ireland 45+2 Robinho 56 Sturridge (pen) 90+2
		Bookings: Song Billong 87

Middlesbrough	1-3 (HT 0-2)	Bolton
Pogatetz 77		Steinsson 8 Taylor 10 Elmander 78
Bookings: Pogatetz 7 Digard 22		Bookings: Muamba 52 Cahill 63 Samuel 67 Nolan 70 McCann 84

Portsmouth	2-2 (HT 1-0)	Hull
Crouch 20 Johnson 63		Turner 54 Pamarot o.g. 89
Bookings: Diop 85 Davis 90+5		Bookings: Windass 86

Here is the Premiership table updated after this weekend’s fixtures (courtesy of the BBC).

			| Home					| Away
	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Chelsea	13	3	2	1	13	3	7	0	0	19	1	28	32
2	Liverpool	13	5	1	0	11	4	5	1	1	10	4	13	32
3	Man Utd	12	5	1	0	18	4	2	2	2	7	6	15	24
4	Arsenal	13	4	1	2	14	10	3	1	2	11	5	10	23
5	Aston Villa	13	3	2	1	10	7	4	0	3	12	9	6	23
6	Hull	13	2	2	3	7	14	4	1	1	12	7	-2	21
7	Everton	13	1	3	3	7	12	4	1	1	12	9	-2	19
8	Middlesbrough	13	3	1	2	7	9	2	2	3	7	9	-4	18
9	Portsmouth	13	3	1	2	8	6	2	2	3	5	12	-5	18
10	Fulham	12	5	1	1	10	5	0	1	4	2	6	1	17
11	Sunderland	13	2	1	3	6	8	2	2	3	6	11	-7	15
12	Man City	13	3	0	3	16	8	1	2	4	10	14	4	14
13	Bolton	13	2	2	3	6	7	2	0	4	5	8	-4	14
14	West Ham	13	3	1	3	11	11	1	1	4	5	11	-6	14
15	Stoke	13	4	0	2	10	9	0	2	5	3	15	-11	14
16	Wigan	13	1	2	3	3	8	2	2	3	12	10	-3	13
17	Newcastle	13	3	2	2	11	9	0	2	4	6	13	-5	13
18	Blackburn	13	1	2	4	4	12	2	2	2	10	12	-10	13
19	Tottenham	13	2	1	3	6	6	1	2	4	10	14	-4	12
20	West Brom	13	2	1	4	8	14	1	1	4	2	10	-14	11

There are a ridiculous 10 points between bottom and 6th place, and anyone across that range is very much at risk of relegation. It is a bit early to start making predictions, but judging on form so far this season, here’s our analysis of the battle to avoid the drop.

Aside from the Top 4, and Villa, you have to say that anyone else could still go down. Hull are in all probability safe, but they risk their ‘unknown’ factor being lost in the second half of the season; teams will know how to play them, and they will struggle to pick up points. They still need to double their current tally to be safe and that is easier said than done. It would take a drastic loss of form and unlikely run of results to condemn them, however.

You also have to think Everton will be ok, they have a lot of quality (Yakuba, Saha, Cahill, Arteta, Fallaini, Lescott, Jagielka) and are now coming into form. Man City should be fine – if only by buying their way out of trouble – and Redknapp’s legacy at Portsmouth (bar a fire sale in January) should see them clear. Roy Keane and Sunderland should have enough to avoid struggling – Kenwyne Jones and Djibril Cisse are a potent front two, and acquisitions such as Malbranque and Chimbonda add further quality.

You would have said Spurs would push for the top 6 now they’re a rejuvinated outfit uder Redknapp, but a surprise defeat to Fulham has re-raised doubts, and could do the same to the players. You cannot underestimate how much of a liability Huerelho (how do you spell that?) Gomes actually is. But, with the team they have, and assuming ‘Arry gets them back on the rails, you have to fancy them for a top 10 finish.

Middlesbrough have an exciting young side and though inconsistent, on their day they can beat the better sides and thus should accumulate enough points – a team to watch over the next few seasons.

Roy Hodgson is an astute manager (remember he very nearly got the England job not so long ago) and his nous, plus key men Hangerland, Bullard, Murphy and Johnson, should see Fulham to at least 17th place.

So that leaves us with Newcastle, West Ham, Bolton, Stoke, West Brom, and Blackburn. Take your pick from those six – sticking my neck out, I’ll say West Brom, Stoke, and – depending on managerial changes – one of Blackburn and West Ham to go down.

West Brom play great football, pass the ball nicely, and try to outplay rather than outfight of out manouevre teams – but they just don’t have enough quality. They will never, in a passing, footballing style, outclass Man Utd, Chelsea, Spurs – even Fulham. And though I admire them, admire Mowbray for his ideals, his purism could be the death of him.

Take out Rory Delap’s long throws and Stoke would be comfortably bottom; and that weapon will, eventually, be nullified. Like Hull, they’ll suffer from losing their surprise factor, and I see them really plummeting in the second half of the season. They just don’t have any good players!

Blackburn and West Ham both have young, inexperienced managers – but decent squads. If either can turn it around – or either are fired and replaced with experience and nous – both are capable of pulling clear of danger. But, I don’t think both will, and one will go down. With previous form in that area, West Ham probably have most to worry about.

And so, rather because of the paucity of other sides than their own quality, Newcastle, Bolton, and Blackburn may survive.

I’ll revisit this in 6 months time…