The table doesn’t lie but teams such as Burnley and Brighton are exceeding all expectations while Swansea and Everton have disappointed badly. Here’s how the 20 sides rank based on early-season health and vigourThey say the league table never lies, and this is of course true. What they don’t tell you is that during the dog days of an international break, when nothing falls or rises and hopes and fears are put on temporary hold, the narrative becomes a bit less compelling.You get sick of looking at the same thing, in other words, although Burnley, Brighton, Watford and Huddersfield will probably never tire of waiting for winter and the real meat of the season from a position in the top...
Brighton, Huddersfield and Newcastle are surpassing expectations and are showing clubs such as Everton and West Ham how it should be doneWhen Pep Guardiola suggested an English team could win the Champions League the other day he was asked if he did not consider the intensity of the Premier League a potential problem. Intensity being the word normally used to promote the idea that the English league is somehow tougher and more demanding than other leagues around Europe, with more competitive fixtures each weekend and a festive programme that usually sets out to be as gruelling as possible when other countries’ footballers are quite sensibly having a rest.“No,” Guardiola said. “I don’t believe in that. I think the best team...
From a bargain triumph at Brighton to a costly success at Manchester City, and from a struggling £25m Leicester striker to an unseen defender at Southampton, we assess how last summer’s transfer business looks so farPascal Gross (Ingolstadt to Brighton, £2.6m) Related: The 10 most improved players in Europe's big leagues this season Related: Transfer window 2017 – every deal in Europe's top five leagues Continue reading...
Eden Hazard may tire of being kicked, Tony Pulis is under pressure at West Brom and Pep Guardiola may seek more firepower in JanuaryEden Hazard was fouled six times at Stamford Bridge. At one point in the second half the Belgium international was fouled by not one but three opponents in the colours of Manchester United, dragged to the ground by a combination of Nemanja Matic, Eric Bailly and Phil Jones like a man being crushed by falling trees. It is a regular experience for Chelsea’s No10, who can duck in and out from season to season, but who is at least consistent in his role as a human piñata for opposition teams. Hazard is kicked constantly in the Premier...
Everton’s uneven squad was exposed again at Lyon, despite signs of youthful promise, but with new stadium commitments looming large the club cannot afford to remain in relegation troubleL’Équipe’s headline on matchday morning read “Un air de KO” and that’s what came to pass for Everton on a night in Lyon where there had been an air of inevitability if not resignation in the buildup, the team’s third match under the caretaker management of David Unsworth and ultimately their third defeat.Lyon, as Chelsea and Leicester had before them, had too much for a side with barely a goal threat and though again there were promising signs from a side heavy on youth and in which Ademola Lookman put in a...