Liverpool fans are no doubt finding the Premier League table extremely attractive but the truth is that at this stage of the season it remains deeply flawed, skewed as it still is towards teams that have had favourable fixtures and a couple of flukey results. Thankfully, though, we have been able to right some of these wrongs, allowing one side to make an incontrovertible case for the title of great overperformer if not, in the end, dislodging Jürgen Klopp’s entertainers from top spot.
The biggest problem with the real table is that, in these still early days before every team have played every other team, it does not reflect the quality of opposition each side have faced. This can make quite a difference and quickly alter perceptions of teams’ relative merits. So Swansea’s plight, marooned as they are in 19th place in the table, appears less dreadful with the knowledge that they have had by a distance the most difficult opening 11 games of all top-flight teams. They have already played eight of the top 10, including all the top four, while West Brom have played only four top-half sides, three of them at home.
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