Chelsea: my personal opinion is that they have been prematurely crowned as title favorites. Obviously clear contenders. Negatives:
they have had a relatively easy fixture list so far. Lukaku and Werner are injured, Pulisic is AWOL and Havertz isn't up to speed yet. They also seem to be over performing relative to their xG/xGA stats (Burnley was the first time they over performed relative to said stats). Losing Mendy for a few games for AFCON may hurt them (have you seen Kepa??) Positives: mean defense, insane squad depth. Reece James has been fantastic this season (except for the SNAFU at Anfield).
Liverpool: Case can be made for them being title favorites. Negatives: squad depth and injuries especially in their midfield. They seem to be more porous at the back compared to recent seasons (they have conceded 11 goals to date). The few games they miss Salah and Mane and Keita and Matip for AFCON will be key (Egypt vs Senegal final anyone?
) Positives: potent attack capable of putting goals past anyone. Salah... what else to say? Looks like there's a player in Curtis Jones too.
City: Case can be made for them being title favorites. Negatives: they are shit finishers relative to their chance creation rate. They may have a few games here or there where they cannot hit the barn door. De Bruyne and Sterling (their most direct attacker right now) are not in form at all. They don't have a striker (this is the lazy line being trotted out). Positives: squad depth. They also have a mean defense. And their possession play has gone up a level as demonstrated against other title caliber teams and United. Best player so far has been either Cancelo (best playmaker from full back this season with stiff competitors in TAA and James), B. Silva, and Rodri. They have played the toughest fixture list this season among the 3 teams listed so far.
West Ham: They will do well to finish top 4, anything above this would instantly earn Moyes a MOTS award. Negatives: they don't dominate teams the way the other teams mentioned do, leading to periods in games where they can concede from a great position. Moyes for all his great work is not as good as any of Klopp, Pep or Tuchel. Positives: they make teams work to score. So far they've proven the ability to consistently win against the best of the rest in the team. Declan Rice has been excellent for them but in Soucek, Antonio, Fabianski, Fornals... They have a great spine.
The Rest:
United: going nowhere until a new manager is hired. Nothing else to be said
Leicester: in danger of regressing after a few solid seasons. Kasper hasn't had a great season so far.
Spurs: if Conte has them hitting the ground running a team with an on form Kane and Son will be in the running for top 4
Arsenal: easy fixture list so far flatters them. They'll have to do more in terms of performances and results in order to challenge for a spot in Europe.
Everton: nah
