The fourth weekend of Premier League action came and went, and with it one month of the League season - August - is over and it has undoubtedly delivered drama, controversy, brilliance and thus many talking points. Man City and Liverpool continue to show it will be a battle between them for title A new season tends to bring with it many changes, as there are new signings, new teams, however, one thing that has remained the same from last season is the fact that Manchester City and Liverpool are the two strongest teams in the League. Liverpool, who finished last season as runners-up, have so far began with a 100% record having beaten Norwich City, Southampton, Arsenal and Burnley. It must be said that the Southampton win was somewhat unconvincing but the rest were all fairly comfortable victories, whilst one senses that they still have far from hit top gear. It would have been easy for Liverpool to feel downhearted having been beaten by Manchester City to the title by one point last season, though rather than get demoralised - they have got their heads down and lie at the top of the table. As for reigning champions Manchester City, they have won each of their four games bar one, in which they absolutely outclassed Tottenham and had a late Gabriel Jesus winner disallowed. Manchester City have continued from where they left off last season, performing very well, scoring several goals whilst not conceding too many. Although it is still very early days and difficult to call who will finish the season as champions, the key reason why the race for title will be between Manchester City and Liverpool once again, is that over and above the brilliant football they play - the fact that they are incredibly consistent even if they do not hit top gear. There is a very long way to go of course, but on the evidence so far who would bet against one of Manchester City and Liverpool to win the title come May?
Sheffield United show incredible resolve to draw away to Chelsea Many may argue the fact that Sheffield United lack the quality to survive in the Premier League, which may be proven right at the end of the season. However, it cannot be argued in the slightest that, if they do go down, it will absolutely not be for the want of trying. In their match on Saturday, they went 2-0 down away to Frank Lampard's Chelsea after conceding two very avoidable goals - the first one goalkeeper Dean Henderson is to blame for the fact he did not grab the ball, and the second one the fault lies with defenders Jack O'Connell and John Egan for a lack of communication. At that point, it would have been very easy for the Blades to be disheartened and just ensure that they limit the damage, but instead they kept pushing and were ultimately rewarded by scoring 2 goals in the second half which earned them a second point on the road. That resolve they showed in coming back from 2 goals down was impressive to see, and it will be crucial as it may very easily determine whether they survive in the Premier League or not this season. Leicester to mount a challenge for Europe this season? After four league games have been played this season, just behind Manchester City and Liverpool there is a somewhat surprise name lying in third place, 2015/16 Premier League champions Leicester City, who are the only team other than the current top two still unbeaten in the League this season. Despite having won the League title against all the odds just over three years ago, one may actually argue that this current Leicester team is better than the one that won them the title. The quality of midfield men James Maddison and Youri Tielemans, coupled with a very ruthless finisher in Jamie Vardy who leads the attack, as well as the experience of Jonny Evans at the heart of the defence, complemented with manager Brendan Rodgers backs the earlier argument made (that this current team they have is better than the one which won them the title just over 3 years back). Although it is of course still very early days, one may argue that Leicester City are well-placed to actually break into the top six, if not even better than that break into the top four and return to the UEFA Champions League. This claim may be supported by the fact that other than Manchester City and Liverpool, no side considered to be in the big six is performing consistently and are dropping points on a regular basis. Furthermore, Leicester City have no European football this season which means that their workload is not too heavy and may thus give them an advantage. As mentioned earlier, it is very early days still, but could Leicester City actually mount a challenge for Europe this season? North London derby produces entertainment, lacks quality There were two matches on Sunday which took place before the League paused for the international break, and the second of the 2 matches was the North London derby involving Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. It was an entertaining match which saw Arsenal come back from two goals down to rescue a point. Despite the entertainment, it must be said that the match was one which lacked in quality. Anyone who watched the match would agree that the defending from both teams left a lot to be desired, particularly that of Arsenal - for the first goal David Luiz's positioning was very questionable, however, more significantly goalkeeper Bernd Leno should have held Erik Lamela's shot which was weak, but instead did not and the rebound fell to Christian Eriksen who gave Tottenham the lead. Afterwards, for the second goal, Granit Xhaka produced an utterly inexplicable tackle on Heung min-Son to gift Tottenham a penalty. Although Arsenal's defending was poor, it is not to say that Tottenham's was of the highest quality either, as Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, who levelled the score for Arsenal was not well-marked by Tottenham defenders Jan Vertonghen and Danny Rose. It must be admitted that Arsenal and Tottenham do have quality players at their disposal, however, poor defending lets them down and could well be why they are inconsistent, and, given the very high standards set by Manchester City and Liverpool, such inconsistency cannot be afforded if they want to even challenge for the title.
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