Premier League: Early impressions.

QoS looks at the main contenders after the first round of action from the Barclay’s Premier League.

The ten-game mark tends to be cited as the first time at which significance can be read into the league table, when long-term class really starts to manifest itself over temporary form. Indeed, it was at exactly this point last season that the "Big Four" occupied the top four positions for the first time. There will nearly always be a middling or even poor team that has a statistically freaky run of results that sees them fly high for their fifteen minutes of fame, before the team attains their natural level. This effect was particularly pronounced last term, when the parvenu team were Hull City. In previous seasons, it has been the more obvious likes of Manchester City, Bolton Wanderers and Portsmouth. After four games, not much can be read into the embryonic table; we are (happily) only in a position to make more subjective visceral assessments of the sides.

This weekend saw the first heavyweight clash, with Manchester Utd beating Arsenal 2-1 in an odd game that suggested that neither side will be able to match Chelsea this season. Despite losing, it was Arsenal who looked the better long term bet. United lined up with Ben Foster in goal, a back four of O’Shea, the returning  Vidic , Brown and Evra, a hard-working if prosaic midfield of Fletcher, Carrick and Giggs, who was captaining the side, and a three-pronged attack of Valencia, Rooney and Nani.  Arsenal presented with Almunia in goal, a back four of Sagna, Gallas, new-boy Vermaelen and Clichy,  Denilson and Song as the holding midfielders with Arshavin, Eboué and Diaby supporting Robin van Persie up front.

It was Arsenal who were easier on the eye, as the engines of Song, Denilson and Diaby permitted the aristos of Arshavin and van Persie to strut their stuff. In contrast, United were ineffectual with Rooney well-marshalled by the athletic Gallas and the hard Vermaelen. A fellow correspondent has described Nani as a “beach footballer”, and he did little to dispel that impression. Valencia, a neat and skilful player, has a nigh on impossible task following Cristiano Ronaldo.

It was Arshavin who gave Arsenal the lead in the 40th minute, when, having seconds earlier been denied a clear penalty when Fletcher upended him in the box, he collected the ball twenty five yards out and with his trademark minimal backlift unleashed an exocet right-footer, which was too hot for the wrists of United keeper Ben Foster, who will be “disapppointed” that he could only deflect the shot into the top left corner. Had van Persie converted Arshavin’s low left-wing cross early in the second half, then Arsenal would have won the game but Foster pulled off a fantastic save with an outstretched left boot to deny him.

United did improve after the break but still looked anaemic in attack and it took two pieces of catastrophic Arsenal defending to turn the game. On the hour,  a well-weighted through ball from Giggs to Rooney saw Almunia sluggishly come off his line and trip the striker, who was heading away from goals. Rooney expertly converted the resultant penalty. It was another swing of Giggs’ left foot that led to United’s winner five minutes later, as he delivered a right wing free-kick into the box for Diaby to obligingly head past his own keeper. The majority of own goals are in some sense unavoidable or desperately unlucky, this was not one of them and Diaby, hitherto one of the best players on the pitch, deserved the mouthful he got from van Persie.

There was still time for late drama, as van Persie, whose performance merited a goal, had one chalked off for offside, prompting a prematurely jubilant Arsene Wenger to lash out at a water bottle in frustration and get sent to the stands in a jobsworth piece of officiating.

Arsenal will take more positives from the game – the slick looking back four, the continuing evolution of Song and Diaby as bona fide Premier League midfielders, the effortless talents of Arshavin and van Persie, with lots in reserve. The only real concerns for Arsenal fans must be the oafish liability that is Manuel Almunia and the decision of Wenger to play Eboué in a position beyond his intelligence.

For United the picture is bleaker, granted with Ferdinand to come back in, the defence is very strong but the midfield is a veritable no man's land and whilst there is talent up top, it is far from a reliable Roy of the Rovers kind: the hothead Rooney, the decadent Berbatov and the waning Owen.

Staying in the North-West, Liverpool were deserved 3-2 winners against Bolton at the Reebok albeit they did it the hard way, twice coming from behind with goals from Johnson, Torres and Gerrard, as the belligerence of Matt Taylor, Sean Davis and Kevin Davies in particular made a match of it. The first four games have thrown up two very obvious features of the Liverpool side, the first is that, as was feared, Lucas has proved woefully inadequate as a replacement for Alonso (although there is still Aquilani to come in) and the second, an equally expected positive, is that Glen Johnson is worth every bit of the £17.5 million transfer fee.

Switching to the capital and it’s plus ça change at Stamford Bridge, with the changeover from Hiddink to Ancelotti seemingly seamless as Chelsea dispatched Burnley 3-0 to make it four wins in four games. If anything, the relatively easy fixtures considered, the side are in better shape than at the end of last season because Ballack is finally looking like the captain of Germany and the partnership of Drogba and Anelka, for the first time, has an air of permanence to it.

Elsewhere, it’s also four out of four for Spurs as they won a hard fought duel with Birmingham City, who look a decent bet to stay up. It was the strength in depth of the strikers that was in evidence on Saturday as Peter Crouch got an overdue chance to do his thing off the bench and he do it he did. His goal in the 72nd minute was quickly equalised by the itinerant Lee Bowyer before Aaron Lennon sneaked in an injury time winner, helping him to earn a recall to Capello’s England squad. It remains to be seen how well Spurs will cope with the broken leg suffered by playmaker Luka Modric.

There was a painful juxtaposition of the haves and the have-nots on Sunday at Fratton Park, where a Portsmouth side who have literally lost a team of players in 2009 hosted a Manchester City side, fair brimming with opulence and pretensions to something big. It was easier than Adebayor’s solitary goal suggested; it will be interesting to see how he and Touré play against Arsenal next week.

Of last season’s Europa cuppers, Everton are off the mark with a win against Wigan and Martin O’Neill won the battle of the brains with Roy Hodgson, as Villa beat Fulham 2-0.