League standings

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Premier League: Season so far . Updated: Nov 10 2014

Our football team reflect on the Barclays Premier League season so far and make predictions at both ends of the table.


Chelsea appear to be on a relentless march to Premier League glory having gone unbeaten through their first 11 games – is there any conceivable way you can see Jose Mourinho’s side not topping the table come the end of the season?

Nick Hext: Not unless Jose Mourinho decides to quit before Christmas and the Stamford Bridge stars leave in January. That isn’t going to happen! All the Blues’ challengers look way off the pace and it is far from inconceivable that they go unbeaten in the Premier League this season. Chelsea can be backed at 8/1 with Sky Bet to avoid defeat during the top-flight campaign and that price could well tumble a little further in the months ahead. At least the prospect of matching Arsenal’s 2003/04 Invincibles could keep things interesting if Mourinho’s men march away from everyone at the summit! The Champions League will provide a further challenges for the Blues and they have to be considered one of the top contenders for European club football’s top prize. Real Madrid and Bayern Munich look their two most likely challengers for the crown so interesting times are ahead at the Bridge.

Barclays Prem

1 Chelsea 29
2 So'ton 25
3 Man City 21
4 West Ham 18
5 Swansea 18
6 Arsenal 17
7 Man Utd 16
8 Newcastle 16
9 Stoke 15
10 Everton 14
11 Liverpool 14
12 Tottenham 14
13 W Brom 13
14 S'land 12
15 Hull City 11
16 A Villa 11
17 C Palace 9
18 Leicester 9
19 QPR 8
20 Burnley 7

last updated 09/11 17:56

Matt Brocklebank: They would probably have to suffer some wholescale injuries to even put their bid in doubt. Chelsea are coasting along at the top of the table while all their supposed title rivals stumble horribly in a desperate bid to keep up. The thought before it all began was that Chelsea would build on Mourinho's first campaign back at the helm last season and their summer signings were absolutely bang-on, and that's how it's playing out. They are so solid as a defensive unit and, while other sides are seemingly struggling to juggle their commitments in Europe, Mourinho's men have already avoided defeat against Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool immediately after playing in midweek this season, and that says as much about their mental toughness as it does their squad's strength in depth.

Dave Tickner: Nothing is certain in sport or indeed life, that's part of the fun. Anything can, does and will happen. It's an unpredictable world and it would be sheer folly to assert that something is inevitable or will definitely happen. Having said all that, Chelsea will definitely win the 2014/15 Premier League. They have the best squad and the best manager, one who is a proven serial winner and will make sure the players remain focused even though they very clearly know already just how much better they are than every other team in this astonishingly poor division. They could go unbeaten this season, but their status as both runaway winners of the Premier League and only English team equipped to challenge for the Champions League may see domestic matters take a back seat to European endeavours in the second half of the season should the lead have reached the levels of comfort it looks sure to.


Southampton have enjoyed a brilliant start and sit second in the Premier League table, with some of the ‘bigger’ sides coming up way short of their pre-season expectations. Who has been the biggest disappointment in your view?

DT: It seems churlish and somehow very English to look at Southampton's exciting, deserved and admirable success (and West Ham's, Swansea's and even Newcastle's) through the lens of the failures of others, but let's do it anyway. To a greater or lesser extent, Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, Tottenham and Everton have all been major disappointments in the first four months of the season, but the biggest letdown for me is Liverpool. Struggling under the crushing weight of cod philosopher Brendan Rodgers' enormous hubris, they've blown the chance to re-establish themselves among English football's elite, and have done so in a year when the woes elsewhere should have made such a task relatively straightforward. They're back where they were 18 months ago, having spent all summer insisting they wouldn't 'do a Tottenham' and then doing a Tottenham on a scale that even Tottenham would struggle to match. Although, to be fair, Tottenham have given it a red hot crack by Tottenhaming their way to four defeats in their first six home games of the campaign.


Nick Hext "There hasn’t been any improvement shown in Europe and I can’t see them putting up much of a fight with Chelsea. Sergio Aguero remains the one bright spark but too many good players are failing to produce the goods..."

Nick Hext


MB: Where to start... It would be incredibly harsh not to lavish praise on Southampton and also West Ham, who look a different side with an injection of pace in their attack, and there's every chance we could see a bit of a shake-up in terms of the top-four this season. ..

Arsenal continue to be the most frustrating side in the league, Liverpool have struggled for obvious reasons - not least the extra workload that the Champions League provides, but Manchester City have disappointed me most. I've never really bought into the idea that retaining the crown is harder than regaining it before this season, but it's plain there is a real lack of drive in the City ranks. They possess some of the most talented players in the league and I'd argue they're better than Chelsea when completely on-song, but they have curled up into a ball on a couple of occasions this year and that's not what champions do. Yaya Toure and David Silva make the team tick and, for one reason or another, they haven't been able to replicate the form of last term. They may even struggle to finish in the top two if Sergio Aguero suffers a recurrence of his hamstring trouble, which would see Manuel Pellegrini under immense pressure.

NH: I’m also going to go for Manchester City. Last season’s title winners have been lacklustre both in the Champions League and Premier League. There hasn’t been any improvement shown in Europe and I can’t see them putting up much of a fight with Chelsea on the domestic scene in the months ahead. Sergio Aguero remains the one bright spark but too many good players are failing to produce the goods on a consistent basis. It isn’t just Yaya Toure underperforming! Manuel Pellegrini will almost certainly last the campaign but it will be very interesting to see if the City board feel the Chilean has taken them as far as he can. Full credit to Southampton. It isn’t by luck they sit second and it’s going to be fascinating to see how they fare in some big games in the run-up to Christmas.


Remarkably, all 20 top-flight managers who were in charge before a ball was kicked remain in place. Who might be the first to go?

MB: Following on from the previous question, Hull's early-season form has to go down as a concern in light of their summer spending and I wonder how long Steve Bruce will get if things get any worse. When Alan Pardew was coming under fire from all angles there were rumblings of Bruce being linked with the Newcastle job and it could be the case that he jumps before he's pushed from the KC Stadium in the coming weeks. At 8/1 with Sky Bet he certainly rates better value than Harry Redknapp and Paul Lambert at the top of the market. At even bigger prices, Sean Dyche and Nigel Pearson can hardly be considered perfectly safe in their respective roles at relegation-threatened Burnley and Leicester.

NH: It is a surprise all the Premier League managers remain in place at this stage of the season. It certainly hasn’t been the case in the Sky Bet Football League with chairmen throughout the country – not just at Leeds – hoping that a change in the dugout will at least see a short-term improvement. I think Leicester would be silly to get rid of Nigel Pearson but I can’t help thinking that the 16/1 for the Foxes chief to go next with Sky Bet is a decent price. Leicester spent a decent amount of money in the summer and it’s worth noting the fate of all four of the previous Championship title winning managers. Malky Mackay (Cardiff), Brian McDermott (Reading), Neil Warnock (QPR) and Chris Hughton (Newcastle) were all let go by their clubs during the season after finishing on top of England’s second tier. Pearson has done a fantastic job at the King Power Stadium but memories are short in football.


Dave Tickner "Newcastle's turnaround in fortunes is testament to the fact that sacking managers is not always the answer to a string of poor results, although the price we all have to pay for learning this is the sight of Alan Pardew smiling."

Dave Tickner


DT: Newcastle's turnaround in fortunes is testament to the fact that sacking managers is not always the answer to a string of poor results, although the price we all have to pay for learning this is the sight of Alan Pardew smiling. This international break could well see at least one Premier League chairman lose their nerve, though, with this two-week hiatus an ideal opportunity to make a change. Someone, somewhere will surely soon embark on Operation: Pulis. Those in and around the dropzone are the obvious places to look, but QPR chief Tony Fernandes appears, judging by his Twitter feed, to have fallen for Harry Redknapp's spiel while it would be desperate short-termism for Leicester or Burnley to jettison their impressive managers after predictable struggles on their return to the top flight. Mauricio Pochettino is the big mover in this market at the moment, and it's easy to see why. It's ridiculously early in his time at Spurs and it would clearly be insanity to rip it up and start yet again, but Daniel Levy has previous and has dusted off his trusty sacking stick in the past for far lesser crimes than losing four of six home games against QPR, Liverpool, West Brom, Southampton, Newcastle and Stoke.

The three sides who were promoted from the Sky Bet Championship currently occupy the bottom three places in the table. Are they likely to be the final three, or will there be a surprise package for relegation?

NH: It would surprise me if all three of the promoted clubs went down. Burnley will return to the Sky Bet Championship but will do so with plenty of money in their coffers and the impressive Sean Dyche still in charge if they are sensible. Both QPR and Leicester will make changes to their squads in January and they are also highly likely to change manager if a sticky run of form causes panic. That means it’s hard to judge exactly what we will see from them over the coming months. I reckon both West Brom and Hull will stumble. The Baggies can’t expect the goals of Saido Berahino to continue at the current rate throughout the campaign, while injuries have hit Hull and there is off-field drama constantly brewing at the KC Stadium.


Matt Brocklebank "Burnley and Leicester will need to invest wisely in the January transfer window to stand a chance but QPR have enough experience and quality in their ranks to get out of jail."

Matt Brocklebank


DT: In a league this poor, it's almost impossible at this stage to try and work out which three of the 14 or 15 very bad football teams will stand out as the most wretched come May. Burnley will very probably be one of those three, and I worry enormously for Crystal Palace (they are also the one club down there unable to potentially play the Pulis card). QPR will most likely manage to spend their way out of strife in January and Aston Villa will do just enough to stay up because that is the life they have chosen. West Brom, Sunderland and Leicester all appear to lack the quality to haul themselves clear of danger any time soon, but I'll go for Hull as my third team for the drop.

MB: Sunderland have shown some promising signs in their past couple of games but I expect them to be fighting for their lives again come the end of the season. Burnley and Leicester will need to invest wisely in the January transfer window to stand a chance but QPR have enough experience and quality in their ranks to get out of jail. That could obviously bring Crystal Palace, Hull and Aston Villa into the mix, but I can't see any major surprises unravelling and my 'doomed trio' would be Burnley, Leicester and Sunderland.