Big Four back on form

Premiership round-up:

Arsenal eventually sneaked a 1-0 win over a dogged Man City. Arsenal have been guilty in the past of over-passing.They still show signs of suffering from it this season, going for the extra pass & trying to walk the ball into the net, when a shot on a goal or even (shock horror) a punt into the box might be a better option.

So Chelsea are back on top, and will surely will be difficult to dislodge. Man United's first win, over Spurs, showed how talk of a crisis after 3 games was a nonsense. They found themselves in 19th place on Saturday, but with most teams having played a game more, and the three points from Sunday lifted them to 10th.

Liverpool's strength of squad looks formidable, they have quality in depth, especially in midfield & the strikers.

Time for my relegation tips. I think all the newly-promoted teams will go straight back down. Derby look doomed after losing their home 'six-pointer' with Birmingham, but the Brummie Blues will join them in the Champioship next year. Sunderland, despite Keano's motivating powers, do not appear to have enough quality in their squad either.

I had been quite excited by the prospect of Five's live Serie A coverage (Sundays from 1.30). The first of this new series aired on Sunday (Aug 27). They made much in the build-up of how Serie A, historically famed for its mean defences, last season actually had more total goals scored than any of the other big Euro leagues (Prem, La Liga, Bundesliga or Le Championnat). The televised game was the champs, Inter, at home to Udinese. In the event the games was a rather lacklustre 1-1 draw. However, Inter had some key players, like Crespo & Viera, out injured. If they had played, maybe it would have been a better spectacle. If I'm allowed to make a sexist comment, the studio coverage did have the attraction of the beautiful co-presenter, Laura Esposto, though.