United back at the top

Nothing without him?

Nervy

Manchester United returned to the top with a really nervy win over Bolton. After taking a two goal lead they switched off and Bolton laid siege on their goal and very nearly took a point. However, the champions picked up three points.

Meanwhile, Chelsea took the lead at top four wannabees Aston Villa through the enigma that is Didier Drogba but then threw it away and lost 2-1.

Two man

Liverpool lost at Sunderland when Darren Bent’s shot was deflected in off a beach ball thrown onto the pitch by a Liverpool fan. That really is some sort of own goal. Are Liverpool a two man team and not able to play if Gerrard and Torres are missing?

The final member of the big four did get a comfortable win. Arsenal saw off Birmingham 3-1 despite not playing anywhere near their fluent best.

Misery

The other top four wannabees Tottenham heaped more misery on bottom club Portsmouth. In a highly charged game both teams had a player sent off but Tottenham eased to a 2-1 win.

If Manchester City win at Wigan today they will knock Arsenal out of the top four and will join Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester United. Liverpool have slipped to eighth place and are behind Sunderland and Aston Villa.

Trouble

At the bottom, Portsmouth are clearly in trouble but the likes of Wolves got a draw at Everton and Bolton nearly shocked Manchester United.

Whilst it may well turn out to be a four horse race at the top and the bottom of the Premier League in the end, at the moment it looks absolutely wide open and that has to be a really good thing.

Thrilled

At this stage I would think Manchester United are absolutely thrilled to be top after playing really quite poorly in many of their games. Chelsea will be a little concerned after two away defeats in a row. Arsenal will be feeling pretty confident as they have done well apart from two pretty unfortunate defeats in Manchester, or ‘accidents’ as Arsene Wenger called them. Liverpool are in mid-table and have lost four games already. That’s twice as many as they lost in the whole of last season.

Manchester City and Tottenham and maybe Aston Villa, will think they have a real chance of breaking the top four’s monopoly. As a neutral, I think that’s great.