THIS campaign’s Premier League table is almost unrecognisable compared to the standings at the same stage last season.
Mikel Arteta will be happy to see the progress Arsenal are making under his leadership as they currently lead the way at the top of the league.
This time last season, the Gunners were down in sixth place and were eleven points worse off with question marks over the Spaniard’s credentials to manage a top side.
However, Arteta has now built a team closer to what he wants, thanks to the summer signings of Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko as well as the fine form of loan returnee William Saliba.
However, the opposite can be said for Chelsea and Liverpool as both are far off from their standards last season.
The Blues are down in eighth position with the decision to replace Thomas Tuchel with Brighton’s Graham Potter yet to produce consistent results.
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The Englishman did have a good start to life at Stamford Bridge, but three Premier League defeats in a row have seen them fall down the table.
The position in the league will be a concern to new owner Todd Boehly, as the American spent an astonishing £270m in the summer transfer window on new players.
Liverpool on the other hand had a slow start to the season under Jurgen Klopp and are starting to get back on track as they look to climb back into the top four.
The loss of Sadio Mane over the summer has not helped the Reds as replacement Darwin Nunez has taken some time to adapt to the Premier League.
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Although the Uruguayan has scored four goals in his last six Premier League games, so there are signs the £85million striker is finding his feet in England.
Manchester City have not been at their very best this year as they are six points and one place worse off than this time last season.
Cross-city rival Manchester United sit in the same fifth spot and are actually one point off their total from this point in the campaign.
The biggest movers in the table however are Newcastle, who under the guidance of Eddie Howe and backing of their new Saudi owners have surged up the table.
This time last season the Magpies were slumped in the relegation zone on ten points and looking likely for the drop.
However, Howe turned it around as he guided them to Premier League safety and now has them competing for a spot in the Champions League.
Newcastle are in third with 30 points and boast the joint-best [with Arsenal] defensive record in the league as they have only conceded 11 goals.
Going the other way is West Ham, who have half the amount of points at this point in the season as they did last year.
David Moyes’ side impressed last campaign as they challenged for a spot in the top four for a long time before tiredness from their Europa League campaign kicked in and they dropped to seventh.
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This season, with a summer spend of £180m, something is not quite clicking for the East London side.
Moyes will be hoping to see a big improvement in results when the Premier League restarts after the World Cup in Qatar.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
