Who is doing well and who is under pressure in the Premier League during the first international break? | OneFootball

The Premier League season has started and three games in the league table is starting to take shape.

Only one team – Liverpool – have made a perfect start, with nine points and three wins. Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham round out the rest of the top four, whilst Fulham, Aston Villa and Wolves are the sides languishing in the relegation zone.

Disregarding the league table so soon into the new season, who does it feel has made a good start, and who is already struggling?

Champion Start?

Liverpool

Defending champions Liverpool have undoubtedly made a brilliant start to the campaign. Aside from their perfect record, the way they have achieved it has been impressive. They were not at their best against Bournemouth on the opening night, but still came out 4-2 winners. The same could be said of their late 3-2 win over Newcastle and one-goal defeat of Arsenal.

Finding a way to win without playing well is often remarked as being a sign of champions. Arne Slot’s side also look as though they ‘won the transfer window’ having signed Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak, Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong and Hugo Ekitike. Despite missing out on Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi, the expectation will be that they can repeat their feat.

In total they spent £446.5 million during the transfer window, and broke the British transfer record twice – first on Wirtz, then Isak.

We are yet to see how they will line-up with new £130 million addition Isak, and whether that will relegate Ekitike to the bench despite his excellent start to life in Merseyside – he has three goals and an assist in four games so far.

After the international break Liverpool face newly promoted Burnley before Atletico Madrid in the Champions League and local rivals Everton await.

The only possible weakness appears to be a fragility about their defence. Centre back Ibrahima Konate, in particular, has had an unconvincing start to the season and came off injured against Arsenal. Liverpool failed to land Guehi on deadline day, so they will have to hope Konate is able to pick up his form and fitness.

Chelsea

Chelsea came into the season buoyed by their Club World Cup win in America. Some thought they may be hampered by fatigue, but there has been no evidence of that yet. They have made an unbeaten start to the league, drawing 0-0 against Crystal Palace, smashing West Ham 5-1, and beating Fulham 2-0.

New Brazilian signings Joao Pedro and Estevao have been brilliant. Joao Pedro has registered five goals and two assists in six games, whilst Estevao has played a lot less but dazzled and impressed in every appearance.

There were also concerns over how Enzo Maresca’s men would fare without their best centre back Levi Colwill, but Tosin Adarabioyo and Trevoh Chalobah have filled in well so far.

There has, however, been a degree of fortune to Chelsea’s solid start. Palace had a free kick goal ruled out for a law that has rarely been enforced since it’s inception, and Fulham had a perfectly legitimate goal ruled out which Howard Webb – head of the PGMOL – later described as a mistake.

The Blues have otherwise been defensively solid, conceding only one goal in their three games so far, the joint-best defensive record in the league. They also boast the best attacking record in the league, having scored seven goals.

They next face Manchester United and a tough away trip against Bayern Munich in the Champions League soon after the international break, which should provide a good understanding of where Chelsea are.

Everton

Everton could hardly have dreamt for a better start to this campaign, and life at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. They have won both of their opening games there – one league and one EFL Cup – and star signing Jack Grealish has been irresistible.

The on-loan Manchester City forward has four Premier League assists in three games, and the Toffees have six points from those matches.

The Englishman has been the talisman for Everton. He seems to have rediscovered his Aston Villa form, and is relishing being the main man in the team, as he was in Birmingham.

Manager David Moyes has allowed him a freedom to roam on the left-wing and centrally, a role he was not afforded under Pep Guardiola. As Everton do not tend to face as many ‘low blocks’ as City, the opposition they face will tend to allow Grealish time and space to run into, which is where he is at his most lethal.

Sunderland

After all three promoted teams were relegated for the last two years, there was almost a resignation that the same would happen this season.

And whilst it has only been three games, Sunderland have won two of them, against West Ham and Brentford.

There was optimism around their survival chances given their summer business. Signing Granit Xhaka, Simon Adingra, Nordi Mukiele and Brian Brobbey – amongst others – was more than ambitious as they outspent Manchester City, Barcelona and AC Milan…

Manager Regis Le Bris and his side have made a fantastic start to the campaign, and for the sake of the league’s competitiveness, most will hope it continues.

Under Pressure?

Wolves

Many expected Wolves to struggle after they were ravaged in the transfer window. Their two star players, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Matheus Cunha both left, and neither have been adequately replaced.

The pair directly contributed to 55 per cent of Wolves’ league goals last season.

They have since lost all three of their opening games, the only team in the league who have done so. Vitor Pereira proved last season that he is a competent head coach, leading them to a 16th placed finish after they had been flirting with relegation.

But this season may prove too difficult. There is a long way to go, but the early signs are worrying for Wolves fans. Pereira’s side have no defensive stability. They have already conceded eight goals, the joint worst record with the next team on this list.

West Ham

West Ham are one of four teams – including Manchester City – who have won only one of their opening three games. It would therefore seem strange to have them in this list, but their context is very different.

Graham Potter has been in charge for eight months, and it has not been a good period for the club. It seemed things could not get worse than they were under Julen Lopetegui, but they have done. Lopetegui had a win rate of 39% in all competitions during his time in east London, but Potter has a win rate of just 26%.

The Hammers also had a disappointing transfer window. They lost best player Mohammed Kudus to Tottenham, as well as Nayef Aguerd to Marseille. They brought in Jean-Clair Todibo, Malick Diouf, Kyle Walker-Peters, Callum Wilson, Mads Hermansen, Mateus Fernandes, Soungoutou Magasa and Igor Julio on loan.

It could have been a disastrous window, were it not salvaged slightly in the final three days. After the opening 3-0 defeat to Sunderland, the 5-1 battering at the hands of Chelsea, and the elimination from the EFL Cup against Wolves, fans had the pitchforks out.

It seemed Potter’s time in charge was rapidly coming to a close. The pressure was slightly eased with a convincing 3-0 win away at Nottingham Forest, but there’s no doubt the spotlight will be firmly on the manager and West Ham when the Premier League resumes.

Many fans feel the Englishman is too mild-mannered, it is a similar issue to the one he faced whilst at Chelsea.

But Potter said he can only be himself: “It’s incredibly hard to keep calm when things aren’t going well. I care. I want to scream and shout and do something, but I’ve worked a long time as a football coach… Sometimes the reality of life is you have to deal with adversity… You have to be yourself.”

On the pitch, there have been significant issues with the Hammers’ midfield. The trio of Guido Rodriguez, James Ward-Prowse and Tomas Soucek do not seem adequately equipped to deal with the physicality of the Premier League, and were completely overrun by Sunderland and Chelsea.

Fernandes has already helped to fix that, to an extent, playing well in his debut against Nottingham Forest.

And despite the difficulties West Ham have faced, they still have some players with undoubted star quality, namely Lucas Paqueta and Jarrod Bowen. Bowen started the first two games slowly, but found his feet with an assist against Wolves in the EFL Cup and a goal against Forest.

Paqueta has scored in three games running, and was the man of the match at Forest. If Potter can rely on the quality of Bowen and Paqueta, and fix his midfield, he may yet turn things around at the London Stadium.