While 11 matches played isn’t any normal marking point within a given EPL season, who says you need to reach halfway before doing a little table-wide analysis? Let’s check out a few key developments so far this year and see what might lie ahead.

1) The Big 4 are doing their thing. People might want more parity within the league, but we once again look like we’re heading toward the normal tight finish between the usual suspects. Aston Villa and Hull City both sit tied for fourth with Arsenal at 20 points, but right now only Villa looks like they could make a run at breaking into that select group.

2) Title already looking like a reach for Arsenal. Granted, it’s early. Quite early. But some things start to make you wonder about a team in the long run, and Arsenal’s last couple weeks have started to put those questions into our heads. The four-four draw at home against Tottenham, while a thrilling game, was an absolute disaster from the Gunners’ standpoint. Blowing a two-goal lead at home in the last couple minutes doesn’t bode well for a squad trying to build on last year, when they jumped out to a great start only to falter near the finish line. Even worse, they’ve failed miserably to bounce back from that defeat with a 2-1 loss to Stoke last weekend and then a draw at home to Fenerbahce (who they beat 5-2 away) on Wednesday. And those who read the papers see Wenger getting a bit edgy. You can’t call games must-win at this point, but losing all three points on Saturday at the Emirates to Man United would be rough to say the least.

3) Hard to differentiate between Man United, Chelsea and Liverpool at this point.  There’s no doubt that Man United suffered early from both injuries and a brutal schedule, but they look to be back on track now with an in-form Ronaldo and 21 points with a game in hand. Still, letting Hull back into Saturday’s game wasn’t a very impressive display, and the Reds have had some finishing issues lately (ending with Dimitar Berbatov’s miss last night that could’ve given United the win against Celtic). At this point, Chelsea and Liverpool have looked consistently the best, although both have suffered defeats in the last few weeks (Chelsea to Liverpool and Roma, Liverpool to Tottenham). Chelsea can’t be pleased with the 3-1 loss away to Roma on Tuesday, but they still l........read the rest at:

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I’ve been to some extremely fun stadiums in London so far, but there’s definitely a different feel around Old Trafford in Manchester. Maybe it’s because there aren’t so many teams in the city, or maybe it’s just the history of the club, but there’s a distinctive feel as you get off the tram and march down the hill toward the stadium. It’s something like walking down the Yellow Brick Road with Oz in sight. And even though Manchester is a big city, the stadium sits in a semi-remote area and gives off a small-town vibe, which is nice.

Heading up to watch Saturday’s Hull City game, I wondered what the feel of the stadium and the club itself would be. Manchester United is obviously a global brand, and you can’t escape that feeling when you enter the team megastore in next to the stadium. You can buy anything and everything with the United logo on it, and it’s impossible to get away from the commercialized aura.

Still, I was surprised to find that beyond the big nature of this club is a very homey feel – even if it is you and 85,000 of your closest friends on a Saturday. From all the people hanging out on the road enjoying a pre-game pint to all the fathers leading their sons (with a Ronaldo jersey on, of course) down the hill to Old Trafford, you really get a sense just how much this city cares about this club. It borders on religion, and the fanaticism obviously won’t be leaving family bloodlines any time soon......

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Things we never thought we’d see: a man on the moon, Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor, a vice presidential candidate spending $150K on clothes…..

However, Hull City sitting at No. 1 on the Premier League table has to be pretty high up there. Take a nice, hard, long look, and if you’re a fan, you oughta cut out today’s table and frame it. With 20 points in their first nine games, Hull sits at the top with Liverpool and Chelsea.

Yes, they have played one more game than those other two mega clubs, and yes, tomorrow’s meeting between the two makes it impossible for Hull to stay atop with an even number of games, but come on. Soak it in, because in this day and age of big money, stories like this don’t come around very often.

Hull has won its past four games in the Premier League, including away at Arsenal and Tottenham. And after returning back home this weekend, they cleaned up West Brom today with a three-nil performance to keep the magic carpet ride flying high for the time being. With a ticket in hand to next Saturday’s Hull/Man United game, I can’t wait to see what they’ll come up with at Old Trafford after silencing the Emirates.....read the rest at: http://www.examiner.com/x-642-Soccer-Examiner~y2008m10d25-Hull-City-is-first-in-the-EPL-and-no-thats-not-a-joke