EPL Update: 10 Things We Have Learned So Far This Season

1. Chelsea are once again the team to beat:
Old Hamster Face Carlo Ancelotti has brought a presidential style of management to Stamford Bridge and it is certainly working. Presidents, you may recall, don't often actually have to do anything (Ronald Reagan spent the entire Eighties napping and only occasionally reviving to joke about bombing Russia.) Ancelotti has plenty of time to devote to his one true love - stuffing his big cuddly cheeks with food - as well as picking a side that picks itself. Suddenly the Blues are four points clear, are on their way to 100 goals again and Frank Lampard has two teams he might not get back into.

2. Manchester City will probably qualify for the Champions League without playing anything like Champions League football:
Roberto Mancini was hired to get City into the top four, by the scruff of the neck if necessary or by stifling the life out of the opposition if he really had to. And currently there they are in second, ahead of Manchester United. It's the blueprint that enabled Jose Mourinho to get the better of Sir Alex Ferguson half a decade ago but the Italian has plenty of critics waiting for him to fail. Like Carlos Tevez for example, with the pair reportedly engaging in a lively half-time debate over tactics in Sunday's 2-1 victory over Newcastle. Which had hardly been merited by the way.

3. Manchester United have lost the fear factor:
Points dropped against Fulham, Everton, Bolton and Sunderland in the Premier League and Rangers in the Champions League; is time finally running out for Sir Alex and his ageing cohorts Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs at a time when Wayne Rooney wishes he could go back and start his career all over again? Maybe, but United are notoriously stronger in the second half of a season so let's leave this one and think about whether...

4. Roy Hodgson won't be the next England manager:
Has any manager's reputation been ruined so quickly in the space of just a few weeks? But enough about Fabio Capello; it's the rise and fall of Mr Hodgson (or should that be wise and fall?) and Liverpool that concerns us now. The once mighty Scousers haven't been in the bottom three since around this time in 1984, when they revived to finish second and reach the European Cup final, but there is no chance of the latter and you can get rather extravagant odds on the former. The logic behind Hodgson's appointment was straightforward enough. If he can turn Fulham from Championship fodder to Europa League finalists then imagine what he could do at Anfield? But Fulham's success was played out on a backdrop of 0-0 draws and, if the Liverpool fans were less than enamoured by his appointment, you can imagine how they felt when Paul Konchesky turned up with his boots a little later. Happy days.

5. Arsenal can forget about the title yet again:
After being stomped on by Didier Drogba and Chelsea yet again, Arsene Wenger blamed a lack of cutting edge up front. True, plenty of good chances were squandered but it is at the back that Arsenal are found wanting the most. Never mind the goalkeeping question, which will probably rumble on all season - no keeper can thrive while 'protected' by the current back four line up. Wenger has probably ordered hourly updates on the rehabilitation progress of Thomas Vermaelen after Sebastien Squillaci's 'performance' at Stamford Bridge. Tony Adams and Martin Keown names had them down as solid defenders as well as their on-field displays; Squillaci sounds like a bowel complaint.

6. It's never too late for an England call-up:
Especially while Fabio still has an office at Wembley. Being snubbed by Emile Heskey was an embarrassment not even Steve McClaren had to endure, but Capello he clearly likes a big guy up front so step forward Kevin Cyril Davies of Bolton, aged 33 and a half. The most fouled man in Premier League history, who has scored 120 goals in 600 games, some of which were in League Two for Chesterfield. Go for it, big man.

7. Stuart Attwell hasn't quite got the hang of refereeing yet:
And do we think he ever will? Sunderland fans won't be forgiving him in a hurry for allowing Liverpool to score from a free kick the Black Cats insist hadn't actually been taken (and that the referee hadn't actually seen). This is the guy who awarded Reading a goal at Watford a couple of years ago that had gone four feet wide you may recall and there are other tales of woe and utter chaos. Then again, though he is clearly out of his depth (he's still only 27) let's keep him on. It adds an 'anything may happen' element that some fixtures, mainly involving Kevin Davies and Emile Heskey, clearly need.

8. Harry Redknapp is a real wheeler and dealer:
However much he likes to pretend otherwise to Sky Sports reporters. Harry's beef is that it makes him sound like a second-hand car salesman rather than an accomplished coach and man-motivator and therefore he has a point. But the deadline day signing of Rafael van der Vaart was a deal supreme as the Dutchman has added a new dimension to Tottenham's debut foray into the Champions League. Well wheeled indeed.

9. We have seen far too many broken legs already:
Bobby Zamora's England career is on hold and Hatem Ben Arfa could miss the rest of Newcastle's top-flight return. Add Adlene Guedioura of Wolves and that's already three challenges we really could have done without. Karl Henry was the man who hurt Zamora and it seemed an accident right enough but the Wolves hardman was rightly sent off against Wigan a few weeks later for recklessly upending Wigan's Jordi Gomez. Nigel de Jong of Manchester City broke Ben Arfa's leg and though he went unpunished by either club or match official Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk immediately removed the midfielder from his international roster, citing the tackle as "wild and unnecessary".

10) Blackpool deserve all the plaudits:
Those doom-mongers who predicted a lowest ever points total for the Tangarines already look pretty silly. Except one was Ian Holloway himself not so long ago and he seems perfectly happy, as well he might. The Seasiders may yet go down as it's that sort of league but they already appear on course to do a Hull or a Reading. Which means going down next season instead but who's thinking about that right now?