Week 4 in the Premier League saw more of the same, as the Manchester clubs romped to easy wins. Chelsea had their first solid performance of the year in defeated Sunderland away, while Arsenal and Liverpool struggled. Wolves lost their first game of the year home to Tottenham while West Brom picked up their first win away to Norwich.
The beginning of this season has been marked by the attacking prowess of Man City and Man United, both winning all four of their opening games with large goal differences. Wayne Rooney and Sergio Aguero have been particularly prolific, and both teams have played fluent, clinical attacking football. The two clubs look the deepest and most talented in the league, but after seeing Chelsea collapse after a similar start last year, I will not declare those two the only two contenders. Chelsea finally put in a total performance on Saturday, defeating Sunderland 2-1. Danny Sturridge was a spark for the offense, scoring a great goal to give Chelsea a two-goal advantage. Torres again looked uninterested, and I am beginning to think more and more that he does not deserve a place on this team. With attacking options in Drogba, Anelka, Sturridge, and Lukaku, Torres must return his play - and his attitude - to form, or Villas-Boas should not even consider starting him. With this performance, I see Chelsea as a serious contender - leaving three for the time being.
As for Arsenal and Liverpool, it was a weekend for forget. Arsenal finally obtained their first win of the season, albeit on a mistake by Swansea's goalkeeper, and were far from dominant in a home match against arguably the worst team in the league. There are still injuries and suspensions for Arsenal, so it will get better, but the team looks in shambles heading to Dortmund tomorrow. Liverpool put in a better performance, but failed to get a point away to Stoke. The Reds created numerous chances but failed to put any away, and Carragher gave away a silly penalty for the game's only goal. Liverpool have less to worry about than Arsenal, but if they think they can seriously contend for the title, they must be able to grind away at least a point in tough road games. Liverpool have the depth and quality to challenge for the Champions League places, but their performance in games like Saturday will define their season.
Tomorrow is one of my favorite days of the year: the beginning of the Champions League group stages. There are plenty of great matchups as well, with many of the top teams in each group playing each other. I'm going to venture some predictions for each matchday, starting with the games tomorrow. The home team is listed first.
APOEL - Zenit : DRAW
Barcelona - AC Milan: HOME WIN
Chelsea - Bayer Leverkusen: HOME WIN
Dortmund - Arsenal: HOME WIN
Porto - Shakhtar: HOME WIN
Genk - Valencia: AWAY WIN
Olympiacos - Marseille: DRAW
Plzen - BATE: HOME WIN
I expect Porto - Shakhtar to be the closest game of the day, while Dortmund - Arsenal and Olympiacos - Marseille to be very close as well. I'm looking forward to seeing Chelsea tomorrow, hopefully in a win. All games start at 2:45 EST.
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