It’s that dreaded time again - an international break.
The Premier League is on pause for two weeks as players travel around the world to play meaningless international fixtures during a global pandemic.
At least it gives us time to reflect on what has been an absolutely crazy Premier League campaign so far.
We’ve seen some quite ridiculous scorelines and plenty of shock victories during the eight gameweeks.
It all looks set to be the craziest season in Premier League history.
A quick glance at the table will tell you which sides have started well and which sides haven’t.
But let’s dig a little deeper. The saying ‘the league table never lies’ isn’t always true - especially after just eight matches.
Our opinion is far more accurate than any league table so, as a result, we’ve decided to grade every Premier League side from A-F judged on their performances so far this season.
Let’s take a look:
Grade: F
- Manchester United
- Sheffield United
- Burnley
Manchester United sit 14th after three wins, one draw and three defeats from their opening seven matches. Their performances in the 3-1 loss to Crystal Palace, the 3-2 win over Brighton, the 6-1 defeat to Spurs, the 0-0 draw with Chelsea and the 1-0 loss to Arsenal were all extremely poor. They did beat away to Everton last time out in their best display of the campaign, though.
After such a good 2019/20, Sheffield United are suffering second season syndrome. While their performances haven’t been too bad at all, they’ve picked up just one point so far - a home draw against Fulham. They must start getting results.
We don’t remember the last time Burnley were in a relegation battle but, after an underwhelming transfer window, Sean Dyche’s side are struggling. Two points from their first seven games - against West Brom and Brighton simply isn’t good enough.
Grade: E
- Fulham
- West Brom
Fulham will be satisfied if the season ended right now as they sit in 17th position, having picked up four points from their opening four matches. They don’t look great, though, and will need to improve if they want to stay up.
West Brom are still looking for their first win, drawing three and losing five of their opening eight matches. They did lead Chelsea 3-0 at half time earlier in the season but could only draw 3-3. Considering they’ve already played Burnley, Brighton and Fulham, West Brom need to start winning games.
Grade: D
- Manchester City
- Arsenal
- Leeds
- Brighton
The four clubs receiving a D grade have had a very much mixed bag of a season so far.
Let’s start with Manchester City, who have won three, drawn three and lost one of their seven matches so far. The positives are an away win against Wolves, a home win against Arsenal and a draw against Liverpool. The negatives are a 5-2 thrashing at the hands of Leicester and draws against Leeds and West Ham. Their performance and result against Spurs after the international break will dictate whether it’s been a decent start to the season or a poor one.
Arsenal’s start is even harder to define. An impressive victory away to Manchester United was followed up by a damaging 3-0 loss at home to West Ham. Four wins and four defeats from eight matches sums it up.
Leeds have entertained upon their return to the Premier League, starting with a 4-3 defeat to Liverpool on the opening day. They’ve lost their previous two games 4-1 to Leicester and Crystal Palace but held Man City to a draw and went to Aston Villa to beat them 3-0. You never know what you’re going to expect from Marcelo Bielsa’s side.
Brighton have shown glimpses of being a really good side but, like last season, they’re failing to get the wins on the board. They’ve won once - a 3-0 victory away to Newcastle. They did batter Manchester United but ended up losing…
Grade C:
- Liverpool
- Chelsea
- Wolves
- West Ham
- Newcastle
Liverpool’s defence of their title hasn’t exactly gone to plan. A 7-2 hammering against Aston Villa and losing Virgil van Dijk for the rest of the season wasn’t in the script. But they’ve beaten Chelsea, Arsenal and drawn away to City and sit third. Jurgen Klopp will be satisfied.
It was always going to take time for all of Chelsea’s new signings to gel but we’ve already seen signs of that being the case. They’ve only lost to Liverpool and looked to have sorted out their defensive issues - mainly thanks to the signings of Edouard Mendy and Thiago Silva. Meanwhile, Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner are firing upfront.
Wolves will secretly be targeting a top-four finish this season as they currently sit ninth with four wins, a draw and three defeats from their eight matches. They’ve been efficient with clean sheet wins against Leeds, Fulham and Crystal Palace but were also thrashed 4-0 by West Ham.
Newcastle have followed up their decent transfer window with a decent start to the season. They’ve won three times - against West Ham, Burnley and Everton - while they also earned a point away to Tottenham.
Grade B:
- Tottenham
- Aston Villa
- Everton
- Crystal Palace
After losing their opening match of the season, Spurs have responded well with five wins and two draws. Jose Mourinho’s side are just one point behind leaders Leicester.
Aston Villa were the early pace-setters with four wins from their first two matches before two defeats stopped them in the tracks. They’ve responded well with a tremendous 3-0 win away to Arsenal to leave them in sixth.
Everton also won their opening four games of the season, including an away victory against Tottenham. An entertaining draw against Liverpool has been followed up with three consecutive losses to see them tumble from the top of the table.
Who expected Palace to enter the international break in 8th? Not us, that’s for sure. Roy Hodgson’s side have only lost to Everton, Chelsea and Wolves this season, while they went to Old Trafford and beat United 3-1. Solid.
Grade A:
- Leicester
- Southampton
Top of the class and top of the league for Leicester. Six wins and two losses from their opening eight matches has seen them enter the international break at the summit. The highlight was their 5-2 win at the Etihad Stadium although they did suffer home defeats to West Ham (3-0) and Aston Villa (1-0).
Southampton sit fourth, just two points behind Leicester having won five, drawn one and lost two of their eight games. They started with two losses against Crystal Palace (1-0) and then at home to Spurs (5-2). Since then, though, they’ve been brilliant, earning a point at Chelsea and beating Everton, Aston Villa and Newcastle in the last three gameweeks.
