Thoughts so far....

I apologise in advance for any pro-united bias this post might portray....

So, we're about 1/7th of the way through the Premier League season and it's shaping up to be a cracker. We've had goals, upsets, good transfers, dodgy transfers and a Frenchman clinging on to his job for dear life.

But five games in and one thing is clearer than crystal - Manchester United will once again be the team to beat. Few would disagree they have been magnificent so far and certainly as good as I can remember seeing them play since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Sir Alex has once again proved he is the maestro of discovering and nurturing young talent and in players like Chris Smalling, Tom Cleverly, Phil Jones and Danny Welbeck, and yes, even David De Gea (who has come under a lot of unfair criticism in my opinion), the future looks bright at Old Trafford.

It is the perfect mixture of youthful exuberance and naivety combined with the experience and maturity of seasoned professionals in Evra, Giggs, Ferdinand and now it appears even Rooney can be grouped with the latter. After the debacle of the will he/won't he Manchester City transfer last season, the 25-year-old has shown a new-found vigour and maturity towards his football and the goals have flowed as a result. With nine already you'd put your mortgage on him taking the golden boot come the end of the season.

Talking of City, I'm impressed, if unsurprised, at their start to the season. Sunday's result aside, they have looked dangerous and extremely easy on the eye with a style of football and set up not too dissimilar to that of United of the Ronaldo era with countless attacking options to choose from. Whether they can keep it up for the duration of the season with the increased pressure and expectancy of the Eastlands, sorry, Etihad faithful remains to be seen but with their squad depth and quality, they certainly have the artillery to do so.

Several long seasons ago, the above paragraph would have applied to a fiery, adventurous Arsenal side, capable of winning multiple trophies. Now the picture is a much bleaker one. I said pre-season that I thought they would struggle and they have emphatically proved me right.

Some last-minute transfer action prompted by an 8-2 drubbing at Old Trafford appears to have done little to smooth over the cracks at the North London outfit left by the departure of Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas and you have to wonder where they go from here after their misery was compiled by a 4-3 defeat at Ewood Park. Personally, I think it's time for a change at the helm but Chief Exec Ivan Gazidis has today come out in support of Arsene Wenger, a man I believe has truly lost the plot but surely with the safest job in football.

The same cannot be said about that of Andre Villas Boas at Chelsea who will of course be sacked should he fail to bring any silverware to Stamford Bridge by May. They have looked, to my eye, rather unconvincing thus far but we all know they will be fighting to the end of every competition they enter. A much-improved performance by frontman Fernando Torres on Sunday should help the Spaniard to regain some confidence if he can forget about that miss which I'm confident he can. He was by far Chelsea's best player at Old Trafford and should begin to finally add to his abysmal goal tally for the Blues. Despite a quiet summer by their standards, the signings of Juan Mata and Raul Meireles should help boost an ageing squad and keep them in the fight in what I hope will be at least a three horse race in the Premier League.

As for best of the rest, Liverpool have to be massive contenders for a top four finish this season and I think they will probably clinch the fourth spot ahead of either Spurs or Arsenal. Despite overspending on players like Henderson, they have secured the signatures of some decent players and have looked fairly promising so far despite two defeats in their last two. A 1-0 away at boring Stoke will be a common result for many a team this season and they can put their 4-0 loss at White Hart Lane down to some poor discipline/harsh refereeing resulting in the dismissals of Charlie Adam and Martin Skrtel.

With 33 games to go, it is still early days but with domestic and European cup competitions now in full swing, we should be able to see who can keep up with the pace in the next few weeks and I am thoroughly looking forward to it.

Predictions? Oh go on then:

Top Four
1. Manchester United
2. Manchester City
3. Chelsea
4. Liverpool

Bottom Three
18. Wigan
19. Swansea
20. Blackburn

And just in case you missed it....