Is it too early to start drawing conclusions?

The answer, of course, is yes. However, that hasn’t stopped many from writing off Liverpool’s title chances or the more modest prospects of others. As the dust settles on the opening weekend’s action, we put some perspective on events.

It is fair to say that there won’t have been too many happy faces in Merseyside work places this morning. Everton’s 6-1 mauling at the hands of Arsenal, followed by Liverpool’s limp defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, meant that any kind of early season joy was being monopolised in North London.

Everton were undoubtedly poor, and hardly helped by the kind of half hearted display by Joleon Lescott which you would associate with a man who wants away. He showed little desire to marshall the defence and motivate the  back line, although he was not directly at fault for any of the goals. Everton clearly have work to do, although you could not help but admire Arsenal’s performance. Title contenders? Let’s wait and see until the sunny August days are gone and weather conditions are not so conducive to their free flowing football.

Yesterday, Rafa Benitez must have wished his side had shown half the attacking guile that Arsene Wenger’s men did. Whilst it is too early to question Liverpool’s title credetials, as predicted they do appear to be missing the midfield influence of Xabi Alonso, and also look extremely short of strength in depth. Their home game against Stoke City on Wednesday now looks crucial, a repeat of the 0-0 from last season would but mean Benitez’s men needing to play catch up at a very early stage.

Manchester United and Chelsea both registered slender victories, but winning is all that counts, and Chelsea can count themselves lucky they have a player like Didier Drogba who can pop up in injury time to score the decisive goal. The match at Old Trafford yesterday served only to highlight how important Wayne Rooney will be to the champions in the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo. Credit must go to Hull City and Birmingham City, both heavily tipped for relegation, for spirited displays against superior opposition.

So the battlelines have once again been drawn and the new Premiership season is here. We don’t have to wait long for another round, with six fixtures over the course of Tuesday and Wednesday. Whilst we will have a further indication of how well prepared teams are for the season of ahead, it is important to remember it is still very early days and the temptation to draw firm predictions should be resisted.

Let us know your thoughts on the weekends action. Were there any results in particular which caught your eye? Who will you be looking to bring into your fantasy side and who will you be looking to transfer out at the first available opportunity?

August 17, 2009