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Half-term report: We rate how every Premier League club have started the season

Premier League half-term report

The 'start' of the Premier League season is over, so let's check out how they're all doing.

Few people enjoy an international break, and they seem to be coming thick and fast right now.
Still, at least it gives us a chance to pause for thought and assess what the state of play is in the Premier League right now.
So, the time seems appropriate to give each club a little half-term report.

Arsenal

After three defeats to start the season, it's fair to say that Arsenal looked like a team in absolute crisis.

Manager Mikel Arteta was looking under real pressure and they looked more like relegation battlers than Champions League contenders.
Arsenal stuck with the Spaniard, though, and he has repaid that faith. Right now they are on a run of eight Premier League games unbeaten and are very much in the mix for the top four.

Position: 5th

Leading scorer: Emile Smith Rowe, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (4)
Most assists: Emile Smith Rowe, Bukayo Saka (2)

Most booked: Albert Sambi Lokonga (4)

Clean sheets: 5

RATING: 8/10

Aston Villa

Last season was one of genuine progression for Aston Villa, and perhaps it was always going to be tough to replicate. That got even harder when they lost star man Jack Grealish to Manchester City on the summer.

It's clear the board expected them to be doing a lot better than they have, though, and manager Dean Smith paid the price for seven defeats in 11 Premier League games this season.

Right now they are very much involved in the relegation battle and that is not looking especially likely to change any time soon.

Position: 16th

Leading scorer: Danny Ings (3)

Most assists: Danny Ings, Leon Bailey, Douglas Luiz (2)
Most booked: John McGinn, Tyrone Mings (4)

Clean sheets: 3

RATING: 3/10

Brentford

Brentford would have gone into this season with their eyes very much wide open regarding expectations.

They're a spectacularly well-run club and they will know that survival in their first ever Premier League season would be a significant step forward in their development.

A positive start has slowed a little recently, but Brentford are still on course to achieve that goal, so it's very much a case of 'keep it up' for Thomas Frank and his troops.

Position: 14th

Leading scorer: Bryan Mbeumo, Ivan Toney, Yoane Wissa (2)

Most assists: Ivan Toney (2)

Most booked: Sergi Canos, Christian Norgaard (3)

Clean sheets: (3)

RATING: 6/10

Brighton

Most people would have surely been expecting to see Brighton battling relegation again this season, but they have started the season brilliantly.

It's not been entirely plain sailing for the Seagulls, with them getting themselves stuck in the habit of drawing too many games at the moment.
Still, they are sitting comfortably in the top half and already have nearly half the points they are likely going to need to survive, so they can start looking at loftier goals now.

Position: 7th

Leading scorer: Neal Maupay (4)

Most assists: Pascal Groß (2)

Most booked: Shane Duffy, Adam Lallana, Joel Veltman (4)

Clean sheets: (4)

RATING: 8/10

Burnley

Burnley have started slowly before and yet grinded themselves to comfortable Premier League safety, so no one at Turf Moor will be pressing the panic button yet.

That said, one win in 11 games goes not inspire much confidence, so there is plenty of work to be done.
What Burnley have done well so far is to make sure they don't lose if they can't win, and that has kept them in touch. However, a big improvement is needed in the middle third of the campaign.

Position: 18th

Leading scorer: Maxwel Cornet (4)

Most assists: Matthew Lowton, Ashley Westwood (2)
Most booked: Josh Brownhill, James Tarkowski, Ashley Westwood (4)

Clean sheets: 1

RATING: 2/10

Chelsea

Chelsea went into the season as the Champions League winners and they have certainly delivered on that billing so far.

They recruited ambitiously in the summer and are now seeing their talented youngsters begin to flourish even more too, so it's hard to imagine things going any better for them really.
Chelsea absolutely look like the team to beat this season if you want to win the Premier League title, although maintaining momentum is often tougher than building it.

Position: 1st

Leading scorer: Reece James (4)

Most assists: Matteo Kovacic (5)

Most booked: Marcos Alonso, Antonio Rudiger (2)

Clean sheets: 7

RATING: 10/10

Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace decided to go in a whole new direction in the summer when they replaced the reliable yet unexciting Roy Hodgson with the relatively unproven yet exciting Patrick Vieira.

It took a little while for them to get going, but they are now looking like they can expect a pretty decent season ahead.
A shock win at Manchester City has done wonders for confidence and right now they as close to the Champions League places as they are the bottom three.

Position: 10th

Leading scorer: Conor Gallagher, Wilfried Zaha (4)
Most assists: Conor Gallagher, Michael Olise (2)
Most booked: Joachim Andersen, Conor Gallagher, James McArthur, Joel Ward (4)

Clean sheets: (4)

RATING: 6/10

Everton

Everton made the controversial move in the summer of appointing former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez, and it at least started quite positively.

The Toffees made a good start but have settled back into mid-table since, with a 5-2 defeat to Watford a particular low point.
It's much too early to write off Benitez, and patience is required. However, he hasn't been brought in to get Everton into mid-table.

Position: 11th

Leading scorer: Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Demarai Gray, Andros Townsend (3)

Most assists: Abdoulaye Doucoure (4)

Most booked: Richarlison (4)

Clean sheets: 3

RATING: 4/10

Leeds

Leeds were out of the Premier League for a very long time, and with the sheer size of the club it's understandable that expectations are high.

These days, season-on-season progression is demanded and if that doesn't happen it's seen as failure, but that shouldn't always be the case.
Truth is, consolidation this season is a big step forward for Leeds and, although they have not matched the heights of last year, they are on track for that.

Position: 15th

Leading scorer: Raphinha (5)

Most assists: Patrick Bamford (2)

Most booked: Rodrigo (4)

Clean sheets: 1

RATING: 4/10

Leicester

Leicester are a club with high standards these days and it's fair to say they have not lived up to them yet this season.

The Foxes have struggled defensively and that has definitely undermined their efforts so far, but the recent signs suggest that things are improving.

Still, they currently sit in the bottom half of the table, and that's just not good enough for that club anymore.

Position: 12th

Leading scorer: Jamie Vardy (7)

Most assists: Ricardo Pereira, Kelechi Iheanacho, Ayoze Perez, Youri Tielemans (2)
Most booked: Harvey Barnes, Wilfried Ndidi, Caglar Soyuncu, Jamie Vardy (2)

Clean sheets: 1

RATING: 3/10

Liverpool

Liverpool lost their Premier League title last season and hopes were high that they could regain it this season.

They are certainly in the mix for the title, although recent poor results against Brighton and West Ham have harmed their chances.

Still, you don't win a title in November, so as long as they're in touch they are on target.

Position: 4th

Leading scorer: Mohamed Salah (10)

Most assists: Mohamed Salah (7)

Most booked: James Milner, Andrew Robertson, Fabinho (2)

Clean sheets: 6

RATING: 7/10

Manchester City

In a way it's quite hard to judge Manchester City here. On the one hand, they are second in the Premier League and within touching distance of leaders Chelsea. On the other, that's probably the least you'd expect from them.

City remain formidable, but are not impressing as much as they did last season.
So, ultimately, they are probably just doing no better than alright so far, given their standards are so high.

Position: 2nd

Leading scorer: Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva (3)

Most assists: Gabriel Jesus (5)

Most booked: Joao Cancelo, Aymeric Laporte, Bernado Silva (3)

Clean sheets: 7

RATING: 7/10

Manchester United

Meanwhile, in the red half of Manchester, things are very far indeed from just ticking along nicely.

Manchester United recruited brilliantly in the summer, and yet they have taken a big step backwards on the pitch.

They are not even involved in a title race at this point and not looking especially likely to secure Champions League football either. Simply put, it's been well short of expectations.

Position: 6th

Leading scorer: Bruno Fernandes, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mason Greenwood (4)

Most assists: Paul Pogba (7)

Most booked: Paul Pogba, Fred, Luke Shaw (4)

Clean sheets: 2

RATING: 3/10

Newcastle

At this stage of the season, only one Premier League club has failed to win a match, and that is Newcastle.

The Saudi Arabians have arrived with their megabucks and Steve Bruce has gone. Eddie Howe has been tasked with saving the Magpies from relegation.

Whichever way you look at it right now, though, Newcastle's season has been nothing short of a disaster.

Position: 19th

Leading scorer: Callum Wilson (4)

Most assists: Allan Saint-Maximin (3)

Most booked: Jamaal Lascelles, Matt Ritchie (4)

Clean sheets: 0

RATING: 1/10

Norwich

The Canaries are the only club lower than Newcastle in the League, with the two sides separated only by goal difference.

Context must be kinder to Norwich, as they are a newly-promoted club. They have also had a fairly brutal fixtures list so far.

They won their first match last week and immediately sacked their manager, which was odd. Still, at least Norwich have won a game.

Position: 20th

Leading scorer: Teemu Pukki (3)

Most assists: Mathias Normann, Milot Rashica (1)
Most booked: Max Aarons, Pierre Lees-Melou, Mathias Normann (3)

Clean sheets: 2

RATING: 2/10

Southampton

Southampton lost star man Danny Ings over the summer, and they didn't head into this season is especially good form.

Things were looking a little worrying for a time, but they have since stabilized themselves in midtable and at the moment they look well-clear of the emerging relegation scrap.
Whether they can maintain their current stability will revealed in the fullness of time, but for now it's a decent start to the season.

Position: 13th

Leading scorer: Adam Armstrong, Armando Broja, James Ward-Prowse (2)

Most assists: Nathan Redmond (2)

Most booked: Mohammed Salisu (4)

Clean sheets: 5

RATING: 5/10

Tottenham

Tottenham are arguably the hardest club in this whole list to judge. They don't spend as much as they need to, which everyone acknowledges, yet the expectations remain high.

They were also done no favours by the board in the summer, who took forever to appoint a new manager and then got it so wrong he has already been replaced.

Even with that said, Spurs have not impressed anyone this season, and they need to start improving quickly under new boss Antonio Conte.

Position: 9th

Leading scorer: Heung-min Son (4)

Most assists: Sergio Reguilon (2)

Most booked: Oliver Skipp (4)

Clean sheets: 4

RATING: 4/10

Watford

Arguably, perhaps the biggest surprise about Watford this season is that they are not in the relegation zone right now.

They have done that usual Watford thing of sacking a manager early and rolling the dice, and they were probably right to do that.

Then again, they are a newly-promoted club and survival, any survival, is a good season - and they are on course to achieve that at this stage.

Position: 17th

Leading scorer: Ismaila Sarr (4)

Most assists: Emmanuel Dennis (3)

Most booked: Emmanuel Dennis (5)

Clean sheets: 0

RATING: 4/10

West Ham

If anyone was thinking that last season's success was maybe a flash in the pan for West Ham, they have certainly forced them to reconsider that position.

West Ham currently sit in the top three of the Premier League and are going well in the League Cup and Europa League too.

They only seem to be getting better too, so it's hard to see them hitting a wall any time soon.

Position: 3rd

Leading scorer: Michail Antonio (4)

Most assists: Jarrod Bowen (4)

Most booked: Pablo Fornals, Declan Rice (3)

Clean sheets: 3

RATING: 10/10

Wolves

Wolves appeared to be at something of a dangerous crossroads in the summer. Nuno Espirito Santo had established them in the Premier League but moved on.

Things could have gone wrong, but they seem to have found a bit of mojo under new boss Bruno Lage.

They aren't really pulling up any trees, but they are definitely just cruising along nicely under the radar.

Position: 8th

Leading scorer: Hwang Hee-Chan (4)

Most assists: Raul Jimenez (2)

Most booked: Ruben Neves, Romain Saiss (3)

Clean sheets: 2

RATING: 6/10

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