Arsenal got done and outclassed by their lowly west London counterparts. Talk of a crisis was in the air by the club rather than the media. West Ham were out-of-form and out-of-touch and despite offloading injury-prone Freddie Ljungberg are still complaining about the effect of the injury table. Exactly who do they have to come back that could make a blind bit of difference?! Pompey succumbed to their third defeat on the spin, having to play an off-form Man. United twice should not be much of an excuse. Spurs’ off-field problems may well be the catalyst for two successive slumps though “thick as a brush” John Woodgate assures us that’s “bullshit.”

 Fulham turned over Arsenal on their home patch, which as Jimmy Bullard put it, was as “good as it gets”. Sunderland and essentially newboy Djibril Cisse condemned Spurs to two consecutive defeats. Stoke unexpectedly beat Aston Villa at home in what could prove to be essential in the battle that lies ahead. Derby really do have little excuse for their shenanigans last season. Chelsea, United and Liverpool continued their respective bandwagons with gritty wins– whether Liverpool would do this without Stevie G. and Fernando Torres is certainly questionable. In lower key news, Newcastle got a home win over difficult Bolton and Man. City demolished the lucklustre West Ham.