As you’re fully aware, the travelling fans’ performance put that of the players, and perhaps the club’s limited transfer activity to shame. Chants of “we’ll race you back to London” were greeted with chuckles and the 20 minute relentless chorus of “we love you Arsenal, we do” showed the unconditional affection some of us have for the club. Whether the same can be said for the likes of Tomas Rosicky and Armand Traore is debatable to say the least; at times they looked like they’d rather endure interrogation by Jack Bauer than wear the, err, not so famous…navy and turquoise jersey.

The tone was set from the off as the energetic Danny Welbeck closed down a far too casual Wojciech Szczesny in a slice of action that could easily have ended in Jens Lehmann-esque disaster as it could for what was the ultimate consequence, a mere goalkick. It personified the game in some respects: United determined, committed, Arsenal lacklustre and lazy.

The Gunners’ defensive frailties were all for see as the hosts notched a well-deserved opener. Anderson’s clipped ball wasn’t dealt with by Djourou, Koscielny or Szczesny as the in-form Welbeck ghosted in to nod past the exposed Pole. Moments before Walcott and Jenkinson had argued with eachother after the latter was left haplessly out of position. The exchange of words at least showed they cared but demonstrated the lack of basic discipline in Arsene Wenger’s makeshift side. Gifting high quality opposition early goals is suicidal, particularly against a side like Manchester United who simply didn’t look back from that moment.

Against the run of play, a collector’s item in a penalty given at Old Trafford against the home side, gave the slack Arsenal outfit hope after Walcott was tugged back by Evans and Howard Webb, who it must be said had a sound game, pointed to the spot. A little soft perhaps but home sides get those every week. Anderson did his best to intimidate van Persie, and the usually assured Arsenal skipper looked somewhat hesitant as he put his powderpuff spot kick far too close to De Gea who made a simple save. The much maligned keeper was given a hero’s congratulation by his United teammates. For the romantics, it suggested redemption and a turning point for the shaky Spaniard. Truth be told, however, he continued to spill balls on the odd occasion Arsenal did test him from distance.

As far as I’m concerned it was neither a turning point for De Gea, nor for the match itself. The home side were already dominating and even had van Persie tucked the penalty away, I’d wager Arsenal still would have lost heavily against vastly superior opposition. United didn’t need an invitation to take advantage of Arsenal’s profligacy and went straight up the other end and doubled their advantage through Ashley Young’s terrific curling effort. You could sense it was already game over and a matter of how many the hosts would end up with.

Welbeck pulled up shortly after and was replaced by Javier Hernandez; an indication of the strength United have in their ranks. Frankly it made a mockery of the Arsenal bench that included the likes of Oguzhan Ozyakup and Gilles Sunu. Wenger had nobody to turn to in order to turn things around; faith had to be shown in Arsenal’s already decimated starting XI.

The Champions grabbed a third through Wayne Rooney’s training-ground-perfected free kick after Jenkinson had naively bundled over Young. It’s hard to put too much blame on the teenager who was playing non league football no more than 18 months ago. The fact we have been made to play embarrassingly immature players such as Jenkinson and Coquelin is no fault of their own but is a problem that needs rectifying if we are to avoid further humiliation. We can’t keep hiding behind the excuse of injuries, a demon who admittedly did wipe out the majority of Arsenal’s backline.

Theo Walcott did pull one back before the break after being slipped in by Arshavin. Had the roles been reversed and it was United reducing the deficit held by Arsenal, a dramatic comeback may have been in the offing. Alas, this was not the case and there was simply not a cat in hell’s chance of The Gunners turning their poor first half around during the second period.

Arshavin dragged a shot wide at the beginning of the half which could have made some significant distance had it gone in while Szczesny denied Young and Cleverley at the other end which showed just how rampant the hosts were, that it could easily, easily have been double-figures. That the keeper was our ‘best’ player spoke volumes of just how woeful a display this was. Any deluded hopes of a revival were dashed as Rooney tucked away United’s fourth with another sensational freekick. Planting the ball inside the post at such pace and with unerring accuracy is quite a skill to execute; Rooney’s brilliance highlighted by the fact Szczesny did not even attempt to stop it.

If possible, the Champions seemed to get stronger as they smelt blood and ruthlessly battered Arsenal from corner to corner. The movement of Rooney, Hernandez and Nani was too much for the inexperience of Jenkinson and the inability of Traore. A painful fifth was added as Rooney fed Nani in acres of space, and the winger audaciously dinked the ball over Szczesny. It was a goal scored with such ease that you could be forgiven for thinking this was a game of FIFA on the Playstation.

The Gunners continued to receive heavy blows. The image of a disorientated boxer does not tell half the story of how out-of-sorts this Arsenal side were. Rooney tried a deft chip from outside the box that hit the woodwork. His claim for the matchball would have to wait. Not long of course. Gaping holes appeared all over the pitch and Young teed up substitute, Park who scored his customary goal against Arsenal with aplomb. Comparisons were being made with the previous 6-1 defeat at Old Trafford that included the likes of Luzhny and Stepanovs in the Gunners’ defence. As the ultimate scoreline proved, it would be even worse than the debacle at the turn of the century.

Robin van Persie’s strike at the Stretford End drew some ironic cheers from the travelling supporters but the players also knew it was of no significance whatsoever. Who says footballers are stupid?

Unsurprisingly, United weren’t satisfied with a four goal cushion and Arsenal weren’t comfortable conceding six; you can’t make ate/hate puns when only conceding six now can you? Jenkinson received a second yellow for another clumsy foul meaning a quite remarkable record of three red cards in three games was set. Further goals were of course imminent, and Walcott’s silly shove on Evra in the box meant the hosts had a penalty of their own. Rooney showed the Arsenal captain how to put the ball away as he completed a quite inevitable hattrick.

The Champions’ eighth goal came through the impressive Young who scored a carbon copy of his first-half strike, bending the ball past Szczesny from the edge of the box. An emphatic result that confirmed United’s credibility as Champions and Arsenal’s humiliatingly obvious defensive frailties. The squad currently has as much depth as a children’s paddling pool and that has to change in the next couple of days.

The club have left it far too late to replace Fabregas and Nasri. Not only because there is little more than 48 hours remaining in the window, but who is going to want to join after this mauling? Traore’s horror show will probably mean he’ll never play for the club again. Cracks are appearing all over the pitch and it’s difficult not to fear for both the immediate, and long term future of Arsenal Football Club.

Follow me on Twitter for more insightful musings.

There’s no need for you to stop me if you think you’ve heard this one before; I won’t patronise you with the details of Arsenal’s alleged crisis, it’s been done to death by the tabloids and paranoid bloggers alike.

We must now build on the momentum gained in Italy and take it up to Old Trafford; a place that probably does feel like a prison to our players, based on United’s impressive start and our pretty dismal record there.

The media are proceeding to paint a vulgar picture, and rightly so, we’re short on players for a massive game; defeat in which could leave us rock bottom of the Premier League. There’s no doubt we are in a predicament but we still have a few days left to try and sign some players, and our current crop are capable of springing a surprise; van Persie, and Walcott have proved they can change a game in a second.

Arsenal would be best suited setting up like they did in Udine, with two recognised defensive midfielders holding the fort, then utilising the pace of Walcott and Gervinho on the counter. Of course it’s not nearly that simple: both Alex Song and Emmanuel Frimpong are suspended, as is the Ivorian winger meaning the Gunners are lacking serious bite in the middle and penetration on the flanks. Andrey Arshavin will be drafted in and a big performance is required.

To his credit, Arshavin’s best performances often come in the big games and he scored in Manchester only a couple of years ago. His showings thus far in this campaign however have been far from special, the Russian seems bereft of attacking instincts and seems unable to beat his man with the confidence he oozed when first joining in 2009.

If Wenger can bring in a couple of players before the game, that would be ideal considering the fragility of our current squad. Arsenal have definitely been lacking a creative spark since the departures of Messrs Fabregas and Nasri; one which is desperately needed against a notoriously solid Manchester United backline, albeit minus Vidic and possibly Ferdinand through injury.

One avenue Wenger may be willing to explore is long shots, as United’s new shotstopper, David de Gea appears a little shaky when faced with speculative blasts from distance. Arsenal’s infamous desire to ‘walk the ball into the net’ may have to be abandoned under the circumstances, and the likes of Tomas Rosicky will be trusted to have pot-shots from 25 yards.

This game could be massive for belief within the camp and it would be a fantastic way to kick-start what has been a poor beginning to the domestic season. Of course it would also be wonderful to get one over the old enemy. A rush and a push and the land is ours. Keep the faith.

Follow me on Twitter for more insightful musings.

It seems increasingly likely that Man Utd will win the title again this year but will they be the worst team to have ever won the Premier League?

I've had this conversation with a few Man Utd fans. Initially they get very defensive and point to the 7-1 drubbing of Blackburn in November and 5-0 win over Birmingham in January. Then they grudgingly admit that many of the performances this season haven't been up to the standard they have come to expect. It's credit to the team that in all bar one game they've earned at least a draw.

Every team has good and bad days, so it's no surprise that a team like United can destroy a mid-table team on a good day. But for me there have been too few good days and a lot of games where Man Utd have lacked the flair, organisation and passion they've shown in previous campaigns. They've been outplayed on occasions and have taken undeserved points.

Rooney has been very quiet for the vast majority of the season so far, not recovering from a poor summer. The last couple of games have seen him start to come to life and his overhead kick to score against Manchester City on Saturday was excellent. Berbatov has had golden spells but again has had a number of games where he hasn't made a mark.

While no-one should be discounted until it's mathematically impossible for them to win, it looks increasingly like a two-team run to the end of the season. It's Manchester United's to lose but with Rooney coming back into form and United's legendary winning mentaility I can't see them losing 4 points more than Arsenal in the remaining 12 games.

Arsenal are an interesting comparison to this year's United team. Often playing beautiful, fluid football, dominating many of their games this year, they have lacked a killer instinct and have dropped points through a lack of cutting-edge finishing.

If Manchester United finish top this year, I hope they end the season showing some of the style and entertaining football they've given us in previous years.

There are no major shocks at the top of the table. The top 5 remain the same with Real Madrid and Barcelona in the top two spots, followed by Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Arsenal.

Chelsea come in at 6th and Liverpool are 8th. Manchester City jumped 9 places but, at 11th, just missed out on the top 10.

The Premiership is still the best represented league in the table with seven teams in the top 20.

However, Newcastle's season in the Championship in 2009-10 saw them drop out of the top 20, with Deloitte estimating their position to be somewhere between 40th and 50th. The Premier League's strong presence in the table is largely down to the huge incomes received from Sky TV and it's losing the estimated £38m from Premiership TV, to be replaced by around £5m from Championship TV money that's hit Newcastle hard.

Sunderland, their arch-rivals who remained in the Premier League last year, overtook Newcastle in the list with a position some ten points higher despite lower gate receipts.

Newcastle's fall is likely to be short-lived. With a return to the Premiership this year and decent performances to date, Newcastle's revenues will be up on last year and they are expected to return to the top 20. It is also likely that they will leap-frog Sunderland to become the north-east's richest club again.

This demonstrates just how massive an effect the Sky sponsorship has on the ability of clubs to compete financially.

Tuesday night was one of frustration for the two English clubs involved in the group stage. Manchester United were held by a very resilient Rangers team and Tottenham let a two-goal away lead against Werder Bremen slip out of their hands to also end with a draw.

On Wednesday night we saw an outstanding display from Arsenal who strolled past Braga, and a very accomplished performance from Chelsea to beat MSK Zilina.

These results mirror the teams' start to the season. Chelsea couldn't have stamped their authority on the Premier League any more clearly than they have with their first 4 games and deservedly top the table. Admittedly they haven't faced the toughest of opposition yet but even so, 17 goals in four games with only 1 conceded is a fantastic start.

Chelsea dominated the first half against Zilina taking a deserved 3-0 lead into half-time. However, after another goal just after the break they sat back and had a dissapointing spell, allowing Zilina to get back into the game and claw a goal back. While Chelsea still had a comfortable lead, this was surprising from a side that happily put 6 goals past Wigan and West Brom.

Arsenal are just behind Chelsea in the Premiership table thanks to a draw with Liverpool on the opening day of the season. The Gunners are playing beautiful football with confidence, even against Bolton who historically have posed the team a problem.

Against Braga, Arsenal showed how they can not only dominate possession with crisp passing and excellent movement, but they can be incisive and make that possession count. Arsenal started the game intent on a win and had that sealed by half time. Encouragingly they didn't then dip like Chelsea, but kept chasing right through to the end and the only question was why only six? A great commanding display from Fabregas led the team but they all played their part. Chamahk pulled the defenders out of position to give others opportunities, Wilshere made some great forward passes and the defence was solid.

In comparison, Manchester United had a poor night on Tuesday. Yes Rangers came with only Plan A - park the bus in front of the goal. That said, United had two failings. First, the players on the pitch didn't play well. United are usually the kind of team that can undo a tight defence (it's usually Arsenal who struggle there) and their lack of success was as much down to their failings as it was to Walter Smith's tactics.

The second failing was Ferguson's choice of substitutes. Fair enough that he wants to rest key players if he believes he can win the game. But you keep them on the bench in case the game needs changing. And it did. Nil-nil against Rangers is two points lost for Manchester United and he should have had Berbatov, Scholes and nani on the bench ready to shake-up the team.

Finally, Tottenham 'were taught a lesson' about the Champions League on Tuesday. Spurs showed their potential in the first half, taking a two goal lead and delighting fans with the quality of their football. Their attacking play was strong and the defence was certain, giving the confidence to push forward. But the second half highlighted where they still have work to do. They left Werder Bremen too much room behind the midfield and Lennon failed to double up on the left defence. Bremen deserved to equalise and Spurs were even lucky to get the draw by the end. That said, the evening should have been satisfying for Spurs fans overall - a point away from home against a strong team and signs of the potential of the team.

So an interesting first week in the Champions League. There's a long way to go and team form changes over the season but we should see at least three, if not all four, English teams proceed to the next stage.

This got me looking at others and I came across the Manchester United Ticket Exchange website. Here, season ticket holders who can't make a match can legitimately sell their tickets, and buyers are guaranteed a genuine ticket for the match.

With prices from as low as £10 to see Manchester United versus Fulham at Old Trafford, you can also get some real bargains.

It was only a few short weeks ago that Chelsea were clear at the top of the league and playing as if they could never lose.

Yet now they are a mere point ahead of Manchester United, three above Arsenal, have lost two games in a row and have been rocked by personal scandals affecting two of their key defensive players.

Manchester United, meanwhile, have Rooney in a rich vein of form and have a history of strong run-ins to the end of the season. Arsenal don't look so strong but are racking up the points and have closed the gap above them.

So who will lift the trophy?

To find answers to this question, I compiled a "Best of English Football" league. I don't know why British newspapers/statisticians don't employ this more often but the Brazilian press use the criteria "percentages of available points won" as a league ranking. This eliminates the problem of looking at a league table with "games in hand" to take into account. For example, let's say if Aston Villa had won their first two games at the start of the season they would have a percentage of 100% (6 points won / 6 points available) after two games and would finish above a team who had won two but drawn one which would have a percentage of 77% (7 points won / 9 points available). The advantage of this is that you can also compare teams across divisions or even countries even if they have played vastly different numbers of games. So, using this criteria let's compile an elite league of 12 made up of the top 3 from the top four English divisions. This is what it looks like.

Percentage of available points won.

1. Chelsea (Prem) 81%
2. Leeds United (CCL1) 80%
3. Man Utd (Prem) 76%
4. Arsenal (Prem) 73%
5. Bournemouth (CCL1) 68%
6. Newcastle (CCC) 67%
7. Charlton (CCL1) 64%
=7 MK Dons (CCL1) 64%
=7 Rochdale (CCL2) 64%
=7 Dag & Red (CCL2) 64%
11. West Brom (CCC) 60%
12. Cardiff (CCC) 60%

This league of leagues shows how the Premiership really is a league of extremes in which the top teams have to perform extraordinarily well maintain a title challenge. The top 3 Premier League teams appear in the top 4 overall form positions. Arsenal, despite being 3rd in the Premier League are producing results 6% better than Newcastle who are top of the Championship. Another factor in favour of the Premiership teams has been the lack of draws in the top half of the Premier League this season – more points are being won by more teams. Well done to Leeds United too, who are clearly dominating League 1 taking 80% of points available to them.

But, when it comes to goals scored per game, what does the league of leagues look like?

Average goals per game (gpg).

1. Arsenal 3.2
2. Chelsea 2.5
3. Man Utd 2.3
4. Cardiff 2.1
5. West Brom 1.9
=5 Leeds 1.9
=5 Rochdale 1.9
=5 Dag and Red 1.9
9. Charlton 1.6
10. Newcastle 1.5
11. Bournemouth 1.3
12. MK Dons 1.2

This league demonstrates, then, that Arsenal are scoring far more freely than anyone else in the top 4 English divisions, netting 0.7 more goals per game than Chelsea and everyone else. In fact, the best teams from Europe are not scoring 3 goals per game either: Barcelona 2.6 gpg, Inter 2.5 gpg. Even in the SPL where the old Firm usually dominate the rest of the league convincingly, Celtic top the gpg ratio at only 2.0. Again, the Premiership seems to be the division to watch in order to see goals. Much has been made this season of Cardiff's free-scoring in the Championship but they still average less gpg than Chelsea and Manchester United.

Strangely, Bournemouth and Newcastle can't muster more than two goals per game and yet they are leaders of their respective leagues. This shows, of course, that defence is equally important to success. Or, in other words, goal difference (goals scored – goals conceded) is obviously an even more important indication of whether a team are winning and winning well. Arsenal fans won't be happy if Arsenal concede as many as they score.

So, here is the goal difference league across the four divisions divided by the number of games played by each team. The number in the league then is the number of goals MORE that a team scores than their opponents on average per game.

1. Arsenal +1.9
2. Chelsea +1.8
3. Manchester United +1.7
4. Leeds United +1.4
5. West Brom +1.1
6. Cardiff + 1
7. Newcastle +0.9
=7 Rochdale +0.9
9. Charlton +0.7
=9 Dag and Red +0.7
11. Bournemouth +0.5
12. MK Dons +0.3

When Arsenal fans have gone to watch Arsenal this season they have been watching a team that averages more than 3 goals per game and who beats teams by almost a clear 2 goal margin. Or, the average Arsenal score this season has been a 3-1 win to the Gunners. No other team is able to dominate teams quite so thoroughly in all 4 divisions. Cardiff, who have done well to score so many goals, seem to concede a lot as they only manage to beat teams by one goal each time.

These statistics are clearly not the be all and end all in comparing teams across the divisions. Bournemouth are topping League 2 with a very low goals scored and goal difference. It seems apparent that the outcome of a league – especially at the business end of the season – will be down to many other competing factors including when and against whom goals are scored and conceded. What these statistics do show, however, is that Arsenal supporters should be a fairly happy lot right now. Nowhere in England or probably Europe is a team scoring so many goals in order to overturn teams so completely.

As a Gooner myself I say long may it continue!

With that in mind, what did we learn? Well, for thing, that United would a much more rigid outfit playing a straight 4-4-2, rather than the more fluid 4-3-2-1 concoction of past seasons. While this could be seen as a regression to a more simplistic style of play, it should get the best out of Rooney, who should now get to play as a more traditional centre forward, and Berbatov, who played in a 4-4-2 during his Leverkusen and Spurs peak. This formation puts more pressure on the central midfield, and with Owen Hargreaves seemingly no closer to making any kind of a comeback, the jury is out on whether a combination of Carrick and Fletcher will be able to dominate in the middle of the park. More will be expected, also, of the bustling but limited Park Ji-Sung and the frustrating show-pony Nani now that Ronaldo has sashayed out of Manchester, though the fleet-footed Valencia made an encouraging cameo. Rooney and Berbatov should score more than last season, and Owen may well chip in with a few, fitness permitting, but how many goals United score from midfield will be the key to them retaining their title.

Talking of formations, as we were, Chelsea have ditched their Mourinho-inspired 4-2-3-1 for a 4-1-2-1-2 (or 4-4-2 diamond, if you prefer) a favoured formation of their new manager during his Milan days. It's stylistically similar to the style adopted during the early days of Luis Felipe Scolari's ill-fated reign and its usage could see Ancelotti suffer a similar fate to the avuncular Brazilian. While an attempt to change the playing style of Chelsea's arch-pragmatists is no bad thing, one gets the impression that Ancelotti decided on this formation before appraising his playing staff and is now having to shoe-horn players into unfamiliar roles. Malouda is a left-winger who loves to get chalk on his boots and looked much less comfortable having to come inside to make way for Cole's shuttling runs from left back (his subdued performance was a shame, given that towards the end of last season under Hiddink he looked rejuvenated, back to his inspired Lyon pomp) and with Anelka's natural instinct also being to drift out to the left channel, that side of the pitch could get somewhat congested. By contrast, Chelsea's right flank was a no-man's land in the first half, with both Essien and the uncomfortable right back Ivanovic unwilling to surge forward down that flank. It took the introduction of the galloping Jose Boswinga at half-time to give some semblance of balance. It remains to be seen whether Chelsea's players can adapt to the new style, or whether it will be as easily stifled as Scolari's system was. However, if Ancelotti can coax yet another goalscoring season from the irrepressible Lampard and get Drogba back to his battering ram best, there will be another title challenge from the Londerners' ageing squad.

What we learnt from the Community Sheild was scant, in all honesty. Ahead of a new season, more questions than answers remain for these sides. Can they both adapt to their new styles of play? Do either side have plan B if and when things go wrong? Do the ageing figureheads of Chelsea's squad have one more title push in them? Will United's midfielders score enough goals? Does Petr Cech realise that the combination of his black and fluorescent green shirt and headgear makes him look like a character from Tron?

We'll have to wait a while for answers, but what's undoubted is that these two sides will be in the scramble for the title again. Much will depend, though, on how long it takes them to adjust to the new formations and the upheavals of the summer. In a title fight with a dangerous looking Liverpool side, a zesty, underrated Arsenal and possibly even big spenders Manchester City, both of these sides are going to have to hit the ground running starting next weekend. Thankfully, their dress rehearsal today showed plenty of promise.

Which leads onto my main point about this artice: is this Manchester City's chance to finally fulfill the potential they've been given since the arabs took over? With Mark Hughes at the helm, the club have made expensive, but sensible buys. Well, most of them anyway; the signings of Nigel De Jong and Wayne Bridge still baffle me. And although Hughes will have trouble accomodating all his new players, City potentially have the best strikeforce in the country. This enbarrassment of riches includes Robinho, Tevez, Santa Cruz, Bellamy and possibly Adebayor. Naturally there may be more to come (John Terry rumours have been circulating of late) but they already have an impressive looking team:

Given
Richards, Onouha, Dunne, Bridge
Wright Phillips, Barry, Ireland, Petrov
Tevez, Santa Cruz

I have no idea what players and what formation Hughes will field next season but I think that XI has enough quality to challenge for a top 4 place.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Manchester, are United on the decline? With the player wanting to go and a ridiculously big offer on the table, Fergie had little choice but to sell Ronaldo, but how can they replace him? In an attempt to do that, he's brought in Antonio Valencia from Wigan and Gabriel Obertan from Bordeaux. I know little about the latter but somehow I doubt he's at the Portugese winker's level. As for Valencia, well yes he's good, probably too good for Wigan, but is he worth £17million and a place at 'the world's top club?' I doubt it. Tevez has also left the club and joined bitter rivals City. His replacement? Michael Owen. For all his quality in front of goal, you can't help but feel its a gamble considering his age and injury record. Is it just me or have United taken a step backwards? What if Rooney and Owen both get injured (it's certainly possible)? Reserve-atov and Macheda up front is it? Oh no, please don't.

In my expert opinion, I think the race for 4th will be hotter than ever. Naturally I predict Arsenal will be well clear of that, Chelsea too under the guidance of Ancelotti. But I think Liverpool's squad is too weak (if Gerrard and Torres are out they are screwed), and as previously stated, United's has taken a beating, too. The likes of Man City, Everton and dare I say it, Tottenham will all be in the running. But one thing is certain: it's gonna be another brilliant season in the Premier League!

Arsenal have been nowhere near their best this season, but then you've got to think of it as if there's the best yet to come. Manchester United always come to life in the second half of the season and I think The Gunners will as well. In the double winning campaign of 01/02 we were 12 points I think behind the leaders but obviously came back to win the title.

There is Eduardo to come back soon, and the Croatian is one of if not the deadliest striker in the Premier League. Of course you have to take into account that he won't be at his best for a couple of months but just having him avaliable will be a huge boost. Van Persie has stayed injury free and we are benefiting from it. He's top scorer and is consistently putting in good performances for the team. Walcott is also returning soon which gives us another dimension as well as the creative flair of Rosicky and Fabregas; but their comebacks will be in the rather distant future. Wenger seems to ahve recognised the need for players to come in, and if someone like Arshavin does join, then we've got even more in our arsenal (excuse the pun).

When we're at our flowing best, we're unplayable; as we proved against United, who now hold the 'World Champions' title remember. Arshavin has the quality to plug the gap left by Fabregas' injury, and provides more goals than the inspirational spaniard, something you could well be right in thinking that we have been lacking recently. We got a good draw in the Champions League, I'd expect us to progress past Roma and then who knows? Maybe we could go all the way.

You have to remember that we're still in a transition period. Even the 'great' United were from 2003-2006. They slipped slightly down the league during that time just as we are at the moment. But like our northern rivals, we have bags of talent waiting in the wings and soon they will explode onto the scene and Arsenal will be back where they belong: top of the pile.

We're always on the look out for new writers. So if you fancy writing about your team, please get in touch.

I missed the Arsenal game on Saturday as I had to be at work. So when I clocked off I tried to pick up the highlights online and saw the goals over at eplmatches.com - first and second-half highlights pulled from ESPN. The action was great, the commentary was poor. I don't know who ESPN have on for their English-speaking half-time punditry team, but the main presenter A (who seemed fairly on the ball) and the co-commentator B (a guy called "Mace" who sounded like Alan Shearer - anyone know who it was?) managed to botch up the first half highlights spectacularly. These are the highlights (or should that be lowlights) of their first half summary. Worth a chuckle. Could you do better?

(When Almunia inexplicably picks up Silvestre's backpass early on)
B: A complete and utter brainwave.
A: Brainwave? Aberration, perhaps? Brainwave is generally a good thing.
B: Is it? Thanks for picking me up on that…

(Rooney misses a sitter)
A: Did it take a bobble? You can’t talk about bobbles, can you, in the Emirates…

(Nasri's first goal)
A: Wicked deflection. All deflections are wicked aren’t they?
B: Well, yeah, if they take them away from the keeper…
(Er, what about deflections that help the defending team? Are those wicked? What about deflections in the middle of the park miles away from goal that have no importance whatsoever?)

(Almunia saves from Park's shot)
A: Good save from Almunia. We were talking about Goalkeeper’s needing to push it away to safely.
B: Good strong hand on that. Well, it could have gone back into play…
A:…well, it did.

(Walcott misses a volley)
A: He did everything right. Kept his head down...
B: He didn’t do everything right because he didn’t get the right connection. He didn't get it on target, did he?

The Champions were in town, and boy, the game was an absoloute spectacle. End-to-end, flowing football with dozens and dozens of chances. It's not as if it was all Arsenal. Manchester United could have won the game on another day, but today they were denied by a solid defensively display, and some poor finishing in front of goal. But what makes it all so frustrating is how we can produce such a terrific performance and result (without our main three strikers, remember) against the Premier League and Champions League winners, but can't get a result against teams like Stoke, Hull and Fulham; who you know Chelsea and United would brush aside.

Wenger obviously had words with the players. Everyone gave 110% today. In the interview after the game, you could literally see buckets of sweat dropping off the faces of Fabregas and Gallas. We want that sort of commitment every game. Treat every game like a Cup Final as they say. Because today we proved that we really can, on our day, beat ANY team in the world.

The kids will obviously get a run out against Wigan in midweek but the first team are back in action next Saturday, at home to in-form Aston Villa. At The Emirates, we should beat most if not all teams in the Premier League. But Villa must not be taken lightly. We did that against Hull and look what happened. We need an intense, commited performance because this win should give the team belief. We must take advantage of this and go on a strong run, picking up win after win after win. The potential is there.

We can be lethal going forward and, as in the most part we proved today, we can be solid at the back, too. And finally, I'd like to express my view of this terrific game through some player ratings for both sides:

Arsenal:

Manuel Almunia - Developing into a very good goalkeeper. A rush of blood to the head saw him pick up Silvestre's dodgy backpass and concede an indirect freekick, but other than that he was good before picking up a knock (6)

Bacary Sagna - Kept Park quiet while bombing forward and helping the attack. He has bundles of energy and, in my opinion at least, he is simply the best right back in world football (7.5)

William Gallas - A real captain's contribution. Made some crucial interceptions and was strong in the tackle. Rooney and Berbatov struggled to find space; because the Arsenal skipper was so solid. Great performance (8)

Mikael Silvestre - Despite an early lapse in concentration, Mik obviously was out to prove a point and produced his best performance in an Arsenal shirt so far. Helped Gallas keep the United forwards at bay (7)

Gael Clichy - He never has a bad game, but this was one of his best. Had Ronaldo in his back pocket all match, but, like Sagna, was still able to get forward and swing crosses in. Even had the cheek to flick the ball over Ronaldo while under pressure. Top player (8)

Theo Walcott - For a young lad carrying a knock, it was a decent performance. Evra is a world class fullback, so Theo had his work cut out, but still managed to help the team. His run took drew two defenders with him, opening up space for Nasri to score his second. He's rapidly becoming a key part of this side (6.5)

Cesc Fabregas - Still yet to hit top gear, but Cesc put in a typical performance. Pulled all the strings in midfield and was always willing to get back and help defensively (7)

Abou Diaby - Started off behind the striker. He didn't see an awful lot of the ball in the first 15 minutes or so, but gradually got into the game. His quick feet and long legs gave us another option, before he was used as a holding midfielder in the second half to try and protect the lead (7)

Denilson - He was one of the better players on Wednesday night, and I thought he was terrific today. Spread the ball like butter and always seemed to be there to stop the waves of United attacks. Maybe he is fit for the DM role? (7.5)

Samir Nasri - We all knew he was special after his debut goal. And we were right. Two brilliantly taken goals combined with his superb workrate, trickery and pace produced a magical performance, and the Frenchman looks to be one of the steals of the season (9)

Nicklas Bendtner - I'm still not convinced by the big man. I think he lacks commitment and often makes the wrong decisions but he had a sound game today. Ferdinand struggled to keep up with his variety of play but there was rarely any end product (6.5)

SUBS:

Alex Song - Got suck in and made some crucial tackles (6)

Lukasz Fabianski - Claimed the ball well. Looks like a promising, commanding goalkeeper. No chance with the goal (6.5)

Kolo Toure - Brought on to help protect the lead. Did that but wasn't on long enough to make a big impact (5)

Manchester United:

Edwin Van Der Sar - Didn't look confident. Flapped at set pieces but couldn't do anything about either of the goals (5)

Gary Neville - His deflection took the ball away from VDS for the first goal and couldn't cope with Nasri's pace and trickery. Lacking match practice. Will surely be dropped for the impressive Rafael (4)

Rio Ferdinand - Nothing pretty, he just got rid of any threat that came his way. Looked a bit slower than usual as Bendtner was able to do him for pace more often than not but a decent performance (6)

Nemanja Vidic - Lucky not to concede a penalty but other than that he was very solid. Some hard but fair tackles proved just what a quality defender he is (7)

Patrice Evra - I'm a big fan of Evra and he was very good again today. Looked a threat offensively and dealt with Walcott with little fuss (7)

Cristiano Ronaldo - Diabolical freekicks. He belonged to Clichy for most of the game and struggle to make an impact. Missed a golden chance at the start of the second half (5)

Anderson - A bright spark for United. He worked his socks off. Made some clever passes and kept the dangerous Fabregas on a tight leash. A top talent (7.5)

Michael Carrick - Helped Anderson nullify Fabregas and almost did the perfect job. Over the last 6 months or so he's begun to repay that huge price tag. Solid performance (7.5)

Park Ji-Sung - No chance against Sagna. Produced very little all game, Nani would have been more effective in my opinion (5)

Wayne Rooney - After he blazed a good chance over early on he didn't get in the game whatsoever. The worst I've seen Rooney play for a long time (4)

Dimitar Berbatov - Showed some neat touches and was denied an early goal by the offside flag. Didn't do a lot wrong, he was just unlucky to come up against the impressive Gallas and Silvestre (5.5)

SUBS:

Rafael da Silva - Fergie said this boy was one to watch. Too right. A superb goal capped a great substitute performance. Should be a regular for United. Neville is too old and slow to cope with players like Nasri. Did more in 25 mins than Neville and Ronaldo combined (7.5)

Ryan Giggs - I can't say I remember him doing anything productive (5)

Carlos Tevez - Like Berbatov, he produced a few fancy flicks but couldn't make much of an impact (5.5)

We're always on the look out for new writers. So if you fancy writing about your team, please get in touch.

But, how much do the games between the big 4 affect the outcome of the Premiership? Is a “six-pointer” really a six-pointer? Is it possible for Arsenal to do relatively badly against Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool but still retain a title challenge – or is the opposite the case – beating off your closest rivals is the essential first step to domination in the domestic league? This question has long puzzled me and I haven’t read too much by way of explanation for it.

So, I thought I’d turn Statto, and donning my slightly worn-out A-level Maths-with-Stats hat, I set about trying to work it out…

The Big 4 League
To do this, I looked at all the results between the big 4 stretching back to the 2002/03 season. This was just before the Abramovich effect lifted Chelsea into England’s elite and the big 4 was, to all intents and purposes, christened. In the season before this, the 2001/02 season Chelsea finished mid-table and you could make a case for Leeds being part of the Premier League’s elite (strange days indeed!). From the 2002/03 season until today the final Premiership League table has always included Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United in its top five. In only two exceptions was the top 4 breached by a team which was not a part of the big 4, in fact, by Newcastle (who finished third in 02/03) and Everton (who narrowly finished fourth ahead of their local rivals in 04/05).

Quite simply for each season from 2002/03 until 07/08 I pulled out the games between the big 4 and compiled a new league based on their results against each other in the Premier League. We can call it the Big 4 League. Like a Champions League group stage table, the big 4 play each other home and away in a total of 12 fixtures per season. If one of the big 4 were to win all their games home and away against the other members of the big 4 they would bag 18 points and top the Big 4 league. Make sense?

After this, I took the Big 4 League I made for each season and had a look to see how it compared with the final Premier League standings for each season. If results between the big 4 were significant, so the theory goes, the order Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United appear in the Big 4 league should closely resemble the final standings in the Premier League for that season. If not, there shouldn’t be a clear correlation.

When the big 4 play each other
In exactly 50% of cases (12/24), Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United finish in the Big 4 League in exactly the same order as they do in the Premiership. Interestingly, in 5 of the last 6 seasons, the Premiership winner is the same as the Big 4 League winner. For example, in their Untouchables season of 03/04 Arsenal managed home and away wins against both Liverpool and Chelsea, tallying 14 points in total against their closest rivals. Not surprisingly, they won. Chelsea topped that in 05/06, taking 15 points off other members of the big 4, winning the league in the process. Past form suggests, therefore, that if Liverpool continue their promising start and stay on top of Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United over the course of the season they should have a very strong chance of taking the title.

In almost all cases (23/24) teams finished in the same positions in both the Big 4 League and the Premiership, or were removed by only one place. The sole exception came in the 06/07 season. Somehow, and this seems to be an anomaly and a frustrating one at that for fans of the Gunners, Arsene Wenger’s men managed to win the Big 4 League with 11 points beating Manchester United home and away in the process but finished fourth in the Premiership. The lesson from that situation must surely be that once you’ve done the hard work of clocking points over your closest rivals you need to make sure you pick up the wins on the road against weaker teams – a factor lacking in Arsenal’s form from that season.

Interestingly, Liverpool's league form against other members of the Big 4 is absolutely atrocious. They've repeatedly finished bottom of the Big 4 league and so have unsurprisingly never breached the top 2 by the climax of an EPL season. By bagging 6 points by November, Rafa Benitez's men have already equalled their season-best performances of the past six years against Man U, AFC and Chelsea. Again, good omens for the Anfield faithful that perhaps this is their year.

I’ve copied all the big 4 leagues below so you can draw your own conclusions too.

Conclusion
So, do games between the big 4 constitute “six-pointers”? Clearly, what I’ve discussed here is just one small idea with a very small sample size, but, yes, how the big 4 do against each other seems to reflect significantly in the outcome of the Premier League based on the form of the last six seasons. With this in mind, Arsenal had better begin taking the points off their rivals. A home win against Man United at the Emirates would be a good place to start.

The Big 4 Leagues from the 02/03 season to the 07/08 season
07/08 Pts W L D GD Order the Big 4 finished in the EPL
Manu 13 4 1 1 +6 1
Chels 08 2 2 2 -1 2
Arsnl 06 1 3 2 -1 3
Lpool 04 0 4 2 -4 4

06/07
Arsnl 11 3 2 1 +2 4
Manu 08 2 2 2 +1 1
Chels 07 1 4 1 -1 2
Lpool 06 2 0 4 -2 3

05/06
Chels 15 5 0 1 +10 1
Manu 08 2 2 2 +1 2
Arsnl 04 1 1 4 -5 4
Lpool 04 1 1 4 -6 3

04/05
Chels 14 4 2 0 +5 1
Manu 12 4 0 2 +3 3
Arsnl 05 1 2 3 -3 2
Lpool 03 1 0 5 -5 4

03/04
Arsnl 14 4 2 0 +5 1
Chels 07 2 1 3 -1 2
Manu 06 1 3 2 -1 3
Lpool 06 2 0 4 -3 4

02/03
Manu 14 4 2 0 +8 1
Arsnl 07 1 4 1 -1 2
Chels 06 1 3 2 -2 3
Lpool 05 1 2 3 -5 4

Last year I seem to recall, Spurs were going to finish above Arsenal!

So, who do you think will finish top this season?

We're always on the look out for new writers. So if you fancy writing about your team, please get in touch.