Three teams – Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea – are still unbeaten after 10 games, only the third time it’s happened in the top flight and the first since 1990 – meaning it’s the first in the Premier League era.
The potential ‘Invincibles’ all have world-class managers and world-class players.
Kevin de Bruyne, Mo Salah and Eden Hazard are the poster boys for the three unbeaten teams but their success runs far deeper than that.
City have conceded only three goals in 10 matches and boast one of the league’s all-time top strikers, Sergio Aguero.
Liverpool’s front three of Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Salah are the envy of Europe and helped them reach the Champions League final last season.
Chelsea have two World Cup winners, N’golo Kante and Olivier Giroud, their squad and the world’s most expensive goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Sportsmail analyses the relative merits of the three outstanding teams of the season so far – who haven’t yet lost a league game between them.
GOALKEEPER
MAN CITY 8/10
Ederson’s arrival was the final piece in Pep Guardiola’s jigsaw – the difference between the inconsistency of his first season and the domination of his second. The Brazilian is not only the embodiment of the modern sweeper-keeper, comfortable with his feet, but his bravery is without question. The speed with which he raced from his line on Monday night to smother Harry Kane seemed to surprise the England captain who might have scored against other goalkeepers.
LIVERPOOL 9/10
Alisson Becker keeps Ederson out of the Brazilian national team – that’s how highly he is rated. At £66million, the former Roma goalkeeper didn’t come cheap but Liverpool’s goals against column, four in 10 games, suggests the investment was worthwhile. Alisson exudes authority. One advantage Liverpool have over rivals is that Alisson’s understudy Simon Mignolet has experience of a title challenge and is better than City deputy Claudio Bravo or Willy Caballero at Chelsea.
CHELSEA 7/10
Plenty of eyebrows were raised when Chelsea reacted to Thibaut Courtois’ departure by paying a world record £73million to Atletico Bilbao for Kepa Arrizabalaga. Kepa is 24 and looks younger but he hasn’t experienced the teething troubles another young Spaniard, David de Gea, suffered in his first season at Manchester United. He has slotted in well but you wonder if teams should test him a little bit more on crosses, which he won’t have faced that regularly in La Liga.
DEFENCE
MAN CITY 8/10
The stereotype is that gung-ho Guardiola doesn’t prioritise defending, he’s cavalier and will rely on scoring more goals than the opposition. It hasn’t been the case this season, City have kept seven clean sheets in 10 matches including awkward trips to Liverpool and Spurs. City have the strongest quartet of centre-halves – John Stones, Aymeric Laporte, Vincent Kompany and Nicolas Otamendi – able to cope with most situations between them. Benjamin Mendy is prone to individual errors at left-back but so far City’s opponents haven’t got enough of the ball to capitalise.
LIVERPOOL 8/10
Jurgen Klopp has been rewarded for waiting to sign the right centre-half, Virgil van Dijk, rather than going out and buying the first defender available when everyone was screaming at him to do so. At £75million, van Dijk wasn’t cheap but he’s immediately given the Liverpool back-four authority. Around him, Klopp can call upon on a number of exciting young British players – Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Andy Robertson – and has experience with Dejan Lovren.
CHELSEA 8/10
Maurizio Sarri took the bold decision to rip up Antonio Conte’s 3-4-3 when he arrived at Stamford Bridge. Out have gone Victor Moses and Andreas Christensen from the starting line-up, and back in is David Luiz, an outcast under the previous regime. The results have been impressive, Chelsea are also tight at the back and on the left-hand side Marcos Alonso has been one of the stand-out performers in the Premier League so far, and rewarded with a new contract.
MIDFIELD
MANCHESTER CITY 9/10
Only City have a midfield good enough to compensate for an injury to Kevin De Bruyne who missed the first three months. In the Belgian’s absence, the two Silvas – Bernardo and David – have dictated games either side of Fernandinho. Now that De Bruyne is back, City look even stronger going into the second part of the season. And if they need a rest, Ilkay Gundogan and youngster Phil Foden have the quality to step in and continue playing the City way, creating options for the man on the ball.
LIVERPOOL 7/10
Liverpool don’t rely on a creative No.10, what they offer is bundles of energy and athleticism; James Milner, Gino Wijnaldum, Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, Adam Lallana and Naby Keita all fit into the category. It makes Jurgen Klopp’s XI the best pressing line-up in the Premier League, and this season they have greater strength in depth, so the manager will be able to rotate and rest players without losing quality.
CHELSEA 9/10
Kante is the best holding midfielder in the world and this season he’s been able to use his incredible dynamism further up the pitch with Jorginho dictating play from a deeper position. It’s no coincidence Ross Barkley is playing the best football of his career alongside Kante. The same happened to Paul Pogba when he played for France at the World Cup. Mateo Kovacic has also been a big hit after his loan move from Real Madrid as part of the Courtois deal.
ATTACK
MANCHESTER CITY 8/10
Guardiola’s only summer signing was £60million winger Riyad Mahrez from Leicester. After a slow start to his career at The Etihad, his winning goal at Spurs on Monday night underlines he is being fully assimilated into Pep’s way. Guardiola has different types of wide players to call upon, Leroy Sane’s pace, Mahrez’s trickery and Raheem Sterling’s industry and control. In the middle, Augero is a bona fide club legend and 21-year-old Gabriel Jesus is only going to get better, while still in the Argentine’s shadows at the moment. City lack another kind of centre-forward, a six-footer to throw into the mix, but Guardiola’s philosophy has always been improve Plan A rather than go to Plan B.
LIVERPOOL 9/10
The trio of Salah, Firmino and Mane are among the best in the world, and even outshone Neymar, Cavani and Mbappe when Liverpool beat PSG 3-2 in the Champions League earlier this season. Besides their individual ability, the flexibility of Liverpool’s front line means they can interchange with bewildering speed, Firmino is in the middle one moment, Salah the next. While they haven’t hit last season’s heights yet, Salah and Mane are in the running for the Premier League’s Golden Boot with 11 goals between them. Firmino hasn’t registered goals but his work-rate sets the tempo for Liverpool’s whole team.
CHELSEA 8/10
It’ll be interesting to see if Roman Abramovich bankrolls the signing of a new striker in January if Chelsea are title contenders. Neither £60million Alvaro Morata nor Olivier Giroud have scored regularly enough. Giroud is still looking for his first goal of the season. On the plus side, Eden Hazard is on course for his best season in front of goal and has been the Premier League’s stand-out player so far. Chelsea have strength in depth as well, when he missed Sunday’s game at Burnley, Willian came to the fore in a 4-0 win for Sarri’s men.
MANAGER
MANCHESTER CITY 9/10
Pep Guardiola has only known success at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and now Manchester City. There was skepticism whether his methods would work in England, particularly when he confessed ‘I am not a coach for the tackles’. But he’s proved everyone wrong. He’s improved players and City look one of the best teams the Premier League has seen since it was founded in 1992.
LIVERPOOL 8/10
Jurgen Klopp has a bond with the club’s supporters and the city that has had old-timers recalling the days of Bill Shankly. The way he has built Liverpool into genuine challengers on a smaller net spend than either Manchester City or Manchester United is remarkable. And the way Liverpool have ground out results when they’ve needed to suggests the German can be more pragmatic than critics would have thought.
CHELSEA 7/10
Maurizio Sarri hasn’t won any major honours in his managerial career but the speed with which he’s re-energised Chelsea is remarkable. He has found a way to get the best out of Hazard, who flirted with a move to Real Madrid last summer, put his trust in Luiz and appears to have taught Barkley more in four months than the midfielder has learned in the rest of his career. If Sarri-ball works over the course of the season, he’ll rival Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte as the best managerial debut seasons in English football.
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