Haaland and City won't stop and no joy for the new boys

Erling Haaland and Manchester City remain unstoppable this season with the club and their striker hitting the ground running. (Photo credit: GOAL)

The first installment of the English Premier League season has come to an end with the first international break, and it’s up to us to review. Here are five key things we learned from the first four games of the 2023–2024 season.

Manchester City and Haaland are still impossible.

The champions are the only team with a perfect record so far: four games played, four games won, and, despite their struggles against Sheffield United, they have shown that they’re still the team to beat, and there’s no stopping them.

How about their man at the top? Erling Haaland has scored the fifth hattrick of his Manchester City career, the fastest on record, and six goals to match. If you thought it was ever going to stop, the rain just started.

It’s not so cold at West Ham.

When the Hammers sold Declan Rice, many thought their season would be full of pressure and struggles, but David Moyes has proven to be a senior man with the additions and their results so far.

Jarrod Bowen may have led from the front with three goals so far, but the arrivals of James Ward Prowse, Edson Alvarez, and Mohammed Kudus have cushioned the effect of the Rice departure. We must be talking top six for West Ham regardless of their Europa League engagement.

Arsenal can compete again.

The Gunners had a game to forget against Fulham, where they picked up a point despite leading 2-1 into added time with a man advantage, but the manager was confident his side played better than they did last season.

There will always be questions about Kai Havertz, but the fans will focus on the win over Manchester United. Arsenal are still within two points of Manchester City, and that will encourage them. They can compete again; don’t underestimate them.

Money can’t always buy success.

You must have a lot of money before you say anything against it, but how do you explain Chelsea’s businesses and the results they get from them?

The Blues signed everyone in sight and can’t even win at home against Nottingham Forest. While we agree that it takes time to make new signings, the signs are there that too many cooks spoil the broth. Over to you, Mauricio Pochettino.

No joy for the new boys this time.

It was unprecedented for the three promoted sides of last season to survive the Premier League pressure. As Nottingham Forest, Fulham, and Bournemouth all stayed up, it’s looking like all three that came this time would return to the Championship League.

Luton can’t even earn a point; Sheffield scraped a point against a poor Liverpool side; and Burnley doesn’t even look like a team that knows what to do. Vincent Kompany may become a laughing stock soon if nothing changes; no one takes prisoners here, bro.