EPL Review: The rage of the newly promoted sides and losses for big three

Premier League chaos: Promoted trio (Burnley, Leeds, Sunderland) triumph; big guns Chelsea, Liverpool, City falter; Arsenal leads, table turns wild.

Sunderland players celebrate after young Moroccan Chemsedine Talbi scores the winning goal against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge Stadium on Saturday. (Photo credit: GOAL)

The Premier League table is looking all shades of weird following a strange weekend that witnessed losses for Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester City.

That's not the only strange thing about the just-concluded weekend in the Premier League: for the first time in forever, the three newly promoted sides all won their respective games. Did you see that coming?

Burnley led 2-0 on Sunday, only to lose the lead to Wolves, but a stoppage-time finish by South African striker Lyle Foster handed the Clarets a 3-2 win, a result that took them five points clear of the drop zone.

Leeds United sits one place above Burnley on the table, having achieved this by beating West Ham 2-1 on Friday. It was a dominant performance by Daniel Farke's side, and while West Ham was pathetic for most of the game, you won't take anything away from Leeds.

The third of the musketeers, Sunderland, actually wants to win the league. How else do you describe their strides? The Black Cats are fourth on the log after a sensational 2-1 win away at Chelsea; this is one they won't forget in a hurry.

Sunderland is only five points away from the Gunners, well above the trio of Chelsea, City and Liverpool. Are they trying to do a Leicester City? Do they have enough in them to go all the way like the Foxes, or will they end up like Nottingham Forest of last season?

Regis Le Bris is building something massive at the Stadium of Light. They're one unit, and they try their best to ensure they fight together till the very end. They weren't spectacular against the Blues, but they were professional.

How do you describe a Premier League table that has Bournemouth in second after another brilliant win, Spurs in third, and Sunderland in fourth? It's game week 9, and the shape is strange. What is happening to the usual big hitters?

It's even stranger that Manchester United is now above Liverpool on the log. The Red Devils beat Brighton 4-2, while Liverpool couldn't find answers to the questions of Brentford. What is wrong with the champions?

There are lots of similarities between last season and this one. The way Liverpool strolled to the title without any real challenger is the way Arsenal seems to be doing it this time, with Manchester City and the reigning champions struggling to keep up.

One thing is looking likely: the newly promoted sides want to stay up, and three established sides will have to go down. Wolves still don't have a win yet, and West Ham can't shut out goals to save their lives. Who joins the duo in the relegation dogfight?