Premier League Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down

Thumbs Up
Chelsea
A 3-0 win away to a (supposed) title rival is quite the signal of intent. Chelsea did what they tend to do with Arsenal, at least when Drogba is playing - allow Arsenal the ball, confident in the belief that a defence including Terry, Carvalho, and Cole is unlikely to be breached often, and then punish Arsenal when the opportunities present themselves. Its been said often but to repeat it is merely to hammer home an unequivocal truth - Chelsea are a powerful team, and yet again the fancy football of Arsenal had no match for the power and efficiency of Chelsea's play.

Didier Drogba in particular should take a bow - far and away the chief tormentor of an Arsenal defence. It used be the case that Sendoros was by and large the target of his fury, but Gallas and Vermaelen yesterday joined their hardly esteemed colleague in being punished by Arsenals tormentor.

Manchester United
Travelling to a venue that has often been unkind to United was made all the more difficult by the preceding weeks events - namely the appointment of a new manager at Pompey. Not to worry. While United's defence looked erratic and uncomfortable at times, Rooney finally rediscovered the form he had lost a month ago, while Giggs simply continued his. That's ten league goals for Rooney - penalty taking duties may yet help him finally discover some semblance of goalscoring consistency.

A word on the goalkeeping situation. With Van der Sar out, Kuszczak had perhaps his best game in a United shirt. Indeed, given the poor overall defensive display, this was well timed. It was also bad news indeed for the inconsistent Foster.

Liverpool
Arguably this was a long overdue win that included some luck for a change. Consecutive wins and clean sheets (following the midweek victory against Debrecen), should finally bring some respite for Benitez. It has to be noted that the performance was still poor, though now Rafa and his team have a platform to build on, and it is vital they do so considering the relative good form of Spurs.

And while the performance was poor, still more worrying for the manager will be the continued dismal form of Gerrard since his return for injury. If Torres remains sidelined, and Gerrard keeps underperforming as he has been, Liverpool may need a lot more luck to maintain results such as this one.

Birmingham City
A big win away to fellow relegation contenders Wolves means their recent fine run continues unabated. It also suggests that they may be around next season.

Hull City
A draw at Eastlands is not to be sniffed at, even if City are in the habit at the moment. Further, this was the stadium where everything really went sour last season for Brown and his men - this may well have been akin to exorcising a demon.

West Ham United
Even they couldn't manage to throw away a five goal lead, thought not for the want of trying.

Thumbs Down
Arsenal
An 3-0 reverse at home to a title rival is nothing short of embarrassing. The fact that many people expected them to be beat should be just as worrying as the fact that they were defeated. The final scoreline may have been excessive, but the phrase 'men against boys' has been used, and it is an accurate summation of this 'contest'.

For Arsenal fans, a trophyless season may well beckon again. The real concern is that Wenger shows no signs of changing his myopic ways - his kids will eventually come good apparently. Well, they do say Arsene knows - though the trophy cabinet at the Emirates will beg to differ.

Everton
Defeat at home to your big rivals is never welcome. It is even less so on the back of consecutive league defeats. The performance may have been encouraging, but as many teams can attest to, no points are awarded for good displays. The fixture list doesn't get any kinder either - next up are a vibrant Spurs side.

Manchester City
7 draws in a row. That's nearly one fifth of the season in successive draws. One doesn't have to be a genius to work out that for the outlay in the Summer, this wasn't what the owners had anticipated. Hughes may well be getting more than a little worried, and whether or not he will be afforded more money in January given the way results have gone remains to be seen. What seems obvious is that this is not a team that should be drawing 7 games in a row. It is also painfully obvious that despite the Summer arrivals, the defence simply is not what it should be. The blame for this rests squarely with one man. He needs a swift return to winning ways - unfortunately its Chelsea in town next.