4 points separate the top four this season

The premier league has often been described as the toughest and most competitive league in the world,but Manchester city made a mockery of that statement last season,with a record breaking title winning campaign in which they basically sprinted towards the premier league title,with all of their rivals lagging far behind,but that was definitely a one-off season,one that most likely won't repeat itself again in the premier league,well at least this season

We may just be 10 games into the new premier league season,but teams have gradually started to settle into the season,finding their strengths and their weaknesses, and you could argue the final table in may,would not be much different from how it is now,it will definitely be a close race at the top to say the least,Manchester city and Liverpool are level on 26 points on the table,but it is the latter who sits pretty much at the top of the pile based on goal difference,we take a look at the premier league's top six teams,how they have fared so far and their strength's and weaknesses

1. Manchester City

Highest points tally,most goals scored,most consecutive wins,highest title winning margin, they just kept on breaking and setting records at their own pace last season,such was the dominance they had in the league,fast forward to the current campaign and they are still very much on course to matching that feat,with 8 wins out of 10,while that will most likely be impossible, manchester city are already proving they are still the team to beat in the league this season

Strengths : they may not be as swashbuckling as they were last season,but they have an amiable cast of superstar players in their team,a masterclass manager at the dugout,and an unrivalled depth in squad,which makes them strong favorites to retain the premier league crown

Weaknesses : in ta team where there's hardly any weakness, it will be fair to say one thing that could weaken their quest for a successful title defence will be priotising the champions league,a competition the club are seemingly ambitious about, over their league campaign, it could end up in losses on both ends

2. Liverpool

Liverpool have come a long way under jurgen klopp,and they are at that stage whereby in order for them to belong,they have to win a trophy,most especially the premier league,beautiful attacking football often counts for nothing,if at the end of it all,it doesn't yield any trophy,Liverpool are most people's favorites to ursurp Manchester city from the premier league title throne,and much of it is down to their, free flowing attacking football,they've started the season in good fashion and are locked with Manchester city at the top,jurgen klopp is in his third full season in charge at anfield,and it took him three years,to win his first title at Dortmund,bringing an end to Bayern's dominance in Germany,now there is a growing optimism in an Field that he could be the one to stop manchester city's potential dominance in england....

Strengths : Liverpool's front line may not have reached the heights of last season yet,with mo salah,still not in his full strides,but you could bet that once its starts clicking again for them,they will be given premier league teams a run for their money,in addition to their impressive front line,jurgen klopp seems to have finally solved Liverpool's long standing issues in defence with the €75 million and €65 million acquisition of Virgil van dyk and alisson Becker,respectively and Liverpool can now boast of a squad depth similar to Manchester city's own,with new midfield and attacking acquisitions

Weaknesses : Liverpool's biggest problem for much of last season was their inconsistency and complacency, in some games they sometimes just don't turn up,and most at times get too complacent when they are on the winning side, this hasn't stopped yet and could prove to be a weakness in their quest for premier league glory

3. Chelsea

Champions in two of the last four premier league seasons, basically Chelsea seem to have one very good title winning season,then have one very bad defending season,they have continued the trend now with an unbeaten start to the season and sit just two points behind Manchester city in third,history definitely favours them to win another premier league title,but many don't consider them to be title contenders and you can bet Chelsea will be out to prove them wrong

Strengths : Chelsea boast in Eden hazard one of the best attacking players in the world,and history has it that anytime hazard has been the best player in the league they always end up winning the title,and the winger has started the season in imperious form for Chelsea ,contributing over 85% of their goals this season,as long as the belgian magician can keep pulling the tricks for the London club,then fans and players alike can dare to dream of another title in the bag,in addition to hazards brilliance,another man who has been instrumental to their title quest this season in jorginho,bought from Napoli in the summer,the Italian is fast proving why Manchester city boss,pep guardiola wanted him so badly for his team,with his exquisite range of passing and vision on the field,Chelsea fans have more reason to be optimistic now.

Weaknesses : Chelsea are still in a period of transition under new manager Maurizio sarri,and there are times in the season where they will look out of sorts because they have not fully adjusted to the Italian manager's 'sarri ball' tactics,another potential weakness for Chelsea is their strikers,Alvaro morata and Olivier giroud haven't really been amongst the goals this season,with the latter yet to score this season,which means save for eden hazard's brilliance this season,Chelsea could have been struggling for goals

4. Arsenal

The post Arsene Wenger era,seemed to be starting on a disastrous note,but the pages have been flipped recently, and arsenal has put together a fantastic run of victories,that was only ended on Sunday against crystal palace,spanning a total of eleven matches,they've clocked up 22 points on the table and are just 4 points behind leaders,Manchester city,so realistically they are very much in the title race,but more realistically,their maximum target should be securing champions league football,which they are well on course for,but who says arsenal fans and players can't dare to dream.

Strengths : Arsenal seem to have found a foothold in the centre forward pairing of Alexandre lacazette and Pierre emerick aubameyang,which seems to be yielding goals for them this season,in addition mesut ozil is looking a rejuvenated player,with a point to prove,under unai emery,and we all know how deadly he can be,when he's in his strides,Mateo guendouzi and Lucas torreria seem to have solved arsenal's midfield problem,giving them something they've lacked in recent years

Weakness : As much as arsenal has been good this season,their fragile defence could ultimately drag them down,it's pretty easy penetrating into it,and you can't even argue that once they meet a half decent attacking team,their in trouble.

5. Tottenham

Tottenham has made steady progress under Mauricio pochetinno in the last four seasons,and have become a regular title contender in the premier league,but that's just all they've been and nothing more,Tottenham lack that extra firepower to really compete for the title and this was not helped by no reinforcements into the team during the summer transfer window,but they've still got enough talent in the squad to push them to the top and they've started the season in good fashion,matching their best start to a league season,but Monday's defeat to Manchester city has interrupted their good run of form in the league,but as long as they don't play Manchester city everyweek,they are still on course for a very good season

Strengths : Tottenham have one of the best strikers in the world,in harry Kane the English man has consistently lead the line brilliantly for four years at the club,when he's in top form Tottenham could very much be the team to beat,also the youthful energy of Tottenham's squad is a major strength the London club has over their rivals,players who are steadily developing and eager to prove themselves

Weaknesses : Tottenham's failure to sign any player,in the summer could prove fatal in the long run,injuries would come and some players would loose form,and that could destabilize the team,with not much backup, also there us

is undue pressure on them to finally win a trophy to show for all their recent progress, so they can finally belong,and this could work against them

6. Manchester united

Its been a largely inconsistent start to the season, for the red half of Manchester,they seem to take one step forward and three steps backward,with the club facing difficulty both on and off the pitch,the moanings of Jose mourinho , his off field antics and rumoured fallout's with his players haven't helped at all,plunging the club into a crisis,but the storm seems to have been steadied in recent weeks,with a string of encouraging results,but the storm is not fully over yet,they sit 8th on the table with 17 points,meaning they are 9 points behind Manchester city,but however a little bit of hope would be the fact,that they are just 5 points adrift of the top four,if they can keep up the little momentum they have got,then they could find themselves right back at the top sooner rather later,but it will take nothing short of a miracle,for Manchester united to win the title this season,but miracles do happen in football,don't they ?

Strengths : Manchester united have a good squad with huge potentials, that if they can maximize fully it will be to the best of their advantage,Paul pogba,Anthony martial,Alexis Sanchez and Romelu lukaku all have much more to offer than they've given united so far,and whenever these player's are in form,Manchester could be very deadly. David de gea,may not be having the best of times behind the sticks,but there's no doubt he's the premier leagues best goalkeeper, a title he has very well earned over the years,this should give their defence more strength also,Manchester united are very dangerous on the counter attack and when they set out to play in such manner,it could be damaging for any team.

Weaknesses : The major weakness in this team is their lack of an ideal playing structure,the pragmatism Jose mourinho seems to have instilled on the side,has only been duly negative and as long they keep playing that way,results could always be bad,another weakness is in their central defence, José mourinho has always reiterated his desire for a top class centre back to bolster his defence,and given what has happened this season,you could always feel for him,another weakness in this side is the inconsistency of their top player's, sometimes they turn up and sometimes they just lie low,their game has to be consistent in order to see a turnaround in fortunes

That's pretty much it about the big six English teams,but let's not forget,Bournemouth,Watford and wolves are enjoying a fairly good start to the season and could be on the hunt for European qualification, so the competition in the premier league this season just got tougher,but what could you expect from the toughest league in world football ? nothing short.