Will Jurgen Klopp Win The EPL?

Once again, Liverpool go whoosh. That was the fifth time this season that Jurgen Klopp’s side have scored four or more goals in a match. They’ve played only 11 games. Poor old Watford. They were just blown away like a newspaper on a windswept beach. This column has never been too shy to mention the Reds’ inability to keep a clean sheet, but if they keep scoring at this rate, that really isn’t going to matter too much. They’ve got a spring in their step, strength in depth and no European commitments. And now they’re top.

If a lack of European commitments is going to help, then we’re going to have to recognise that Chelsea might be right up there in the title race too. In the five games since Antonio Conte switched to a back three, Chelsea have won five times, scored 16 and conceded none. Everton had been really solid this season, conceding only eight goals in 10 games, one of the best defensive records in the league. Chelsea annihilated them. Just think: Conte was upset that he wasn’t able to bring in more new players in the summer. How well would they be playing if he had?

October was a miserable month for Jose Mourinho, and when Fenerbahce beat Manchester United in midweek, it seemed that November wasn’t going to be too cheerful either. But his team swept Swansea aside on Sunday, rattling up three goals in the first half alone. Were Swansea just really, really bad, or has Mourinho turned a corner? Let’s give the man the benefit of the doubt. With a surprising lineup and under intense personal scrutiny, he picked up a much-needed victory. Now he just needs to keep it going.

After six beatings on the bounce, things are looking up for Hull City too. Southampton beat Internazionale on Thursday but didn’t have enough left in the tank to tame the Tigers. Two goals in two minutes did for the Saints and brought Hull’s points tally to double figures, possibly a few more Premier League points than most pundits expected this under-funded, under-prepared football club to accumulate all season. There’s a long way to go, and some stability in the boardroom would help, but Hull aren’t guaranteed to go down yet.

Stand proud, people of Sunderland. This is your hour. After 10 games without a victory, David Moyes’ band of brothers marched down to Bournemouth and marched back up with all the points. That they did it at all is extraordinary, given that they’ve played better than they did Saturday and lost. That they did it with 10 men beggars belief. But Moyes deserves this. He has worked hard, he has kept his cool, and his decision to play with two strikers, Victor Anichebe coming in to do the heavy lifting for Jermain Defoe, paid dividends. Is this the turning point? Are we entering a new age of Sunderland competence? Only time will tell.

Oh, Everton. Even when results haven’t gone your way this season, you’ve always looked sturdy. You’ve always looked like you’re slowly getting somewhere, gradually erasing the nastier memories of the Roberto Martinez era while protecting his more positive legacies. Then Chelsea happened. Chelsea happened, and you had no answer. Chelsea happened, and you looked old and slow and sad. Go away for the international break, try to forget about it, and when you come back, let’s pretend that never happened, eh?

Watford will spend the international break sitting very quietly and hoping everyone chooses to focus on Liverpool’s strengths rather than weaknesses. Earlier in the day, Mauricio Pochettino demonstrated how a back three can stifle an ambitious opponent, but to say Walter Mazzarri’s defence failed to emulate their North London counterparts would be quite the understatement. It hadn’t been a problem before, but in one afternoon at Anfield, Watford’s goals conceded column rose by nearly 50 percent.

On their way to a desperately disappointing 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough, Manchester City had 19 shots on goal in the first half alone. They pushed Aitor Karanka’s side back so far that their defenders were sat in the lower tier of the Etihad Stadium. Yet they couldn’t put the game beyond their guests. This is not the first time that Pep Guardiola’s side have failed to claim three points they thought they deserved. Indeed, this was their third home draw on the bounce. They have to find another way to break down stubborn teams, or they’ll continue to hemorrhage crucial points.

Supporting Crystal Palace must be so confusing. Most teams sort of ebb and flow, occasionally mustering up performances better than you might expect and occasionally slipping and playing worse. But it’s so binary with Palace. They’re either winning so many games that Alan Pardew is getting linked with the England job or losing so many that Alan Pardew is getting linked with not having any job at all. It’s now four defeats in a row for his plummeting Eagles, but don’t worry. Doubtless they’ll string three wins together in December, and it will all change once again.

These are dark times for Swansea City. It’s bad enough on the pitch, where they haven’t won since the opening day and they’re losing so frequently that they’re starting to make Sunderland look good. But it’s even worse off the pitch. This is the club that used to be renowned for the warmth of relations between the supporters and the boardroom, but things have changed since the U.S. takeover in the summer. There were loud protests against the new owners on Sunday. If Swansea are going to survive, they need to pull together, but there isn’t much chance of that right now.