Chelsea, Newcastle and Manchester United: Who would be champions if the season

The Foxes washed away the residual good vibes Sunderland might have been feeling after last season’s great escape.

Punters have rushed to back Manchester City to win the Premier League after turning their backs on Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea just one game into the new season.

Kane burst onto the scene for the north Londoners last campaign in what was his first full season in the Premier League.

There were some genuine positives, though.

West Ham, the only thing quicker to leave Europe than the UKIP manifesto, weren’t given much of a chance in the build up to the game.

Normally you don’t have to look past a chequebook to find the answer to such questions; so could it have something to do with the modern obsession for pre-season tours which leave clubs rich but sap players’ energy and leave them jet-lagged and tired when the real season begins? This won’t be the only column Petr Cech features in today, but the rest of them will be laced with faux concern and hindsight dependant analysis, rather than being a celebration of the joy his being shit has provided the wider viewing public.

Manchester United (11/2) remain fourth in the betting behind Arsenal (9/2) despite the Gunners slipping to the most surprising defeat of the opening weekend. That optimism now replaced with the lingering concerns about the same old problems.

Redknapp was encouraged by their performance though and believes in the opening 20 minutes of the game they were the better side.

There was also a slight 1-point decline in the Nigerian fan base of Manchester United from 2014 to 2015, with a corresponding 3-point increase in the fan base of Arsenal within the same period; an increase that has steadily risen within the period 2012 to 2015.

Stuck behind Romelu Lukaku in the pecking order, the Ivorian came on against Watford and set Ross Barkley’s equaliser up, before bagging one himself late on to secure a point and only his second league goal for the Toffees. After all, Slaven Bilic’s side had already played three rounds of Europa League football.

Philippe Coutinho bumped the monkey off Rodgers’ back in a match of huge significance following their embarrassing 6-1 battering on the final day of the season. Life’s cruel pageant is particularly crueler when Morgan Schneiderlin, Matteo Darmian, and (assuming he’s fit) Bastian Schweinsteiger get to join relentless goal scoring/killing machine Memphis Depay in making their debuts at home.

Sat in the stands was Xherdan Shaqiri, and his imminent move to Stoke is an example of the impressive business done by teams considered as mid-table operators.

Over to you, Manuel.