Too early to crown Chelsea 29 September 2014

Six matches into the BPL season, it seems this season might be a walk in the park for Chelsea. At least most of the pundits think so and Chelsea’s football seems to suggest they will be very hard to shift from their current position at the top of the table. It might well be that Jose Mourinho could win his first silverware after two barren seasons but I have watched football (especially in England) long enough to believe that it will not be easy. With Diego Costa in form, Cesc Fabregas pulling the strings delightfully in midfield, Eden Hazard deliciously impudent all over and a truly solid squad of players in almost every position, it might seem foolish to think that Chelsea won't win this league. Well, last season, the West London side beat both Liverpool and Man City home and away but still finished behind them both. It is a long season and, with a campaign in the Champions League and busy cup schedules in England, freak results usually occur. Other regular occurrences include injuries to key players. According to Jose Mourinho, Chelsea are currently patching up Diego Costa and wheeling him out for matches. How much longer can they do this? At some point in the season he could break down. When that happens, does anyone think the Blues have another striker in form to take over? Chelsea's very compact tactics when out of possession have enabled John Terry to look in good shape, especially with the astute positional awareness of Nemanja Matic in front of the centre-backs. I am not buying that. The former England captain is done and will be most vulnerable if and when Chelsea have to chase a game - the match against Schalke of Germany in the Champions League shows exactly how vulnerable they really are. Go further back to the home win over Leicester and, in large sections of the match, the newly promoted side exposed their illustrious hosts time and again on the counter but woeful finishing and the excellence of keeper Thibault Courtouis denied them a goal. So, Chelsea are vulnerable. They are in form though, and proved that with the brushing aside of an obdurate Villa over the weekend One of those freak results I was talking about has happened already this season, with the champions Man City losing at home to Stoke City. They followed it up with back-to-back draws at Arsenal and at home to Chelsea but, over the weekend, they beat Hull to return to winning ways. City will be hard to shift when their big guns start firing. At the moment, Yaya Toure is patchy and they have lost Samir Nasri to injury, along with Jovetic, who had started the season brightly. When in full flow, Man City tend to possess way too much for the opposition. Like Chelsea though, one has the feeling that they might be distracted by the demands of the Champions League. Last season, Arsenal's title challenge seemed to falter when injuries robbed them of the services of Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey during the business end. One must not forget, though, that since that defeat at Goodison Park to Everton, the Gunners are yet to lose in the league. They seem to be losing players to injuries earlier this season, which might be a good thing if these players remain fit towards the last few months of the season. After the rather bruising draw at home to Spurs over the weekend, Ramsey and Arteta hobbled off while Jack Wilshere is touch-and-go for the match at Chelsea next weekend. Arsene Wenger's team remain unbeaten but he knows they really should be winning the home matches against Spurs to keep the title in focus. Arsenal have as good a chance as any to win the title. Their play is still exciting enough but they may well be severely tested if they have any more injuries to their defenders. Of last season's top four, Liverpool are the ones struggling the most. These struggles by the Merseyside club are the biggest proof that Luis Suarez was almost super human. Brendan Rodgers is one young manager I rate very highly and he has an ability to set his team out with almost always the right tactics. However, the one area he seems deficient in, is probably in his transfer purchases, as evident by the players he has brought in to replace the departed Uruguayan. The return of Daniel Sturridge from injury to partner Mario Balotelli should be able to give the team a lift and get them to performing somewhere on the level they so thrillingly did last season. Injuries, suspensions, loss of form, atrocious refereeing decisions and the cup demands are some of the factors that affect a long season. After only six matches, there is still a very long way to go before the finish line appears. This coming weekend I shall be at Old Trafford to watch Louis van Gaal's expensively assembled Manchester United team entertain Everton. Last season, as part of the crimes committed by David Moyes, they lost twice to Everton without scoring. Somehow, it is hard to see Everton not conceding at Old Trafford this season. So please join me on twitter @CalvinEmeka and I will give updates during the match and all through the weekend. I know you will be tuned to all the SuperSport channels for the matches anyway. Please leave your comments here as they are very much appreciated.