5 things we’ve learned from the EPL so far: Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal in focus

Judgments after three games of an EPL season are harsh, but that won’t stop us. We assess Arsenal, Man United, Liverpool, Chelsea (and Bournemouth) so far.

Passing judgment after just three games of an EPL season is probably a touch harsh, but we won’t let that stop us.

How have Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea (and Bournemouth) performed in the opening exchanges of the season?

Arsenal lack the look of champions

Following Arsenal’s Community Shield win over Chelsea earlier this month and the signing of Petr Cech, the pre-season talk was of Arsenal, just maybe, mounting a credible title challenge this year.

Three matches in, and with August not yet done, revisions are already being made.

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A rather fortuitous draw against Liverpool exposed a number of deficiencies familiar to anyone watching Arsene Wenger’s side over the past decade. The midfield was over-run, with Santi Carzola offering little in the way of defensive support to Francis Coquelin, who has not started the season as he finished the last and is the only recognised defence-minded holding midfielder on the books.

Christian Benteke had the easy measure of Calum Chambers at The Emirates.

Oliver Giroud proved yet again that, fine player though he is, Arsenal are crying out for a more reliable option in front of goal when the big games come around.

But it was in the centre of defence where they were most exposed. Starting without either Per Mertesacker or Laurent Koscielny due to injury and illness, their deputies, in the form of Calum Chambers and Gabriel Paulista, were skittish and nervy, bullied by Christian Benteke and guilty of giving the ball away too often (something their team-mates found contagious).

That the match remained scoreless owed much to errant finishing and some exceptional goalkeeping.

Wenger will, correctly, argue that any side missing their two first choice centre backs would be diminished as a result. But a quick glance towards their would-be title rivals is revealing.

Manchester City recently purchased Nicolas Otamendi, despite boasting Vincent Kompany, Eliaquim Mangala and Martin Demichelis in their squad. Chelsea are poised to spend close to $80m on John Stones from Everton, to compete for central berths with John Terry, Gary Cahill, Kurt Zouma and Branislav Ivanovic.

Genuine title challengers prepare for the worst. Wenger’s side continue to hope for the best, failing once more to identify key weaknesses and recruiting to negate them. When on the front foot against Liverpool Arsenal looked slick — and were denied a legitimate goal in the game — just as they did against Palace. But as the overworked Cech would know only too well, championship winning sides need steel as well as silk, and Arsenal, once more, are blessed in the former, but lacking in the latter.

Chelsea’s hard centre has gone soft

Chelsea’s victory over West Brom did little to mask what seems to be a very real problem in the heart of the club’s title defence. Their back line may be in the process of evolution after a lack of pace there was exposed by both Swansea and Manchester City, but it is in front of them that the major concern lies.

Cesc Fabregas has looked decidedly off the pace at the start of the season.

Last season’s dominance, particularly in the first half of the season, was built on what seemed like the perfect midfield combination: Nemanja Matic’s reliability and ruggedness married with Cesc Fabregas’s neat invention and creativity. Both men have started this campaign in wretched form. The engine room isn’t firing.

Matic, whose shielding and break up play was exceptional 12 months ago, was off the pace against City and Swansea and lucky to stay on the pitch against West Brom.

Fabregas is of even greater concern, especially as his decline was noted towards the back end of last season. A rare full summer off for the Spaniard ought to have revived him, but his passing has been woeful, admittedly in a small sample size of matches, by his own high standards this season.

He seems sluggish and slow and questions are being asked over his ability to perform the role asked of him by Jose Mourinho in that busy part of the field. It has been suggested he failed to establish himself at Barcelona due to a lack of stamina for the high pressing game they play, despite his other abundant qualities. It is a problem Chelsea need to fix and fix quickly, if a poor start is not to turn in to something much more significant.

James Milner is the best signing of the summer

As soft an underbelly as Arsenal presented to Liverpool, the visitors still had to exploit it. James Milner was superb in hassling and harrying the opposition, and efficiently working the ball to team-mates, principally the outrageously gifted Philippe Coutinho.

James Milner is a busy, solid, dependable presence in Liverpool’s midfield.

With injury to Jordan Henderson negated by a return to the side and return to form for Lucas Leiva, Liverpool look already more solid and compact.

New full backs Nathaniel Clyne and Joe Gomez are both willing and able to bomb forward when needed, so the platform Milner provides does not need come at the expense of width, Coutinho is free to float around and strike at will, while Benteke’s ability to hold the ball up means there is always an outlet to speed up transition or relive pressure when needed, something that was sorely lacking for Liverpool last season.

It is a balance and sturdiness that has improved the side, and it is all knitted together by Milner, whose quality is often overlooked when praising his reliability and work rate. If others arrived in the Premier League this off-season with more fanfare and more gilded reputation, as a free transfer, Milner is undoubtedly the value choice.

Bournemouth stick to their guns

When Bournemouth travelled to Anfield earlier this month, they faced Liverpool with the same back four that had featured when they played down the road at Tranmere, at the back end of their promotion season from League One in 2013.

On the one hand, rewarding the players who have done the job of subsequently getting them up to the Premier League speaks of loyalty and confidence in servants to the club. Another reading, however, is that if they are to extend their visit to the top flight beyond a single season, they might want to be reinforcing and evolving the team for the tougher challenges ahead of them.

Marc Pugh has now scored in all four of England’s professional leagues.

Both arguments can reasonably be made, the romantics versus the pragmatists. And so it was particularly welcome when Eddie Howe’s side recorded their first Premier League victory, 4-3 at West Ham, that one of the goals was scored by Marc Pugh, who in the process completed the unlikely feat of having scored in every division of the English professional league.

Seeing new blood rise through the ranks and perform on the grandest stage carries a particular charm, and Pugh’s story gloriously embodies Bournemouth’s rags to riches tale. And the manner of the win was much needed after two creditable performances, against Aston Villa and Liverpool, had drawn plaudits but no points. It remains a long hard slog for the Cinderella team of the competition, but the early signs are they are well placed to make a decent fist of it.

Manchester United are firing blanks

It seems incredible that we are just days away from the end of the transfer window and Manchester United have just a single top level striker in their ranks.

Even more so when that striker in question, Wayne Rooney, is currently firing blanks. Two wins and a draw form their opening three fixtures bodes well for United. However, just two goals scored in the process has flagged up a major weakness in the side’s armoury.

With Robin van Persie deemed past it, or having fallen out with Louis van Gaal, only Javier Hernandez offers an option when Rooney fails. And even he looked poor when coming on against Newcastle at the weekend.

United have strengthened impressively in the middle of the park, and van Gaal will be expecting others to weigh in on the scoresheet. But United’s attack has lacked zip and pace in the opening salvos of this season and were they to reach September without a big name signing up front they will struggle to impose themselves in the race for the top four

Originally published as 5 things we’ve learned from the EPL so far: Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal in focus