Premier League, Week 11: Swansea come back to stun Arsenal

Coming from behind to get a point might be admirable, but it’s not going to do much to help Everton’s position in the Premier League. Their 1-1 draw at the Stadium of Light puts them level with Liverpool and Tottenham, but still four points out of that elusive fourth place. Sunderland, meanwhile, would’ve been happier with their point had a last-minute penalty appeal not been waved away.

The first half got off to a fine start, with the hosts attacking right from the whistle. Connor Wickham’s header was off-target, but it seemed an omen of good things to come. Sure enough, the match was full of end-to-end action for the first 10 minutes, and Everton had their own fine chance off a decent move between Romelu Lukaku and Samuel Eto’o.

Roberto Martínez’s Everton made a poor start to the season, but the Toffees have steadily improved as the campaign has worn on. The Merseyside club are now up into the top half of the table, and will be looking to record only their fourth win of the season on Wearside. They head into this fixture buoyed by an excellent result in the Europa League in midweek, when they downed Lille 3-0 at Goodison Park.

Sunderland defender Santiago Vergini may well be the most lovable player in the Premier League -- though perhaps not if you’re a faint-hearted Sunderland supporter. One week he’s a pretty solid full-back; the next he’s scoring comedic own goals and letting opponents dance past at will. Everton winger Aiden McGeady will be hoping he’s on a bad day, rather than a good one.

Manchester United were hardly spectacular Saturday, but they never looked bothered either, comfortably defeating Crystal Palace, 1-0.

That ended predictably, with United struggling to get off more than a few half-chances, most of which were skied thanks to awkward shots from poor positions. Palace did their job well, playing to constrict space and frustrate their hosts. The best chance Manchester had in the first half came off a brilliant run by Luke Shaw. The fullback started in his own half and blew past several Palace players on his way in to the box, where he elected to shoot instead of laying it off to a teammate. The shot was ultimately tame and easily saved by Julian Speroni.

Key player - Sergio Agüero (Manchester City)

So central has Sergio Agüero been to Manchester City this season, that there’s a concern they may be too reliant on their injury-prone forward. The skilful Argentine has been one of the deadliest strikers in the Premier League through the campaign so far, and QPR’s pretty poor defence will find it difficult to keep him quiet.

The Premier League weekend kicks off with the round’s hottest matchup: Chelsea’s visit to Anfield. Last season, of course, Liverpool were gunning for the title, but the Blues left them flat on their faces, without any real hope of reaching the title.

This season, it’s Chelsea that are taking the league by storm. They’ve dropped points just twice, each in a draw with a Manchester side. They’re the heirs apparent, while Liverpool are languishing in seventh, twelve points off the pace.

United’s season has been a roller coaster filled with highs, lows, false starts and confusion. Despite the new head coach and the record transfer spending, United really aren’t in any better shape than they were last season under David Moyes. The Red Devils are currently 10th in the Premier League with just three wins, and they’ve only managed back-to-back wins once. Everytime it looks as if United are set to finally take a big step forward, they find a way to take one backwards.

Head coach Louis van Gaal said this week that the start to the season is making him “feel lousy” for everyone involved with club, and you can certainly understand why. Manchester United were supposed to return to the top of the league this season, reclaim their place in the Champions League. Instead, they’re treading water in the middle of the table.

If last season’s second place finish in the Premier League and subsequent return to the Champions League was the stuff of dreams for Liverpool and their supporters, this season has been a bad nightmare. Nothing has gone right for the Reds as most of the summer signings have failed to live up to expectations and injuries have left their offense unable to produce goals.

Things are much better for Chelsea at the moment though Jose Mourinho will likely not be thrilled with his team’s lackluster draw against Maribor in the Champions League. The result really didn’t hurt the Blues in their group, but it’s the kind of game they still expect to win. For now though, Mourinho will be looking for his team to take care of Liverpool and enter the international break on a positive note.