EPL Week Two

Upset central... wow.

Here's a sentence I thought I'd never say: Arsenal outplayed by... Fulham?? Unbelievable. Not that Fulham controlled the ball the whole match, but frustration was the word of the day for Arsene Wenger's men. Even when they poured it on in the waning minutes, the Gunners couldn't bring the score level at ones. HUGE upset!

Aston Villa, my favorites from last week, is embarrassed by Stoke City! Liverpool again barely manages a win, this time against Middlesborough. AND, Roy Keane notches another victory (he's beginning to look like a genius) over Terrible Tottenham from substitute and new signing Cisse.

Tottenham and Sunderland was all midfield. Sunderland couldn't maintain possession for more than two passes, while Hotspurs still don't have anyone up top for the midfielders to provide service. Darren Bent is their biggest threat, but he isn't enough of a target for Bentley to provide any real threat. Berbatov wasn't even in the stadium today - I guess he was getting a medical in Manchester??

Keane and Torres were more comfortable today against Middlesborough, but 'Pool still left it to Carrigher to level minutes away from a stunning upset. Gerrard dramatically won it desperately in injury time. If Keane and Torres do start to synchronize, I wonder if that pairing pushes Gerrard out of the attacking equation. For so long, the Reds have led the attack from outside the penalty area, but with Torres' footwork and ability to turn a shot on a dime, and now aided by the Irishmen, the ball may be played more forward from now on.

Hull City may just be the biggest surprise of the season. After their comeback win over Fulham, they score an equalizer against Blackburn less than a minute after the Rovers took the lead. This is not the mark of a team heading to relegation.

West Ham made Manchester City look pretty good. Rather than undervaluing Man City last week, I think I way overvalued West Ham. The score was 1-0 until West Ham's Noble was sent off, at which point the floodgates opened and City scored two more. On a bad note, Micah Richards went down with a head injury. The poor kid can't get a break; he spent the last month of last season injured and surely he'll be out for at least a couple games now.

Just like last week, Chelsea again impressed. They are unstoppable. Each of the other talented teams in the EPL have one or two guys who are dangerous anywhere on the pitch. Chelsea have Joe Cole, Michael Essien, and Frank Lampard in the midfield who can swing in a ball just as easily turn on a dime and rip one from 30 yds. out. Up front, Anelka is becoming more comfortable and benefitting from taking instructions from Scolari (who replaced Avram Grant), and new signing Deco acts like he's been in the EPL for years. He followed up last week's goal and assist with a sick ball in the upper 90 within the first three minutes. The back is impregnable: England captain John Terry and solid Peter Cech in goal.

Oh yeah.. and last year's leading scorer Didier Drogba is still injured.

No one can stop them, folks, and they are scary. Chelsea may be the first to go undefeated since Arsenal of 2004-5.

Honorable mention to Wigan, one of last year's whipping boys. Despite a solid defeat by Chelsea, they were dangerous and forced Peter Cech into several great saves and keeping the score at 0-1.