Today was a turning point in the 2008/2009 Premier League season as one, it marked the first weekend this season when all Big Four clubs won their matches. And two, the top four teams in the Premier League are now the Big Four clubs — at least for the next 24 hours.
Each of the Big Four won in such an emphatic manner today that you have to wonder whether the dream of a club outside the Big Four disrupting the order at the top of the table now seems like a pipedream.
Middlesbrough and West Brom were totally outclassed by Chelsea and Manchester United respectively with the Blues winning 5-0 at the Riverside and the Red Devils beating the Baggies 4-0 at Old Trafford. Arsenal started off on the wrong foot against Everton, but overturned the early goal they let in to stride to a 3-1 win at the Emirates. Liverpool faced a tougher time going down 2-1 at one point against Wigan at Anfield, but playing another amazing comeback to win it 3-2 with Dirk Kuyt netting two goals.
The performance by the entire Chelsea team was awe-inspiring. So too was the attacking tour de force of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov for Manchester United. Liverpool’s Dirk Kuyt could end up being the player of the season at Anfield this year, while Samir Nasir showed what a good buy he was at Arsenal.
What do you think? Is there still hope for the other 16 clubs in the Premier League to give the Big Four a run for the money this season, or is the gap widening?
Nothing has changed in regards to who the top four is. I think Man City will be the one to break it when it does happen.. probably next year.
There's also always more hope for non-top 4 teams in terms of cup competitions.
Another thing that did not change that I am glad about (and that a few people on this site were wrong about) is that the gap between premiership and championship winners is not as wide as people expected, thanks to the likes of Hull City.
I think Spurs can break in… to the Championship top 4.