Arsenal
Once again, we’ve flattered to deceive. The two high-points so far have been the way we’ve put our deluded neighbours back in their “also ran” box, and the release of the film 89 - a reminder of how much more beautiful the game was back when players didn’t have to put on a pretence to reassure us it really mattered. Otherwise there’s not much to say. Given that our gameplan has often been to bore opponents into submission, its remarkable we’re still in touching distance of the top four. 6/10
Stars and flops: Our two new arrivals have both proved a big hit. Lacazette has shown he could develop into a prolific goal machine, if his team-mates start picking out his runs and Wenger ever affords him a full 90 minutes. And Kolasinac secured his place as a firm favourite the moment he barrelled into the box to score on his Community Shield debut. As for let-downs: I doubt there’d have been quite so much anxiety about Alexis Sánchez leaving if we’d known he’d spend the first half of the season relentlessly conceding possession; Mesut Özil, who almost single-handedly besieged Manchester United, remains a beguiling enigma; and if Petr Cech is past his sell-by date, then Per Mertesacker must be positively mouldy. The complacent Héctor Bellerín requires a swift kick up the backside, too.
Happy with the manager? What is there left to say about a man who’s left looking like Methuselah in an age of revolving door managers? 6/10
Moment of 2017: Looking back, it’s hard to top the smug sense of satisfaction that came from beating Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final, then ruining Chelsea’s Double aspirations when Aaron Ramsey stooped to conquer in the final.
– Bernard Azulay @GoonerN5 goonersdiary.co.uk
Bournemouth
I can’t pretend everything has gone smoothly. There have been positives but we’re only just doing enough. The defence was starting to look more solid until they came up against Liverpool, while we’ve disappointed going forward. We have to find some more fluency, quickly. 5/10
Stars and flops: Nathan Aké has been a key component of the defence and has generally been very assured and comfortable on the ball – while, despite some of the results, Asmir Begovic in goal has been excellent after a difficult start. He keeps improving. On the negative side, Simon Francis is getting slower and is mistiming tackles, Jordon Ibe has been a costly mistake in the transfer market and is nowhere near as good as Matt Ritchie was for us. I can’t believe that West Ham are interested in Harry Arter either, as he has an appalling season so far.
Happy with the manager? There were some dissenting voices when we were in the bottom three but most fans have no interest in the club becoming as hasty as some rivals when it comes to replacing managers. Eddie is still learning and trying to get the best from his players. 6/10
Moment of 2017: Has to be our 1-0 away win at Newcastle in November. Just when we were feeling content to settle for a point, Marc Pugh cut inside in the 90th minute and fired a shot which beat Rob Elliot - but not a defender or the post. Everyone was still reeling from the near miss when Steve Cook rose to meet the resulting corner and scored our winner. There’s no ecstasy in football like an added-time winner. We also enjoyed asking Ritchie what the score was.
– Peter Bell afcbchimes.blogspot.co.uk, @CherryChimes
Brighton
We started out with all the intelligence and brawn that got us promoted. In our first game – at home to Manchester City – we were a bit like rabbits in the headlights but even then lost only 2-0, and quickly got into our stride. Our magnificent home win against West Brom and the 3-0 away thumping of West Ham were the highlights. We’ve been on a bit of a rough run recently but have to take heart from performances such as the one at Old Trafford when we were confident, lively and, almost, rock solid. We need to improve at home but we definitely rediscovered our mojo in the 0-0 draw with Burnley. 9/10
Stars and flops: Our German midfielder Pascal Gross, surely the buy of the season, has been outstanding with three goals and five assists before the Watford game. Maty Ryan has saved us a good few points in goal, Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy have been monsters in defence, as we knew they would be, while Davy Propper quickly formed a good understanding with Dale Stephens in midfield and Solly March always creates excitement. Flops? You have to be joking.
Happy with the manager? Chris Hughton is a legend. He was a genius in the Championship, took us up and should be given as much support as possible. He really is the nicest man in football and has done an excellent job despite our failure to land another striker in the summer transfer window. 9.5/10
Moment of 2017: Invading the pitch when we got promoted and seeing Tony Bloom leaping about and twirling his scarf like a kid with all the players in the West Stand. Also the day the Premier League fixtures were published – marvellous!
– Steph Fincham
Burnley
Am I pleased? I don’t think “pleased” really covers it. To find Burnley challenging the top five at the halfway point is incredible – way beyond what any Burnley supporter could have dreamed of a few months back. Who knows what the second half of the season has in store – but, right now, like every Claret, I’m ecstatic. 10/10
Stars and flops: We haven’t had any flops: the only players who haven’t impressed have been those unable to do so because of injuries holding them back. As for the stars – it’s always about the team at Burnley but I have to say the midfield pairing of Steven Defour and Jack Cork has helped take us to another level. Special mentions, too, for goalkeeper Nick Pope and defender James Tarkowski. Both of them lack Premier League experience but they’ve been superb.
Happy with the manager? My belief is we have the best manager in English football. Sean Dyche has been with us for over five years now, he’s got things just as he wants them and has taken us from a bottom-half Championship club to a top-six Premier League club. We fear the worst every time a perceived bigger job becomes vacant but so far we’ve managed to keep him. The longer he stays the better. 10/10
Moment of 2017: For me it was just after 3:45pm on Saturday 12 August - the opening day of this season, sitting in the away end at Stamford Bridge. I remember looking up at the screen at the far end as the players walked off for at half-time and staring at the words “CHELSEA 0 BURNLEY 3”. What a start.
– Tony Scholes uptheclarets.com, @utcdotcom
Chelsea
I’m generally happy - but the spectre of inconsistency does seem to be making a nuisance of himself at the most inopportune moments. Given that Manchester City are now apparently the Greatest Team in the History of the World, we can’t really complain about being third – but those losses to Palace and West Ham especially are as annoying as they are inexplicable. 7/10
Stars and flops: Hazard and Kanté continue to be our best and most important players respectively. We suffer terribly when either is unavailable and they would be ridiculously difficult to replace - a situation we fear every season with Eden, as Real Madrid knock louder year on year. Meanwhile, Álvaro Morata is scoring goals which is what we bought him for. As for flops, perhaps not a popular view but Victor Moses just isn’t good enough: negative, wasteful and definitely the weak link.
Happy with the manager? Conte isn’t the man of last season, which is a real shame. I’d imagine that the usual behind-the-scenes shenanigans have blunted that enthusiasm that was a joy to witness in the last campaign. It’s impossible to know what has gone on exactly, but one could guess the Diego Costa episode, the fall-out with David Luiz and the club’s failure to match the manager’s ambitions in the transfer market have all taken their toll. The majority of the fans are happy with him, though, and just hope that the issues can be addressed so that we can have a period of stability in that department. First time for everything, eh? 8/10
Moment of 2017: Watching Spurs’ title challenge.
– Trizia Fiorellino chelseasupportersgroup.net
Crystal Palace
After seven games with no points and no goals, it looked terminal. But just three months later, we’ve seen Palace’s longest unbeaten top-flight run since 1990. It’s virtually impossible to reconcile how poor we were at the start with how well we’ve played at times since – so I don’t think anyone has an idea of how this will pan out. The rollercoaster ride is nothing if not entertaining, though. 6/10
Stars and flops: The team just wasn’t suited to Frank de Boer’s style, as was obvious by the way everyone floundered in August and September. But Christian Benteke is at last beginning to find some form, while Wilfried Zaha has been absolutely magnificent all season, with his decision-making and shooting improving massively. Ruben Loftus-Cheek has shown his international class, and James Tomkins has been impressive when fit. As for flops, Jason Puncheon continues to be a shadow of his former self and Wayne Hennessey’s errors saw him lose his place in goal to fans’ favourite Julián Speroni.
Happy with the manager? Huge credit should go to Roy Hodgson and Ray Lewington for the job they’ve done. To turn round an utterly desperate situation in such a short space of time is remarkable. In addition Roy’s genuine love for Palace and his gentlemanly conduct means he is hugely popular at Selhurst Park. 8/10
Moment of 2017: Bradley Lowery and Juan Mata’s Common Goal initiative showed football has a soul. From a Palace perspective, the 3-0 destruction of Arsenal will live long in the memory, as will James McArthur’s injury-time winner against Watford, which felt like a pivotal moment in our season.
– Chris Waters palacetrust.org.uk, @Clapham_Grand
Everton
A few months ago it felt like the chances of a great season were sky high, with lots of new signings and Koeman in charge. It hasn’t exactly gone to plan. That said, while we’re not where I thought we’d be, to be sitting midtable at this stage is pretty good considering he was sacked when we were flirting with relegation. 6/10
Stars and flops: Pickford in goal has been outstanding. By far the best signing. Elsewhere, Rooney – although he tends to play just 75 minutes before being subbed – has scored some important goals; Gueye, Kenny, Calvert-Lewin and Vlasic have done well, and, after a really slow start, Sigurdsson has begun to show his class. On the negative side, big money signings Michael Keane, Davy Klaassen and Sandro Ramírez haven’t really delivered – while Kevin Mirallas has spat his dummy out too many times for me.
Happy with the manager? Koeman only gets 2/10. His team ended up a shambles. As for Allardyce – I didn’t want him here but so far he can’t really be faulted and has picked up important points to restore some respectability. It’ll be interesting to see what he does in the window. We desperately need a striker. 7/10
Moment of 2017: I’ve got two. One was Rooney’s wonder goal against West Ham at Goodison. The other was listening to Jürgen Klopp papering over his own team’s inadequacies in the derby by having a go at us. After their next game against West Brom he was still going on about it, saying: “West Brom did well. It was completely different to Everton. They had their moments. They deserved a close result and in the end it’s 0-0.” Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!
– Steve Jones @bluekippercom
Huddersfield
It’s hard to have too many complaints, given our Premier League status in itself is a minor miracle. We’ve had some setbacks along the way, which you’d expect with a promoted side, but on the whole have continued to confound the pundits. Midtable at the halfway stage of the season? We’ll take that. 8/10
Stars and flops: Belgian forward Laurent Depoitre was our find of the summer – £3.5m from Porto, which was, for a little while at least, our record signing. Aaron Mooy and Christopher Schindler continue to impress, too, and look right at home in the top flight. Given how everything is going and our expectations, it’s hard to label anyone as flops, but Tom Ince’s struggles in front of goal are frustrating – both for him and for us. He clearly has quality and he’s not shy about shooting – it just hasn’t been happening for him.
Happy with the manager? How can you be unhappy with the man who made all this possible? There have been games when Wagner’s tactical decisions have been questionable but, like last year, he seems to learn from each mistake. His stock continues to rise. 8/10
Moment of 2017: No contest. 29 May 2017. Beating Reading on penalties at Wembley, promoted to the top division for the first time in 45 years – quite an experience. That said, beating Manchester United at home in October comes close.
– Alex Taylor @AlexJT27
Leicester
I think we can be pretty pleased with the season so far. After a concerning start, we find ourselves where we should have been last season, and had a cup quarter-final to boot. If it wasn’t for Claudio Bravo and his ability to save penalties, we could have had more from that game, too. As it was, not a bad performance against the season’s outstanding side. 7/10
Stars and flops: Shinji Okazaki is quietly having a storming season and continues to be vastly underrated by those inside and outside the Leicester camp. Danny Simpson is another who is consistent if not eye-catching at right-back. Elsewhere, the rest of the squad’s performances have been characterised by peaks and troughs. When they all click at once, we’ve still got it.
Happy with the manager? Just like when Ranieri was appointed, Claude Puel’s arrival hardly got us salivating but it appears to have been an astute call. He’s championing youth, energy and a very vibrant attacking brand that’s somewhat reminiscent of our recent glory days. Hopefully he’ll spend wisely next month: we need some defensive options – we’re still having issues with defending set pieces – and another option on the wings. 8/10
Moment of 2017: We’ve managed to build up some enmity with Spurs over the last few years, so watching their faces drop when Vardy volleyed us ahead moments after they aimed puerile chants at him about his wife’s appearance on I’m a Celebrity was an enjoyable moment. Who came third in a two-horse race?
– Chris Whiting thechriswhitingshow.wordpress.com, @ChrisRWhiting
Liverpool
There have been some great matches but some shockers, too – and not just the two heavy defeats to City and Spurs. Losing the lead away to Sevilla for one, and the draws. The inconsistency is hard to stomach but the good times and great games far outweigh the rest and we’ve really been brilliant in bursts. We’re up there in the mix, and I can’t ask much more than that. 7/10
Stars and flops: Mo Salah has been our man of the season. He got off to a great start, scoring on day one, and has been getting better all the time. It’s good to have a player again who you feel is going to score every time he plays. Of our front four, Roberto Firmino probably gets fewer headlines than the others but he’s a class act and a real team player, who runs the entire 90 minutes and never hides. As for the downside – I’m like a broken record about our defence and goalkeeper and their mistakes. It does feel like it won’t change anytime soon.
Happy with the manager? Mostly yes. Obviously it’s frustrating when you see the same errors happening in games and wonder why he’s not changing but it’s still early days with him. It is madness to talk of replacing him – I just hope he is given the time. 7/10
Moment of 2017: Spirit of Shankly, the Liverpool supporters union, working with other clubs’ trusts to make TV companies and the Premier League come to their senses and sack the idea of Christmas Eve games. Oh, and Salah’s goal against Everton at Anfield.
– Steph Jones