Manchester United and City are leading the Premier League, but how worried should Arsenal, Liverpool and rivals be?

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The Premier League season may only be seven games old as we head into the second international break of the new campaign, but already the table is beginning to take a familiar shape.

The Manchester clubs are setting the pace at the top of the table while, behind them, Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal are jockeying for position.

Liverpool and Everton have made rather more erratic starts to the new campaign – with Ronald Koeman already falling under pressure after spending more than £130m this summer on new players.

But how have the Premier League’s biggest seven clubs performed when compared to their corresponding fixtures from last season, and which team has improved the most?

And just how worried should the rest of the Premier League be about the starts made by Manchester City and United?

Here, we compare the big seven’s results this season with the same matches from the last campaign, substituting last summer’s relegated teams with the three Premier League new boys (so Newcastle replace Hull, Brighton replace Middlesbrough and Huddersfield switch in for Sunderland).

2016/17: Beat Stoke (h) 1-0, drew with Manchester City (a) 1-1, lost to Chelsea (a) 0-5, drew with Tottenham (h) 1-1, drew with Manchester United (a) 1-1, beat Bournemouth (h) 6-3, beat Burnley (h) 3-1. PTS: 12.

2017/18: Beat Stoke (h) 1-0, drew with Manchester City (a) 1-1, lost to Chelsea (a) 0-2, lost to Tottenham (h) 0-3, lost to Manchester United (a) 0-4, beat Bournemouth (h) 2-1, lost to Burnley (h) 0-1. PTS: 7.

Big things were expected at Goodison Park this season, after Ronald Koeman spent around £133m on new signings. But things haven’t exactly gone according to plan.

Everton are five points worse off compared to last season, when they eventually finished 7^th in the league. In that campaign they picked up three points in draws against Tottenham, Manchester City and Manchester United, but they have lost all three of those corresponding fixtures this campaign.

Their goal difference has also taken a huge knock, almost certainly because of the sale of Romelu Lukaku to Manchester United. Last season they had 13 goals from the seven matches above – this season they have four.

2016/17: Beat Watford (a) 1-0, lost to Crystal Palace (h) 1-2, beat Arsenal (h) 3-1, drew with Manchester City (a) 1-1, beat Burnley (h) 2-1, lost to Leicester (a) 1-3, lost to Hull (a) 0-2. PTS: 10.

2017/18: Drew with Watford (a) 3-3, beat Crystal Palace (h) 1-0, beat Arsenal (h) 4-0, lost to Manchester City (a) 0-5, drew with Burnley (h) 1-1, beat Leicester (a) 3-2, drew with Newcastle (a) 1-1. PTS: 12.

Jurgen Klopp’s team have made a rather erratic start to the new campaign and their heavy defeat to Manchester City prompted much hand-wringing, but the Reds are actually better off at this point compared to last season.

Although they have been held to draws by both Watford and Burnley, Liverpool have also become tougher to beat. They have lost just once from their opening seven fixtures, whereas last season three of the above seven teams managed to beat them – Crystal Palace, Leicester and Hull (this season replaced by Newcastle).

They have also scored three more goals.

2016/17: Beat Leicester (h) 1-0, beat Stoke (a) 4-1, lost to Liverpool (a) 1-3, beat Bournemouth (h) 3-1, lost to Chelsea (a) 1-3, beat WBA (h) 1-0, drew with Middlesbrough (h) 0-0. PTS: 13.

2017/18: Beat Leicester (h) 4-3, lost to Stoke (a) 0-1, lost to Liverpool (a) 0-4, beat Bournemouth (h) 3-0, drew with Chelsea (a) 0-0, beat WBA (h) 2-0, beat Brighton (h) 2-0. PTS: 13.

There’s absolutely no change for Arsenal, who have picked up 13 points and scored 11 goals just as they managed in the corresponding fixtures last season. Progress? What progress?

Once again Arsene Wenger’s side found Liverpool too hot to handle, although they suffered a heavier defeat this season than they did last, when they fell to a 3-1 defeat at the Emirates.

Arsenal thumped Stoke 4-1 at the Emirates last year but fell to a surprise 1-0 defeat this time around, although they were able to take something from Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, which is more than they managed a few months ago.

2016/17: Beat Burnley (h) 3-0, lost to Tottenham (a) 0-2, beat Everton (h) 5-0, beat Leicester (a) 3-0, beat Arsenal (h) 3-1, beat Stoke (a) 2-1, beat Manchester City (h) 2-1. PTS: 18.

2017/18: Lost to Burnley (h) 2-3, beat Tottenham (a) 2-1, beat Everton (h) 2-0, beat Leicester (a) 2-1, drew with Arsenal (h) 0-0, beat Stoke (a) 4-0, lost to Manchester City (h) 0-1. PTS: 13.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Chelsea haven’t been able to match their superb performance last season. Not so far, at least.

Last season Chelsea beat Burnley, Arsenal and Manchester City at home – scoring eight goals in the process and conceding just once. But this time around, Antonio Conte’s team have picked up just one point from the corresponding three fixtures, grinding out a goalless draw with Arsenal.

The one area of improvement comes in the away fixture against Tottenham. Last season Chelsea lost 2-0 at the Lane, this season they won 2-1 at Wembley thanks to Marcos Alonso’s brace.​

2016/17: Beat Hull (a) 7-1, beat Chelsea (h) 2-0, beat Burnley (h) 2-1, drew with Everton (a) 1-1, beat Swansea (h) 5-0, lost to West Ham (a) 0-1, drew with Sunderland (a) 0-0. PTS: 14.

2017/18: Beat Newcastle (a) 2-0, lost to Chelsea (h) 1-2, drew with Burnley (h) 1-1, beat Everton (a) 3-0, drew with Swansea (h) 0-0, beat West Ham (a) 3-2, beat Huddersfield (a) 4-0. PTS: 14.

Tottenham are just as they were last season, having taken 14 points from the seven fixtures listed above.

Last season, Spurs won all three of their corresponding home fixtures, against Chelsea, Burnley and Swansea. But this year the move to Wembley has taken its toll, with Mauricio Pochettino’s side still to win at the national team ground this season.

At least their away form has improved and Spurs avenged last season’s galling defeat to West Ham when they won 3-2 at the London Stadium, thanks to Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen.

2016/17: Drew with West Ham (h) 1-1, beat Swansea (a) 3-1, beat Leicester (h) 4-1, drew with Stoke (a) 1-1, drew with Everton (h) 1-1, drew with Southampton (a) 0-0, beat Crystal Palace (h) 2-0. PTS: 13.

2017/18: Beat West Ham (h) 4-0, beat Swansea (a) 4-0, beat Leicester (h) 2-0, drew with Stoke (a) 2-2, beat Everton (h) 4-0, beat Southampton (a) 1-0, beat Crystal Palace (h) 4-0. PTS: 19.

Like their city rivals, Manchester United have made a significant improvement when you compare their corresponding fixtures.

Last season Jose Mourinho’s side drew far too many matches, but this time around they have put teams such as West Ham, Everton and Southampton to the sword.

The only blot on their copybook is their 2-2 draw away to Stoke, who also held them at the Britannia Stadium last year.

2016/17: Drew with Middlesbrough (a) 2-2, drew with Everton (h) 1-1, beat Bournemouth (a) 2-0, drew with Liverpool (h) 1-1, beat Watford (a) 5-0, beat Crystal Palace (h) 5-0, lost to Chelsea (a) 1-2. PTS: 12.

2017/18: Beat Brighton (a) 2-0, drew with Everton (h) 1-1, beat Bournemouth (a) 2-1, beat Liverpool (h) 5-0, beat Watford (a) 6-0, beat Crystal Palace (h) 5-0, beat Chelsea (a) 1-0. PTS: 19.

City have started the current campaign at a thunderous pace and, as it stands, they are the Premier League’s most improved team.

Last season saw underwhelming home draws with Everton and Liverpool, not to mention a crucial defeat on the road against Chelsea. This season they have managed to put both Liverpool and Chelsea away – although they were once again held by Everton at the Etihad.

It’s up front where they have really improved. Last year they managed an eminently respectable 17 goals against the teams listed above, but this year they have scored five more. Are they in title-winning form?​