EPL this month

The new EPL season is 1 month old and this is my views on who's hot and who's not in the EPL this month

Top Teams this month
Liverpool- Manager Rafael Benitez seems to have finally hit it right this season. All his transfers have been playing well and the team is gelling better than expected. Fernando Torres seems to be his favorite striker and Steve Gerrard has been excellent in the middle of the park. They have a bit of a bit of problem in central defence due to injuries but no one is out for long, so it should clear up in time. The biggest question mark I have is why Rafa prefer Ryan Babel instead of Andriy Voronin. Everytime Voronin plays, he scored! Why isn't he getting more games? Still, Liverpool is the most likely team to be champion of the new season.

Chelsea- Florent Malouda looked like a good pick-up for Chelsea. Same thing goes for Tal Ben Haim and Claudio Pizarro. The big problem seems to be the midfield. With Robben gone and problems with Joe Cole, the midfield is beginning to look a little short. An injury to one of their main midfield players could break Chelsea's engine room. Still, the defence looks great and they are picking up points they shouldn't be picking up (that means the Liverpool game). Solid start so far.

Surprise Team this month
Man City- Boy, are Man City fans happy to get Sven-Goran Eriksson or what! The British press may be giving him a hard time but the new manager of City has done wonders for the team. The new signings all had an impressive start with Rolando Bianchi and Elano looking like the pick of the bunch. Also, Eriksson isn't shy about blooding new talent. Kasper Schmeichel and Michael Johnson look good, while Micah Richards is looking at an England place after Man City's great start. They were even leading the EPL at one stage of the month. How many of you expected that? Maybe they will fade after a few more months, but so far they have been great.

Disappointing Teams this month
Manchester United - They spend big this year, but maybe not too wisely. With Cristiano Ronaldo red-carded and Wayne Rooney injured till Oct (at least), Man Utd find themselves suddenly short of attacking options. This despite spending $60 million on the transfer market. Of the new buys, Anderson had hardly played, Nani seems too young and raw, and Carlos Tevez looked like he still need some time to bed in. Of the new buys, only Owen Hargreaves looked like a likely starter. Louis Saha is finally back but Man Utd may need more than him if they intend to gun for the Champions League and the EPL.

Tottenham Hotspur- Nothing seems to be going right for manager Martin Jol. Even when Spurs outplayed Man Utd away from home, they had 2 penalties not given (one of which looked stone cold), and a deflection on a long range shot that flew past keeper Paul Robinson. Dimitar Berbatov had a bust-up with Martin Jol and the Tottenham board were seem in Spain trying to get a new manager. Even 2 goals from Steve Malbranque in the win over Derby couldn't stop the panic, Jol better start winning if he want to keep his job.