Arsenal and both Manchester clubs are stretching their legs at the top of the table as they pull slightly away from a host of mid table aspirants, any of which could be drawn into a contest for either survival or Europa League qualification.
Towards the foot of the table recent struggling teams, such as Villa and Sunderland are drifting slowly away from the rump of the table, along with the three promoted teams, although the season is still young enough for a couple of wins to transform despair into mere mediocrity.
Ten matches is an interesting sample size with which to draw conclusions. It is large enough for the points already won or not won to hang heavy on the remainder of the season.
A side which has grabbed points through early goals and a fierce rearguard, such as West Ham or salvaged points from losing positions, such as Leicester, may not repeat these atypical feats. But the points are already banked should winter prove less productive.
A team has also played 10 of their 19 opponents. So the temptation to pass judgement on the well being of a team has to be tempered with the possible inequality in schedules which may currently exist.
Everton share 11th spot with Swansea on 13 points with an identical goal difference and the toffees shading it by scoring one more goal. But Everton's opponents so far have a combined goal difference of +33 compared to -17 for Swansea's 10 opponents to date.
This disparity is also seen if we look at a commonly used precursor to goals, shots or more specifically shots that required a save.
Swansea has a small positive shot on target differential of +5 through ten games, while Everton is -9.
However, Everton's opponents again have a net, positive differential value of 115 shots on target, while Swansea's overall have been less productive in the attacking half and more generous defensively, with a combined negative differential of -61.
It would appear that whether measured in goals or accurate shots or headers, Everton has faced more taxing opposition than Swansea and a mere cursory glance at the respective shot differentials of each team may, misleadingly elevate Swansea (+5) above Everton (-9).
If you run a least squares analysis, which relates a team's shot differential to the shot differentials recorded by their opponents to date, Everton's more difficult schedule now raises them above the Swans.
Using Sunderland, the side with the worst schedule adjusted attempts on target differential as a baseline figure of zero, Everton has a shot differential of nearly four compared to 3.5 for Swansea.
So should Everton meet Swansea at a neutral venue, then based on schedule adjusted attempts on target, the Merseyside team might be expected to out shoot on target their Welsh opponents by an average of half a shot. And given the relationship between attempts on target and goals, should be slightly favoured to win the game.
Attempts on target are more plentiful and form the basis for many varied models with which to predict future performance, ranging from mere counting models to shot location ones, but at various stages of the season strength of schedule will distort the raw data.
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| Chelsea, I guess they've got what they deserved. |
West Ham rank a lowly 11th when SOS adjusted attempts are used to define quality, well below their current position of 3rd, so even with points in the bank, their "improvement" may be partly an illusion.
Currently high flying Leicester are more likely a mid table side based on both adjusted shots and goals and WBA won't be the first relegation quality team to have found themselves in the top ten after 10 matches.
Worryingly for Mourinho, Chelsea has so far churned out and allowed attempts and goals that are broadly consistent with their current league position.
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