So far, it's the usual suspects – and Tottenham and Liverpool will be there in the Champions League race as well – but the biggest surprise has been Alan Pardew and Newcastle. After Everton at home today they face successive trips to City and United and then host Chelsea. These games will severely test exactly how good they are and if they can take points from them then they can justifiably look to claim a European place come the end of the season.
There has been a suggestion they are in a false position because of the opposition they have faced but I don't agree. Ten games unbeaten can't be knocked and their result at Stoke on Monday was fantastic. Pardew deserves enormous credit for what he has achieved in what is a tough place to manage. He has built a solid side, they are tight at the back, have Cheick Tioté and Yohan Cabaye excelling in the centre of midfield and have a striker in form in Demba Ba. But it is what has happened at the back that is the key – Newcastle have conceded seven goals in their 10 games, one fewer than City and half as many as Tottenham. A large part of the reason for that solidity is consistency of selection.
Pardew has settled on a regular back four in front of a sound keeper in Tim Krul. You can get away with things if you aren't chopping and changing. The back four I was part of at Arsenal may not have been the four best individual players. There were more dynamic left-backs than Nigel Winterburn and more flamboyant right-backs than myself but when you play together week after week in matches and on the training ground you develop a complete understanding. It can actually reduce the amount of running you have to do on the pitch by a third because you know exactly where your team-mates will be and where you need to be.
