A 5-star 5 goal performance from Dimitar Berbatov put United in 1st place

Here's a little trivia for you, coming into today's match Dimitar Berbatov hadn't scored in his last 798 minutes of play for the Red Devils. With 25 missed attempts on goals since his last goal it only took the Bulgarian 1 attempt and 1 minute to get himself on the score sheet again as the clock for minutes gone without scoring ticked on to 800.

1. It's not like we lost total control when it comes to standings. We are 2 points behind the leader and its still November. Spurs won't go anywhere; Man United and Chelsea are our only threats. Why do I think Spurs won't go anywhere? Because they're not a real threat to the top 3 teams in the league.

Great article from ESPNSoccerNet.com on the latest edition of the Manchester derby that did not impress many, particularly the blue side of the city.

http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/5791310/city-united-showed-their-true-colors-week

A must win game for Arsenal turned into a teaching lesson for the Eastland players. To be fair though, the sending off of the 19 year old Belgian Dedryck Boyata gave the Gunners the edge in the game but the confidence we have gained is enormous. There are many things to talk about after watching the game like 3 teams by now and examining what went right for Arsenal.

I guess all that speculation about Wayne Rooney heading off to the blue side of Manchester or the Bernabeu was just that. Rooney will remain with the Red Devils for at least the next five years as United's highest paid player ever.

Full story here: http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/5713732/wayne-rooney-manchester-united-agree-5-year-contract

Look for an opinion piece later this week but this is big news that could cause some interesting shock-waves throughout the Premiership and world football.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/oct/17/wayne-rooney-manchester-united

It seems like the dark ages at Anfield are behind us as the New England Sports Ventures (NESV) finalizes its £300 million takeover of the club. Tom Hicks and George Gillett aren't very happy about this and are trying their best to hold on to the debt ridden club. The trio on the Liverpool board pushing for the sale of the club are Chairman Martin Broughton, managing director Christian Purslow and commercial director Ian Ayre.

Not that many Arsenal fans were happy with today's result against the Blues. The best way to treat this defeat is to probably go down our injury list and explain why we didn't play excellent against the strong Chelsea team.

Wenger is running out of solutions but not for long.

Arsene Wenger on the other hand wouldn't do that.

Chelsea 2 0 Marseille: John Terry scored early and Nicolas Anelka slotted home a penalty in the first to secure three points in a very comfortable win for the Blues that snapped their two-game losing streak (in all competitions).

Arsenal 3 1 Partizan Belgrade: Belgrade looked to make a game of this after equalizing late in the first half on a penalty, but a red card and goals by Marouane Chamakh and Sebastian Squillaci lead to a scoreline that does not reflect the competitiveness of the match.

This round of Premier League fixtures is the first since December 13-14 of 2008 that each of the so-called "Big Four" – Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United – all failed to win their match.

Manchester City 1-0 Chelsea: This was the first match of the weekend and it set the tone for what was to be a very interesting series of fixtures in the Premiership.

This derby had to live up to some very high expectations. On one hand, you had Arsenal who is known for their emphasis on youth. This puts the pressure on their youth to perform so well. On the other hand, you had Tottenham who are overshadowed by their rivals yet they still managed to secure a Champions League spot for this season.

Arsenal seems to be the center of attention in the EPL courtesy to Wenger who has been charged by the FA for patting the referee on the back after Sunderland's late goal. Honestly, it makes me proud. It's only pocket change for him and as an Arsenal fan, it shows that Wenger is willing to fight for his employers whenever and wherever not matter what the situation is.

Week 5 of the Premiership

Chelsea 4 – 0 Blackpool: I'm running out of synonyms for the word "dominate" to describe the way Chelsea has just been steamrolling through opponents so far in this campaign. The match against Blackpool was no exception as the only time the Tangerines looked threatening was after Chelsea was four goals up.

Given Tottenham Hotspur's top four finish at the end of last season and their foray in to at least the group stages of the Champions League, look for EPLInform to increase our coverage of the London side. I personally enjoy watching this side play as they have some very exciting young players in Gareth Bale and Tom Huddlestone.

The first round of Champions League matches for our English Premier League clubs. Check back here after every match for a quick report and a somewhat unbiased opinion.

Manchester United 0 – 0 Rangers (Scotland): An inexplicable gamble by Sir Alex Ferguson saw Manchester United held at Old Trafford by a stalwart Rangers defense.