Manchester clubs fire warning

Champions Manchester United and FA Cup winners Manchester City have sent a clear warning to their Premier League rivals about their title ambitions after both made a strong start to their league campaign.

The two Manchester clubs were at their best last weekend as City trounced Tottenham 5-1 at White Hart Lane while United dismantled Arsenal to the tune of 8-2 at Old Trafford.

United and City are the only two Premier League sides with maximum points from three matches. The other unbeaten teams in the top flight are Liverpool, Chelsea, Newcastle and Wolves (two wins and a draw), and Aston Villa, Stoke and Wigan (one win and two draws).

While Manchester City continued to strengthen their already formidable squad with the signings of defenders Stefan Savic and Gael Clichy, goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon, forward Sergio Aguero and midfielder Samir Nasri for a total cost of £82 million, Manchester United signed English winger Ashley Young, Spanish goalkeeper David De Gea and young England defender Phil Jones for a combined sum of £53 million.

Chelsea and Liverpool are also expected to challenge for the title and, although the two Manchester clubs are regarded as top favourites, everything is still to play for between now and May.

The Blues are under the charge of new Portuguese mananger Andre Villas-Boas. Kenny Dalglish has started his first full season at Merseyside after returning to the Anfield earlier this year to replace the sacked Roy Hodgson.

Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard said he was pleased that his club are not ranked as main title favourites but warned that they will do everything in their power to bring the Premier League trophy back to London.

Liverpool fans are delighted to see their team reproducing the attacking style that characterised their play in the 1980s. Striker Luis Suarez has been a hit at Anfield since his move from Ajax in January.

Newcastle, Wolves, Aston Villa, Stoke and Wigan certainly don’t consider themselves as title challengers but their positive start to the season augurs well for their hopes of steering clear of the relegation fight.

The Toon, after the mayhem of the last two years, have begun the season on a sound footing. Wolves and Wigan have also flirted with relegation in recent years but they will fancy their chances of a more tranquil campaign.

Midlanders Aston Villa and Stoke have no big ambitions but their fans would love to see their favourites battle it out for a place in the Europa League.

London sides

North London sides Arsenal and Tottenham have leaked too many goals this season. They need to improve quickly if they are to avoid a barren campaign.

Arsene Wenger was indeed humiliated at Old Trafford even if Arsenal were missing several important players.

The 8-2 loss at Manchester United was the club’s worst defeat since 1892 when Arsenal went down 8-0 to Loughborough Town in Division Two.

Wenger vowed to continue as Arsenal manager despite the team’s poor start to the season.

At Tottenham, Harry Redknapp has been let down by the behaviour of star midfielder Luka Modric who asked to be left out of the game against Manchester City last Sunday. Modric wanted to join Chelsea but Tottenham rejected all offers for the Croatian.

Tottenham are at rock bottom since they have played a game fewer than their rivals.

The promoted trio

Promoted sides Queens Park Rangers, Norwich and Swansea have had their ups and downs but they are still finding their feet.

Rangers boss Neil Warnock was glad to receive the go-ahead to add to his squad when he signed Joey Barton from Newcastle and Shaun Wright-Phillips, formerly of Manchester City.

Having gained two points from their opening games, Norwich are widely expected to put up a bold fight to avoid relegation.

Swansea have also gained two draws and they seem to prefer a prudent, defensive approach even when playing in front of their own fans. Swans boss Brendan Rodgers was furious at the news that defender Alan Tate broke his leg in a ‘bizarre’ golfing incident.

West Brom are struggling to reach the performance standards of last season but manager Hodgson is confident that the Midlanders will find their true form after they failed to gain a single point in their first three league games.

Much of the same applies to Blackburn who had a torrid time last season. Their pointless situation is causing anxiety among the players and fans of the former England champions amid fears of another relegation fight.

Sunderland are also in the lower half of the classification but with an experienced boss like Steve Bruce, they are bound to improve.

Everton’s win at Blackburn made up for their disastrous outing at Goodison Park against Queens Park Rangers.

The Toffees have a game in hand after their opening fixture away to Tottenham was postponed because of the riots which hit London last month.

Today’s fixtures

Euro 2012

Scotland-Czech Republic - (16:00)

League One

Carlisle-MK Dons
Chesterfield-Leyton Orient
Hartlepool-Exeter
Notts County-Bournemouth
Oldham-Huddersfield
Scunthorpe-Colchester
Sheffield Utd-Bury
Stevenage-Rochdale
Tranmere-Yeovil
Walsall-Brentford

League Two

AFC Wimbledon-Port Vale
Aldershot-Cheltenham
Barnet-Accrington Stanley
Burton Albion-Plymouth
Crawley Town-Bristol Rovers
Crewe-Oxford Utd
Gillingham-Shrewsbury
Hereford-Dagenham
Morecambe-Bradford
Southend-Northampton
Swindon-Rotherham - (13:15)
Torquay-Macclesfield