EPL Results Week 4: Premier League Scores, Top Scorers and 2014 Table Tracker
After taking a weekend off for international duty and with a final bow from this year's summer transfer window, the English Premier League was back in full force on Saturday. The short break at the start of the season also serves as a refresher course for struggling teams to find their groove and power teams to avoid using all their energy early.
Of course, there still isn't any major separation between the clubs at the top of the standings because we are still in the embryonic stages of the year. The good news is that gives us plenty to analyze and discuss because one slip can open the door for another club.
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Confidence is everything in this game, so we are going to simultaneously build up and tear down what clubs did on the pitch during this week's slate of EPL games. It's time to start getting serious, so here's an updated look at the standings, top scorers and analysis from the action.
| September 13 | Arsenal | 2-2 | Manchester City |
| September 13 | Sunderland | 2-2 | Tottenham |
| September 13 | Stoke City | 0-1 | Leicester City |
| September 13 | Crystal Palace | 0-0 | Burnley |
| September 13 | Chelsea | 4-2 | Swansea |
| September 13 | West Bromwich Albion | 0-2 | Everton |
| September 13 | Southampton | 4-0 | Newcastle United |
| September 13 | Liverpool | 0-1 | Aston Villa |
| September 14 | Manchester United | 4-0 | Queens Park Rangers |
| September 15 | Hull | 2-2 | West Ham |
| Diego Costa | Chelsea | 3 |
| Graziano Pelle | Southampton | 2 |
| Loic Remy | Chelsea | 1 |
| John Terry | Swansea | 1 (OG) |
| Jonjo Shelvey | Swansea | 1 |
| Jack Cork | Southampton | 1 |
| Morgan Schneiderlin | Southampton | 1 |
| Jose Ulloa | Leicester City | 1 |
| Harry Kane | Sunderland | 1 |
| Adam Johnson | Sunderland | 1 |
| Nacer Chadli | Tottenham | 1 |
| Christian Eriksen | Tottenham | 1 |
| Romelu Lukaku | Everton | 1 |
| Kevin Mirallas | Everton | 1 |
| Alexis Sanchez | Arsenal | 1 |
| Jack Wilshere | Arsenal | 1 |
| Sergio Aguero | Manchester City | 1 |
| Martin Demichelis | Manchester City | 1 |
| Angel Di Maria | Manchester United | 1 |
| Aguera Ander Herrera | Manchester United | 1 |
| Wayne Rooney | Manchester United | 1 |
| Juan Mata | Manchester United | 1 |
| Mohamed Diame | Hull City | 1 |
| Abel Hernandez | Hull City | 1 |
| Enner Valencia | West Ham | 1 |
| Curtis Davies | West Ham | 1 |
| 1 | Chelsea | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 6 | 9 | 12 |
| 2 | Aston Villa | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 10 |
| 3 | Swansea | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 9 |
| 4 | Southampton | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 7 |
| 5 | Manchester City | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 6 | Tottenham | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| 7 | Arsenal | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 6 |
| 8 | Liverpool | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| 9 | Manchester United | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 5 |
| 10 | Hull City | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 11 | Everton | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 10 | -1 | 5 |
| 12 | Leicester City | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 5 |
| 13 | West Ham | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 7 | -1 | 4 |
| 14 | Stoke City | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 4 |
| 15 | Sunderland | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 6 | -1 | 3 |
| 16 | QPR | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 9 | -8 | 3 |
| 17 | Crystal Palace | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | -3 | 2 |
| 18 | Burnley | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 2 |
| 19 | West Bromwich Albion | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | -5 | 2 |
| 20 | Newcastle | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 9 | -6 | 2 |
The fourth week of EPL matches got off to a rousing start with Manchester City getting a late goal from Martin Demichelis to avoid a road defeat against Arsenal. For the Gunners, the result has to be disheartening.
Arsene Wenger's group took the lead with two second half goals from Jack Wilshire and Alexis Sanchez. Unfortunately, the defense broke down in the 83rd minute to give Martin Demichelis an opening on a header to tie the game.
Adding injury to insult, not to mention how it affected the defense, Mathieu Debuchy was stretchered off the field with an ankle injury, via Arsenal's Twitter:
The glass-half full scenario is that Arsenal did get a point in the match and remains undefeated so far this season, but the long-term outlook with Debuchy's injury certainly doesn't look good.
City has its own problems to worry about. Coming off an upset loss against Stoke two weeks ago, this would have been a great matchup to get back on track. Instead, salvaging a tie leaves open questions about the direction Manuel Pellegrini's group is headed.
One place where there weren't any questions on Saturday was Stamford Bridge. Chelsea took it to Swansea in a 4-2 victory behind a hat-trick from Diego Costa, who wasn't even a lock to play in this game. Blues manager Jose Mourinho told Liam Prenderville of the Mirror that Costa's hamstring left his status up in the air throughout the week:
"Diego has had one week to work hard with the medical department," Mourinho said. "He has a chance to play tomorrow. We have a training session on Friday afternoon to confirm his condition and to make the final decision."
It's safe to say that Costa's legs are fine, considering he joined some exclusive company with his three-goal effort, according to ESPN Stats & Info:
Costa's performance so far this season, with seven goals in four games, has left everyone baffled by its brilliance. John Bennett of BBC World Service compared it to what Costa did last year and is even more impressed:
Considering that Costa and Chelsea were taking on Swansea, which entered the game undefeated and had allowed just one goal in three games, it's safe to say that the Blues made a statement and capped it off with an exclamation point.
Chelsea is the only team through four weeks that hasn't tasted defeated nor had a draw, so the rest of the EPL world is looking up to Mourinho's crew. Add in the best goal differential, by far, and 19 other clubs are in danger of falling far behind early.
Just as Manchester City found out two weeks ago, you can't take anything for granted. Things can change on a dime, so expect to see a lot of teams come out more focused than ever trying to keep up with the pace.
