Arsenal and City Already Setting the Pace in the Premier League, While VAR Makes Headlines Again and Tottenham Still Can't Find the Net

Four matchdays into the Premier League season and there's already more noise than in a typical full campaign. VAR is back in everyone's mouth, Hull City refuse to come down from cloud nine, and Tottenham still doesn't know what it feels like to score a goal. Time to sort out what's genuine cause for concern from what's simply the usual overreaction that comes with the season's opening weeks.

Arsenal and City in a league of their own

Let's start at the top, where there's the least room for debate. With four wins in four matches, Arsenal and Manchester City have already opened up a four point gap on fourth place Hull. And no, that's not an exaggeration: both sides have taken maximum points, 12 out of 12, and are playing, quite literally, in a different league from everyone else.

Arsenal had to grind out a win over Sunderland, settled by a stunning strike from Bruno Guimarães, while City took the Old Trafford derby 1-0 thanks to a controversial Erling Haaland goal, and did it while playing a man down after Phil Foden's first half red card. Managing a game like that with ten men says a lot about the level Enzo Maresca's side is operating at right now.

At Arsenal, David Raya remains a rock between the posts (he saved a penalty from Enzo Le Fée), Martin Ødegaard is playing at an extremely high level, and Bukayo Saka looks like he's rediscovered his best form. Meanwhile, everyone around them is dealing with doubts: Liverpool can't find the back of the net under Andoni Iraola, and United got off to a rough start with Carrick in charge.

Hull surprise, but let's not sound the alarm just yet

Hull briefly sat top of the table after going ahead of Chelsea on Saturday, and alongside Ipswich, currently tenth, they're putting together a remarkable start for a newly promoted side. That said, saying these promoted clubs are already outperforming last year's crop misses some context: Sunderland, at this same point last season, had seven points and would go on to finish seventh. Hull now have eight after a 2-2 draw with Chelsea, in a match they could have won, Mohamed-Ali Cho had a clear chance late on that Emiliano Martínez denied.

Their manager, Sergej Jakirović, didn't get carried away speaking after the draw: he's still talking about survival, nothing more. Ipswich, meanwhile, beat Crystal Palace 3-2 with a late Zian Flemming goal and now have six points. The other promoted club, Coventry, still hasn't picked up a single point and lost 5-0 at home to Brighton.

Add it all up and the three promoted sides have 14 points combined, roughly the same as last year (with Leeds on four and Burnley on three, plus Sunderland's own tally). The difference is that this year's group spent around 557 million euros on transfers, compared to 434 million euros the previous season. Return on investment: last year's group did better.

Arteta has a point: VAR still isn't protecting the game

Every weekend now brings another VAR conversation, and this one was no exception. On Saturday, Arsenal beat Sunderland 2-0, but Arteta was furious about a penalty called against his team: replays showed it was Ezri Konsa who was fouled by Dan Ballard, not the other way around.

We have so many cameras and VAR; we have to take responsibility for protecting the game. Today the game was left unprotected, and that could have cost us the match and our competitive momentum, which is something really serious.Mikel Arteta

The next day brought another chapter: Haaland's goal at Old Trafford was first ruled out for offside, then reinstated because Patrick Dorgu played him onside, and VAR decided Enzo Fernández wasn't interfering with play despite trying to head the ball and distracting both Senne Lammens and Lisandro Martínez, leaving Haaland unmarked at the back post. The refereeing body later admitted there had been a "judgment error."

It's worrying that this is how the game is being perceived.Michael Carrick

Wayne Rooney didn't hold back on the BBC:

I'm sick of VAR, it's awful. It takes away all the emotion from the match, along with the energy the game is played with.Wayne Rooney

Tottenham and Coventry: patience before panic

Tottenham have played four matches, picked up two points, and scored zero goals, including a 0-0 draw with Everton. It sounds like another difficult season, but is now really the time to panic? Last year Aston Villa went five matches without a win to start the season and finished fourth. Roberto De Zerbi is rebuilding a squad that spent 366.5 million euros over the summer, and it takes time for players like Sávio, Omar Marmoush, or Mohammed Kudus to fully settle in.

Something similar is happening at Coventry, who returned to the Premier League after a 25 year absence and have already lost four straight, without a point or a goal to their name, following Sunday's 5-0 defeat to Brighton (with Taiwo Awoniyi sent off in the 53rd minute). The club spent 160 million euros and Frank Lampard, whose Premier League track record has been up and down, is under scrutiny. Even so, the fans haven't turned on him: at the final whistle against Brighton, instead of jeers, there was a standing ovation. All that's left now is to start winning.