Chelsea, Manchester United, and Arsenal are the perennial favorites for top 4 position every year, leaving one spot open that both Manchester City and Liverpool look to vacate this year.
Both teams were coming off of poor showings. City was lucky enough to come away with a draw, as goalkeeper Joe Hart made four or five miraculous saves against Spurs last Sunday. Liverpool was looking to bounce back from a goalkeeping error that cost them a win over Arsenal.
Newest City addition James Milner wasted no time getting acclimated to his new club. Milner set up Gareth Barry's goal in the 13th minute with a nice delivery in front of the net. It would be City's only goal of the first half despite dominating possession.
City would strike again right after half time from a set piece. A Micah Richards header off a corner kick may or may not have been deflected into the net by Carlos Tevez. Either way, Tevez celebrated like he nudged it in, and was given credit for the goal.
Tevez would score another goal off a free kick in the 67th minute to put the match out of reach.
City looked much more impressive this week than their first. They took care of the ball much better and led a more focused offensive attack.
Liverpool, however, was out of sync the entire game. Striker Fernando Torres embodied his team's struggles. Still suffering from a groin injury from last July, Torres turned the ball over a few times and appeared slow on some of his shots and deliveries. He was hoping the club season could erase some of the memories of his poor play in South Africa, but so far he has had no such luck.
Reds mounted only one good scoring opportunity the entire game. Approaching the 60th minute, Steven Gerrard bounced a shot off the left post. Hart then successively denied Ngog and Torres to preserve the clean sheet for City.
Even though we're only two weeks into the season, this match up provided a better sense of where second tier team such as Spurs, City, and Reds are fitting in.
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