CREDIT: SKYSPORTS
Southampton captain Adam Lallana celebrates the goal that sees his team sitting in fourth place.

Just under a fifth of the 2013/14 Premier League season has been played, and many of the league's players are heading off to all corners of the globe to represent their home nations in the final round of qualifying for next summer's World Cup in Brazil. With a lull in league action this week, the time has come to take a look at how the English Premier League is shaping up in the early stages.

With a number of surprising upsets having already set the early season predictions wrong, this year's competitions is shaping up to be one of the most exciting and unpredictable in recent memory. While it is by far too early to assume that the final table will look anything like it does at this point, fans and media alike could never have predicted how well — or how poorly — some of England's best 20 teams are doing this season.

Sitting level at the top of the table with 16 points each are Arsenal and Liverpool, two of the nation's historically most successful teams, but both have faced harder times in recent seasons. For the last four seasons, Liverpool have finished below the top four places that used to qualify them for the Champion's League, Europe's most prestigious club tournament, while Arsenal is looking to end a highly publicized eight-year trophy drought. With both teams unable to match the virtually unlimited financial resources of Manchester City or Chelsea, each manager had to make intelligent yet ambitious transfer moves in the off season, enabling the bright start to the season that each club has made.

On the topic of the two richest clubs in the league, and many bookmakers' favourites for the title, Chelsea is sitting in third, two points behind the pacesetters on 14, while Manchester City is in fifth place, a further point behind. While many of the supporters of these clubs may have been expecting their overpowered squads to have made flawless starts to the seasons, the factor of a new manager at the helm (despite Chelsea's Jose Mourinho being at the club for a second tenure) cannot be overlooked, as a group of players take time to adjust to a new style of play. City's Manuel Pellegrini in particular is learning that no game in this league is easy, having lost matches at the homes of the weaker- on-paper teams Aston Villa and league newcomers Cardiff City, yet there are signs of each club beginning to settle, and there is no reason to believe that they will not both be challenging for the title come next May.

The effect a change of management has perhaps never been more evident than it is at defending champions Manchester United, who are facing their first season since 1986 without legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson. While David Moyes, Ferguson's handpicked successor has inherited a team that won last year's title by an 11-point margin, the club is facing its worst start in 24 years, sitting six points off the pace in ninth place, and playing nothing like the team that was running away with the championship less than six months ago. Some sections of the support have already begun to voice their dissent with the appointment of Moyes, citing his lack of experience managing a high level club that is competing in the Champions League, yet with the board of directors seemingly vowing to support him in recent interviews; it looks as if he will be there for the long run.

Underneath Manchester United, a mere three points (the amount awarded for a win) separates them from the last place in the relegation zone, leaving the 10 bottom half positions a mess of teams that are all more than capable of getting a positive result against one of the others. However, one team that would generally be in this crowd, Southhampton, is flying high above their expectations, sitting just behind Chelsea on goal difference, with four wins out of seven. A number of surprise signings have gelled together well, turning the second season team into a dangerous- looking outfit that was able to end Liverpool's 100 per cent start to the season, providing an exciting story to watch as the season unfolds.

With 31 rounds still left to play, the Premier League table will look very different in May, but the early foundations have been set, and it is up to the clubs to build on what they have already created.