How re-assuring is it to see the number one next to the name Arsenal at the head of the Premier League standings? It does feel like far too long since we were used to such a sight being a regular event in the Sunday papers.

I guess it is a fair point that we are only there because Blackpool can’t afford to install undersoil heating at their stadium but come on, let us be more positive than that and say we are there on merit as so far we have managed to take more points than all of our rivals. Yes we have had some pretty grim downs recently but we have also had some nice ups to the season and none more so than seeing us sitting pretty at the top of the league on Saturday evening.

We are averaging two points a game which even I can work out to be 76 points over the season if we keep it up. Not enough to win the league in recent history but looking at the way the points are being dished out this season who is to say it wont be enough this time round?

I don’t see any real reason in any other top side for us to really fear falling by the wayside. What has happened so far since August has shown one thing and one thing only: no three points are guaranteed any longer in the Premiership, which can only be a good thing for the interest levels for all concerned. Yes we do have to put up with the odd unexpected loss to the likes of West Brom but when all of our main rivals drop points we don’t seem too upset do we?

Is it that the top teams are not as good as they once were or is it the simple fact that the rest have upped their games? Take City for example. Where were they a few years back when we were in our prime? Nowhere to be seen is the answer, I do seem to remember us being 4-0 up at their place after 15 minutes one season when Vieira and co were wearing the red and white. Mention it quietly but look at the strength in depth at our north London rivals and they have clearly come on a lot in the past five seasons or so. Did Villa have the likes of Young, Downing and Ireland a few seasons back? Again the answer is no.

A thought came to mind whilst watching a bit of the Sunderland – West Ham game. Sunderland (a relatively small side in premier league terms) have spent big money in recent seasons on players like Darren Bent and Asamoah Gyan (around £30m for the pair). They also spent around £9m on a keeper a couple of seasons ago - something we have never done! So why is it when these teams pick up a few good results that we are all still so surprised? Even sides like Bolton spend money when the need arises, Johan Elmander certainly didn’t go there for free!

The strength in depth at most Premier League clubs now means that on their day these clubs can beat anyone. Birmingham’s home record over the past 15 months speaks volumes for this fact - they are very hard to beat, especially on their own pitch. Even Bolton seem to play miles more football now than I can ever remember and they have two very decent forwards that can cause any team problems on their day.

If you look at the realistic matches where the top four clubs can drop points it goes way beyond the games in which they play each other. As well as the current top four (Arsenal, Man United, Chelsea and Man City) I would include home and away games with Spurs, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Everton as potential draws/losses and also away games with Birmingham, Bolton and Sunderland as other tough looking encounters. When teams like Chelsea go to Newcastle and fail to pick up all three points I am not that shocked as teams like Newcastle do have some very useful players nowadays. Carroll, Nolan and Barton (when he is not fighting someone) to name but three.

So when all is said and done maybe just maybe if we could gather a similar number of points as last season’s tally it may well prove enough come May this time round.

Looking away from the Premier League for a bit I really can’t see us having any problems whatsoever in getting the result we need from Wednesday night’s game against Partizan Belgrade. The side that we are playing are one of the worst teams that I have seen in the Champions League and we didn’t play well when beating them 3-1 away earlier on in the campaign. Even if we have a complete and utter howler I am sure we will still go through as I can’t see Braga getting anything in Donetsk, so let us all not get too nervous as it does seem to translate itself on to the pitch at times.

The problem for me comes when the draw is made for the second round as we will finish second and have to play a biggie in the next phase. My main hope for our Champions League chances is that Inter manage to beat Spurs for top spot in their group, nothing to do with Spurs, simply the fact that I feel strongly that Inter would give us a route through to the quarters as although they won the trophy last season with Mourinho at the helm, they now have Benitez running the show. I would liken that swap to us getting a future Spurs captain in a deal that took Cashley off to the Bridge. To put it simply Inter will be there for the taking and looking at the other possible opponents as it stands I don’t fancy it one bit over two legs against the likes of Barcelona or Real Madrid etc.

A comfy (in the end) qualification to the knockout stages of the Champions League (come Wednesday night), a very real prospect of a domestic final to be played at Wembley and top of the Premier League. Not too bad a start to the season after all then?