So how much can you actually read into a start? Sam Elliott takes a good look.

So how much can you actually read into a start? Well when it comes to the Premier League, precious little it seems.

While we’ve all been blown away by the start of Manchester City have put together, the Croydon Advertiser may as well have reserved some space on page 42 for the Crystal Palace obituaries column.

Seven games in and many are already predicting how many points Pep’s eye-pleasers will rack up while Manchester United’s form, for some Stretford Enders, lends support to their theory that another treble is brewing.

There’s nothing quite like highly-strung early October overreactions. Here’s why.

City’s 1-0 win at Chelsea impressed everyone. Slick, precise and a manager who comes out on top in a tactical dual with the one currently with a winners’ medal around his neck.

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But is this genuine development or deja vu? City at this stage last season had a very similar record – their goal difference this time around, accepted, is nine goals more.

Of course they won their first ten last time around. Their collapse was coming, but what of the eventual champions?

Chelsea were a lowly seventh at the start of October 2016 but their great climb was to come, of course eventually winning the Premier League by seven points.

Tottenham hadn’t lost a game by this stage of last season but even with White Hart Lane on their side couldn’t maintain that for long.

Hopeless

Crystal Palace fans look away now, there’s always an exception to every rule. The Black Cats were run over even by this stage – the bad news is that there was no recovering from Sunderland’s hopeless first seven games… and they had two more points of the board than you and had managed to score six times!

Beware too those who come up and are currently under the impression they’re settling in nicely. After going up together in 2015, Hull City and Middlesbrough returned to the Championship.

Both were outside of the bottom three this time last year having grabbed some all-important early wins. It proved to be a false dawn, both relegated back without a whimper.

Brighton, Huddersfield and Newcastle all have their heads well above early season water, but history tells us the bottom three vacuum will open wide not long after the clocks go back.

A warning for Watford, too. They made an equally inspired start to 2016/17 before crashing – ultimately escaping because of the ineptitude of the three no-hopers below them.

Stoke City fans were clogging the football phone ins with demands that Mark Hughes gets the boot twelve months ago. Without a win, it looked grim and Sparky’s flame was about to be extinguished with the owners’ size nines reportedly at the ready. The laces were never tied despite a summer of spending.

There was no need to panic as they climbed to the dizzy heights of 13th, evening the season ten points clear of trouble.

So if you think the first two months of the season is building up to impending doom or unavoidable glory, don’t get ahead of yourself.