We've seen this movie before with West Ham. To paraphrase Rick Pitino "Carlos Tevez is not walking through that door" this year though. After Arsenal seized first place on the strength of two incredible goals by Samir Nasri on Saturday, West Ham grabbed the headlines on Sunday for all the wrong reasons.
The Hammers 1-0 loss to Sunderland on Sunday put them into dead last in the table, a full three points behind Fulham, and Wigan who sit tied at the 18th spot. Fulham, who have only managed two victories so far this season, stayed in the danger zone after conceding a late winner to Samir Nasri in Saturday's 2-1 loss to Arsenal.
Up top, Arsenal sits in first place, one point ahead of Manchester United, who were snowed out for their match against Blackpool. Chelsea struggled once again, drawing with Everton 1-1 on Saturday ahead of next weekend's showdown with Tottenham at White Hart Lane. Spurs conceded an 81st minute equalizer to Craig Gardner and were held to a 1-1 draw at Birmingham City.
The middle of the table did not clear up whatsoever, with Bolton losing 1-0 to Manchester City, Blackburn thrashing Wolves 3-0, and Stoke drew 2-2 against Wigan.
Best performance of the weekend: Samir Nasri, Arsenal. Again, Nasri has been so much more than anybody could have expected. He has outplayed Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott in the midfield. Nasri has formed a dangerous one-two punch with Andrei Arshavin providing the help, and Nasri supplying all of the class.
What happened to the strikers?: Of the 15 goals scored in Saturday's action, only three came off of the foot of strikers. Dider Drogba, Carlos Tevez and Jermaine Beckford did what they get paid to do, but there was a noticeable absence of strikers getting on the score sheet otherwise.
No consolation for Dempsey: Clint Dempsey is enjoying the most successful year of his Premier League career, and again he made things happen with a gorgeous pass to Diomansy Kamara to set up Fulham's lone goal on Saturday. Clint has been brilliant this year, scoring five times, and setting up countless chances for the Cottagers. He seems to be proving English analyst Jamie Redknapp right when he claimed that Dempsey is the best American player to ever play in the Premier League.
Must see TV: Check out Nasri's virtuoso performance against Fulham here -- https://tinyurl.com/2etcw2o
The table as it stands with Liverpool left to play Aston Villa on Monday night:
| Overall | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||||
| POS | TEAM | P | W | D | L | GS | GA | W | D | L | GS | GA | W | D | L | GS | GA | GD | Pts | ||||
| 1 |  | Arsenal | 16 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 34 | 18 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 8 | 16 | 32 | |||
| 2 |  | Manchester United | 15 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 35 | 16 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 11 | 10 | 19 | 31 | |||
| 3 | | Chelsea | 16 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 30 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 7 | 19 | 30 | |||
| 4 |  | Manchester City | 16 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 21 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 7 | 9 | 29 | |||
| 5 | | Tottenham Hotspur | 16 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 24 | 21 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 13 | 3 | 26 | |||
| 6 | | Bolton Wanderers | 16 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 28 | 23 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 12 | 5 | 23 | |||
| 7 | | Sunderland | 16 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 20 | 18 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 2 | 23 | |||
| 8 | | West Bromwich Albion | 16 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 23 | 27 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 17 | -4 | 22 | |||
| 9 | | Stoke City | 16 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 21 | 21 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 12 | 0 | 21 | |||
| 10 | | Blackburn Rovers | 16 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 21 | 25 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 19 | -4 | 21 | |||
| 11 | | Newcastle United | 16 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 24 | 25 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 15 | -1 | 19 | |||
| 12 | | Liverpool | 15 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 17 | 19 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 13 | -2 | 19 | |||
| 13 | | Blackpool | 15 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 23 | 29 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 18 | -6 | 19 | |||
| 14 | | Birmingham | 16 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 17 | 19 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 13 | -2 | 18 | |||
| 15 | | Everton | 16 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 18 | 20 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 8 | -2 | 17 | |||
| 16 | | Aston Villa | 15 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 17 | 24 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 15 | -7 | 17 | |||
| 17 | | Fulham | 16 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 16 | 20 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 9 | -4 | 15 | |||
| 18 | | Wigan Athletic | 16 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 28 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 11 | -15 | 15 | |||
| 19 | | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 16 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 17 | 30 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 17 | -13 | 12 | |||
| 20 | | West Ham United | 16 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 27 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 15 | -13 | 12 | |||