Darren Fletcher: Premier League standard has risen
Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher has attributed the Premier League's top teams imperfect start to the season to the strength of the league's smaller clubs.
United are third in the league with 25 points from 13 games, having drawn their home encounter with West Bromwich Albion, a team that defeated Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in September.
Meanwhile, league leaders Chelsea have suffered three defeats already, with their only home loss coming in a resounding 3–0 defeat to Sunderland on 14 November.
"The standard in the Premier League has risen and teams are getting better," Fletcher commented on United's official website. "As we experienced last season it's a tough league and I think you’ll see a lot more points dropped than in previous seasons."
Between 2005 and 2009, the league's top four teams were United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea.
But after Liverpool's poor 2009–10 season and the advances by Tottenham, Manchester City and Aston Villa, there are several new contenders for a place in the Champions League this season.
"As we experienced last season it's a tough league and I think you'll see a lot more points dropped than in previous seasons. The battle for a place in the top four used to be a given, but now there are a lot more teams involved."
Must prevent Chelsea from leaping ahead
Fletcher added that United must improve their performances in their upcoming league fixtures to challenge Chelsea. So far this season, United have collected only nine points from seven away games.
"We know it’ll be a long hard season and we don’t want to give Chelsea too much of a lead because it'll be difficult to claw back. There's still a long way to go and it's important we start winning games and putting a run together."
United host Wigan Athletic at Old Trafford on Saturday 20 November.
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