Even though Manchester City already look nailed-on for the title, the start of the EPL season has been anything but dull.
Arsenal are top! Liverpool and Chelsea have stuttered. Spurs have not been Spursy and Man United made a shocking start but have recovered – sort of.
Two managers have been sacked; so-called lesser teams are thriving. Erling Haaland has delivered and Darwin Nunez has not.
Biggest shock of all, Cristiano Ronaldo has eaten humble pie.
And when action resumes next weekend, there are tasty derbies in Manchester and north London to ramp things up a few more notches.
Then the World Cup will be just 50 days away so this last break before it kicks off seems the time to try and make sense of the season so far.
Team of the first seven games?
It has to be Arsenal who roared out of the blocks unlike last season when they remained in them, losing their first three games.
They’ve bought better this time, too; dare it be said, by turning to Jesus.
Gabriel, of that name, found himself further down the pecking order at Man City when Haaland arrived, so he jumped at the chance offered by Mike Arteta.
The ex-City assistant manager never lost faith in Oleksandr Zinchenko either and the two have been key men in the Gunners’ flying start.
Another is the unlikely one of Granit Xhaka.
A reformed character – until the next meltdown – and relishing a more advanced role, the Swiss is just one reason Arteta is being hailed as a “mini-Pep”.
Having worked under Guardiola at City, the Spaniard is now showing the influence the coaching guru had on him.
Tactically and in man-management, Arsenal are becoming a mini-City.
It’s been more gradual than what Guardiola brought to the Etihad.
But most of Arteta’s players are comfortable on the ball and can pass an opposing defence to death in the final third – true City hallmarks.
It had all been going swimmingly against so-called lesser lights but the young Gunners failed their first big audition at Old Trafford.
Having had a relatively easy ride so far, they have the look of top four contenders but are maybe not champion material just yet.
Best player so far?
Haaland has quashed the fears that he would be the spanner in City’s intricate works. And how!
Riding roughshod over rugged centre-backs and making lighter mortals bounce off him, he’s been a sensation.
With 11 goals so far and a long mid-season break as Norway didn’t qualify for the World Cup, he’s on course for an EPL record tally.
Held jointly by Alan Shearer and Andy Cole, it stands at a very gettable 34.
In fact, some are suggesting Haaland might have bagged that many by Christmas but for the enforced break.
That’s a little over the top even by his standards, but City have yet to hit top gear.
And so far, he’s scoring once every 14 touches.
Last week, he said: “My dream is to score five goals from five touches.”
It doesn’t matter that Kevin de Bruyne and gang are putting them on a plate with relish: his job is to gobble them up and there’s no one better.
Flop of the season?
In stark contrast, Nunez has not hit the ground at all. As many red cards as goals (one) and lots of doubts.
With Liverpool also appearing to have made a dubious signing in Arthur Melo at the end of the window, critics are wondering if the club has lost its Midas touch in the market.
But if Arthur was a panic move when all their midfielders seemed crocked, Nunez was well-researched.
And he did look the business when he played for Benfica against the Reds in the Champions League.
Indeed, Jurgen Klopp seemed awestruck.
But the coach is still to find a way to exploit two of Nunez’s main attributes – pace and heading ability.
And then there was the red mist moment against Crystal Palace – and a three-game ban.
A lesson learned but an expensive one at £85m.
Manager of the season?
When Erik Ten Hag joined Manchester United, it felt like he was handed a poisoned chalice while receiving a hospital pass.
There was Ronaldo’s protest, morale was on the floor, they lost at home to Brighton and were thrashed by Brentford.
Fans wondered how bad things could get.
Lesser men might have buckled but the under-rated Dutchman got the big calls right, the biggest of which was to drop Ronaldo.
Result? Immediate purification of the dressing room air and improvement on the field.
In fact, the winning run was only halted by Real Sociedad in Europe.
A remarkable turnaround for which Ten Hag gets all the credit.
His signings don’t look bad, either.
Owner of the season?
Chelsea’s Todd Boehly wins it hands down. Or should that be hands on?
What an impact the American has made!
He’s spent the most (£270m), sacked an elite manager (Thomas Tuchel), replaced him with one of the best young coaches and is giving players six-year contracts!
Oh, and he has suggested an All-Star game.
So much for the quiet Americans of the EPL.
Going bust race?
Newly promoted Nottingham Forest and West Ham are the next biggest spenders after Chelsea and they’re in the bottom three.
Leicester, who have spent nothing, are bottom. The Hammers, who are in the Europa Conference after finishing sixth last season, are surely too good to go down.
But with 23 new players Forest have a fight to gel as well as survive, and meet Leicester in another local derby next weekend.
It will be fascinating to see how the battle at the basement pans out.
From top to bottom, the EPL is never dull.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.