Runaway Reds halfway to heaven

Biggest surprise

Sheffield United is playing its first season of top-flight soccer in 12 years. You'd never know. The Blades start Christmas in fifth place, four points off the Champions League qualification positions and above the likes of Manchester United, Tottenham and Arsenal.

Chris Wilder's team of journeymen and previously unheralded youngsters are hard-working and coached brilliantly. A tactic of encouraging his central defenders to surge forward has paid off handsomely for Wilder's United, which hasn't lost any of its first nine away games, something never before achieved in the Premier League by a newly promoted club.

At home, the vociferous support of the Bramall Lane crowd has helped United take the scalp of Arsenal and hold Manchester United to a draw.

Biggest disappointment

Take your pick－there have been plenty. How about Manchester City, which has failed to maintain its form of the past two seasons by losing four of its first 16 games amid injuries to key players such as defender Aymeric Laporte. There's Arsenal, which is languishing in 11th place and on course for its worst finish in the Premier League era, and Everton, which－despite another offseason of heavy spending－is just four points above the relegation zone. Both teams have just changed managers. Meanwhile, eighth-place Manchester United is still struggling to break down the league's lesser lights. The biggest regret, however, might be the lack of a challenge to Liverpool.

Champions League chase

Three places appear sewn up－Liverpool as well as its two nearest rivals, Leicester and Manchester City. There's a 10-point gap between City and fourth-place Chelsea. Then it all depends on whether Frank Lampard's youthful Chelsea, which is four points clear of the chasing pack, can hold it together through the second half of the season. Expect Sheffield United to finally tail off, leaving Tottenham, Manchester United, and potentially Wolves－currently in sixth place, five points off the top four－to challenge Lampard's Blues.