A theme that is starting to appear this season is that teams from the lower half of the table are getting good results against the top teams.
Stoke City manager Mark Hughes believes that this is partly because both teams no longer have the fear of travelling away to big teams like Chelsea and Manchester United. This aspect has also been contributed by the demise of top clubs like Liverpool and United in recent seasons. Manchester City, on the other hand, have grown much stronger. Home teams have been struggling with time in this campaign. This fact was reiterated by the home losses suffered by Chelsea and Liverpool just before the international break.