Key Points of the Weekend

Chelsea are not title contenders

Chelsea were talked about as potential title contenders heading into this season and during the opening weeks of the season because of them having no European football to distract them and the fact that they have a proven top level manager in Xabi Alonso.

They have shown why they could challenge and especially going forward as they've looked dangerous whenever they've gone forward.

But defensively they've looked all over the place as they've conceded the most goals with 12 and are yet to keep a clean sheet.

Their open and fragile defence is why they're not title ctoneders because if any team is to consider themselves as title challengers, they need to be tight at the back and Chelsea have looked anything but tight at the back.

Their defensive troubles came back to bite them against Brentford on Friday as the marking for the goals they conceded was poor and there were big gaps in their midfield.

I said last week that they lack leaders and I stick by that with their display against Brentford justifying it further because of the manner they conceded the goals in.

Their performance as a whole is why they won't be challenging for the title this season because of how open they were.

Is it time to give Fabian Hurzeler more credit?

Brighton fans have had mixed opinions of manager Fabian Hurzeler since he's been at the club and especially during last season where they were calling for him to be sacked during a poor run of form between January and February.

But he has guided them to back-to-back 8th placed finishes in each of the two seasons since he took over and he even guided them into Europe last season.

His Brighton side have started this season very strongly as they currently lie in 3rd and have looked impressive in the games they've won including their 3-0 win over Arsenal on Saturday.

Is it time to give Hurzeler the credit he deserves?

It's hard to forget that Hurzeler is still a very young manager at the age of 33 years of age after becoming the youngest manager in Premier League history when he first arrived at the AMEX two years ago.

He has shown his lack of experience at times since his arrival in terms of the tactical decisions he's made during certain games and this is one reason why opinions among Brighton fans have been divided.

But he has still done a pretty good job since he's been in charge by guiding the Seagulls to two top 10 finishes and for a manager to do that at his age is very impressive.

His side will have some tough months ahead of them as their Europa Conference League campaign will be kicking off in a few weeks but if they can keep up their good start, Hurzeler may soon get credit for the good work he's done at Brighton.

Is Michael Carrick under pressure?

It's been a far from convincing start to the season from Man United as they currently find themselves in 12th place following just one win, and two draws and defeats each from their five games so far.

They're also already out of a cup competition following their defeat at home to Brighton in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday where they threw away a two-goal lead to lose 3-2.

Is Michael Carrick under pressure?

Carrick did such an incredible job when he came in last season by guiding United into the Champions League which got him the job on a full time basis.

He was tasked with getting a tune out of and getting a smile back on the faces of the Man United players when he came in last season and he did so brilliantly.

But this season there is more pressure on him because he's now the full time manager at a massive club in Man United where the standards are very high.

He appears to be coming to terms with the pressure of being manager of Man United because of his side's poor start to the season and the performances they've put in.

They looked very flat against Fulham on Sunday where they were lucky to come away with a point as Fulham looked the better side on the day.

There was no energy without the ball, they were ponderous in possession and didn't cause Fulham many problems on the attack.

Carrick has a two-week international break to work with his players on the training field and look back at their recent performances to see what they need to do better and how they can improve on the things they need to do better.

Both results and performances need to improve and quickly because of their poor start to the season and if the former don't pick up soon, he could find himself under pressure.