See my take on whether Leicester City will make the top 4 this season

After most of the matches have been played this weekend, there's a question that everyone has been asking.

Will Leicester make the top four at the end of the season?

I heard Paul Merson ask it on Gillette Soccer Saturday, Jermain Jenas ask it on Match Of The Day and Martin Keown on MOTD2.

My answer really differs to most of what I've  heard recently. I don't think that they can keep this up. Just watching the intensity of their game against Everton and the amount of fight they had to put in, means for me that they will run out of steam.

An injury or two, a suspension or a player needing a test will put a bigger dent in their squad than any of their rivals. They don't have proven internationals on the bench or young starlets coming through the under-21 league. This means that they will struggle for quality if they hit a bad patch. It currently looks like Leicester will be competing with Manchester City, Arsenal, Spurs and Manchester United for a Champions League spot and all their squads run deeper.

Leicester could have some aces up their sleeves in the January transfer window, though and new signings will be easier to come by than last January when they were bottom of the league. But the pressure will be on Claudio Ranieri to make improvements without breaking the team spirit they have developed.

Whatever happens, it will be an interesting season. Keep watching and keep reading!

Read about the key battle areas ahead of the Sunderland v Newcastle derby

It's a big day in the North East of England on Sunday with the Wear-Tyne derby. No matter where the two teams are in the league, this match is huge. I think it's a actually intensified with the fact that the two teams are in lowly league positions, although Newcastle will feel a little less pressure than Sunderland after getting their first win under their belts with a 6-2 home win over Norwich City at the weekend. Both teams have a new manager (at Sunderland, though we are in a permanent state of having a new manager) and both managers will have a point to prove. Both managers will have a point to prove to the Newcastle United fans after Big Sam Allardyce's failed tenure at St James Park in the past and Steve McClaren's lacklustre start.

The fact of the matter is that Sunderland have a recent hold over the Magpies with five wins in a row, and home advantage on Sunday. The passion of the home fans, if the home team is in the game, is a massive boost for either of these clubs. The fans are immense and the support that they give their players both home and away is up there with the best in the game.

What will be the deciding factors?

Discipline

I think that the team that keeps their head will stand a much better chance of winning this one. With Colback, Cattermole, Tiote and M'Villa potentially all playing in the centre of midfield there's bound to be a lot of tackles flying in and there will almost certainly be yellow cards galore. Players having to think twice about a challenge for fear of a second booking can turn the game, especially if it's tight,

Goals

I know it seems obvious that goals will decide a game but until the six that they scored against a poor Norwich team, Newcastle had struggled to find the net. Sunderland still struggle to find the net. So it's a match where chances will mean so much more. Will Wijnaldum keep up his goalscoring form from the last match? Will Allardyce disagree with previous manager Advocaat and play Jermain Defoe up front on his own? The answers to these questions will also provide answer to the question "who will win the match?"

The fans

I've mentioned it before but I think that after a rough time for both clubs recently, the fans will be in great voice. Both sets of fans will be looking forward to this match immensely and there will be a crackle of excitement around the cities for the next few days. Thierry Henry was amazed by the atmosphere in the stadium in last years match at the Stadium of Light. But this excitement can go the other way. Fans of both clubs can get on the players backs if things start to go wrong for the team. Sunderland fans have made a habit of leaving the stadium before half-time in recent seasons, while Newcastle fans have been hugely critical of the owner and his cronies. If Newcastle start well then the home fans can quickly get under the skin of the players and you can see the confidence drain away.

I can see this one being really close and a lucky bounce or mistake settling it. I'm not sure which way, but I can see another 1-0.

This is the season that has seen attacking intent paying dividends - I'm sure it will continue

A topsy-turvy Premier League season has taken another turn today, and it's not even reached the 3 o'clock kick-off time on a Saturday as I write this. The fact that Spurs have just beaten Manchester City 4-1 means that Manchester United can (and probably will) go top of the league today with a win over a very poor Sunderland team. If Manchester United trip up at home then either West Ham or Leicester City could take over at the top of the table with a big enough win.

I know it's early days and you could look back at several past seasons to see an unexpected team near to the top or the bottom of the league, but this feels different. Aside from the shocking starts of Sunderland, Stoke City and Newcastle and probably Aston Villa, it seems that teams are capable of beating each other far more than ever before. Chelsea currently only have the four teams I've already mentioned below them and Manchester City have lost to West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur in successive games.

But it's the more attacking style of the lower and middle teams rather than any failings of the big teams that is making the difference this season. West Ham have gone to Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City and played without fear - coming away with three wins from three. Leicester City have found that the best way to get themselves out of a hole is to attack and try to score more goals than the opposition - coming back from 2 goals down against Villa to win and scoring four on the opening day against Sunderland are two such examples.

Swansea, Everton, Crystal Palace and Watford have all already shown much attacking intent and (so far) have shown no ideas about parking the bus, as so many average teams have done in the past.

So, this comes to my predictions of how the season will go, in terms of the top and the bottom-

Champions League places
Manchester City
Manchester United
Chelsea
Arsenal

The next group
Spurs
West Ham
Swansea
Leicester City

Not good enough
Liverpool
Crystal Palace
Everton
Stoke City

Survival
Watford
Bournemouth
Norwich City

Relegation
Newcastle United
Aston Villa
Sunderland

I think that this is the season that attacking play will win over defensive play and that the perceived gulf between Premier League clubs and Championship clubs disappears. It's when three big clubs, in Newcastle, Sunderland and Villa, drop out of the top flight. Years of clinging on by their fingertips, a lack of serious investment, a failure to make their academies work and chronic mismanagement will catch up in the end. I predict that this is the year it happens.