With ten games of the Premier League season gone, it's time for another breather as the second international break rolls around. Here's our experts' verdict on the season so far...

Player of the season so far

Josh King. In a Fulham side that has been struggling, he has lit up the division. Every time he plays, he does something special. OLIVER HOLT

Ronald Araujo. The Uruguayan on loan at Liverpool from Barcelona has gone some way to solving a huge problem for Andoni Iraola at right-back. IAN LADYMAN 

Pascal Gross – epitome of the Brighton formula. The first signing when they reached the Premier League now back for his second spell. Supreme confidence in the model shines through him. He is understated and over delivering at 35. MATT BARLOW

Martin Odegaard. A sensational footballer. Few players can control those around them in the manner that the Arsenal skipper does, and he is scoring important goals, too. CRAIG HOPE 

Diego Gomez. You can’t argue with two goal of the season contenders already – one of them from the halfway line. Wonderful midfielder who is integral to how Brighton play. JACK GAUGHAN

Pascal Gross. The Brighton midfielder has covered more ground than any player in the league thus far and is third in the league for goal contributions with eight. A midfield conductor that has hit all the right notes (outside of that one lapse at Anfield with his own goal). NATHAN SALT

Pascal Gross. Three goals, four assists, and such creative and organisational influence from the 35-year-old. He gives Brighton control, finds ways through congested midfields and brings an authority to their pressing game, starting every game and playing more minutes than any team-mate. IAN HERBERT

Declan Rice – Toughie, this. I’ll plump for Rice for his sheer consistency at the heart of an Arsenal side at the top of the table. Mr Reliable. KIERAN GILL 

Pascal Gross. Bloke is in his mid-30s, started every Brighton game, has scored four goals, set up another four, meaning only Erling Haaland and Evanilson (an honourable mention for this gong) have combined for more, and has created at least five more chances than any other player in the division. He’s at the heart of everything Brighton do. JAMES SHARPE

Rayan Cherki. Man City’s gifted No10 has been in outstanding form even if his team haven’t. Cherki’s cracking goal in Saturday’s defeat at Nottingham Forest was his seventh of the season on top of three assists. CHRIS WHEELER 

Manager of the season so far

Fabian Hurzeler. We are almost a third of the way through the season and Brighton are in second place. The odds are still hugely stacked against them but if they keep up their form, they will be the most unlikely title challengers since Leicester City. OLIVER HOLT 

Fabian Hurzeler. We thought Chris Hughton did a good job at Brighton. Ditto Graham Potter and Roberto de Zerbi. But Hurzeler has taken the Seagulls to a different level and all that with the challenge of playing European football thrown in too. Hat tips here also for David Moyes, Keith Andrews, Marco Rose and Sergej Jakirovic. IAN LADYMAN

Fabian Hurzeler – has Brighton in with a genuine chance of a Champions League place as others falter and they continue to build despite selling important players (Baleba & Welbeck) and suffering injuries (Mitoma & Minteh). They play an exciting brand of attractive football, develop young individuals in a team and are handling European football. MATT BARLOW

Fabian Hurzeler. His Brighton team are the best to watch in the division and that is because they are well coached and exact a plan, which opponents are currently unable to combat. Champions League football awaits. CRAIG HOPE 

It has to be Fabian Hurzeler. Beaten both Arsenal and Manchester City, hammered Aston Villa and smashed their rivals. Brighton are flying. JACK GAUGHAN

Fabian Hurzeler. Brighton are the Premier League's top scorers, have inflicted Arsenal's only defeat and the Seagulls are flying high as the closest challenger to the Gunners sat in 2nd in the November international break. Marco Rose gets an honourable mention for how well Bournemouth have fared post-Andoni Iraola. NATHAN SALT

Fabian Hurzeler, Brighton. Yes, he’s working with the players produced by the Tony Bloom data algorithms but he’s adapting those players to games. He didn’t try to outplay Arsenal at their own game, instead making the match chaotic and physically demanding. IAN HERBERT

Fabian Hurzeler – To think a naff Christmas last season prompted claims from your usual In The Knows that Brighton were considering sacking Hurzeler. They stuck with him, and now he has his side sitting second in the Premier League. KIERAN GILL

Fabian Hurzeler. It’s got to be, hasn’t it? He has Brighton second in the Premier League, completely on merit, and fifth in the Conference League. They play beautiful football and are fully in the title race. Some people wanted him sacked last season. JAMES SHARPE

Fabian Hurzeler . Fantastic achievement to guide Brighton to second place in the Premier League a quarter of the way into the season, beating both Arsenal and Manchester City. They are also performing well in the UEFA Conference and won away at Manchester United in the Carabao Cup before going out of the competition to City on penalties. CHRIS WHEELER

Top-five prediction – in order 

Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Brighton. Arsenal are a smooth-running machine. They strengthened well in the summer and are already reaping the rewards. OLIVER HOLT

Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Man United. IAN LADYMAN

Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Brighton, Spurs. Assuming City are deducted points here I'm backing Liverpool to emerge as closest challengers, Brighton to stay the course and both Spurs and Chelsea to eventually feel the benefit of not being in Europe. MATT BARLOW

Arsenal. Brighton. Manchester City. Liverpool. Chelsea. That is the current order and, Bournemouth apart, I can't see any other team challenging for the top five. Brighton don't have to fall away, as some suggest. They are too well drilled for their position to simply be an upshot of a fast start or momentum. What they have feels more permanent. CRAIG HOPE

 The Premier League table after ten games

Arsenal, Manchester City*, Liverpool, Brighton, Chelsea. City’s second place is pending the fallout of their appeal and any sanctions handed down. Aston Villa and Tottenham will fancy taking a run at the top five but Chelsea and Liverpool should continue improving. Bournemouth are an outside bet too. JACK GAUGHAN

Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Brighton, Chelsea. NATHAN SALT

Arsenal, Liverpool, Brighton, Aston Villa, Chelsea. IAN HERBERT

Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City, Brighton. Arsenal will win the Premier League, obviously. Manchester City will be distracted by all the chaos. Brighton will sneak a top-five finish with help from their fine start. KIERAN GILL

Arsenal, Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea, Brighton. CHRIS WHEELER

Bottom-three prediction – in order

Newcastle United, Coventry City, Ipswich Town. I still think that Newcastle will get sucked into trouble. And I think that the inexperience of their manager will cost them when things get tight. OLIVER HOLT

Ipswich, Hull, Coventry. IAN LADYMAN

Man City (deducted points), Crystal Palace, Coventry. Again, a massive guess involved re the City penalty but it's always guesswork even when educated. Isn't it? Fear Coventry will fade and Palace have simply lost too many good players for a managerial change to save them. MATT BARLOW

Hull. Coventry. Crystal Palace. Hull just cannot win enough games and that will catch up with them. Coventry don't have the quality over the course of a season, while Palace look like a side who have lost belief in themselves, their manager and the direction of the club. CRAIG HOPE

Coventry, Ipswich Town, Hull City. While all have enjoyed varying degrees of encouraging starts, the teams around them are either set to change managers or emerging from sluggish form. JACK GAUGHAN

Ipswich Town, Coventry City, Crystal Palace. NATHAN SALT

Coventry, Crystal Palace, Sunderland. IAN HERBERT

Crystal Palace, Ipswich, Coventry. Of the three newly-promoted clubs, I’m saying Hull will stay in the Premier League, and Crystal Palace, even with a new manager, will continue to struggle. KIERAN GILL 

Coventry, Sunderland, Palace. This is the season Palace go. Only Thomas Frank can save them now. JAMES SHARPE

Coventry, Ipswich, Hull. CHRIS WHEELER 

Surprise package

Daniel Farke. He's been around a long time to be a surprise package but after years of people saying he wasn't good enough to keep a team in the Premier League, his Leeds team is not just surviving but excelling. OLIVER HOLT

I have loved watching Oli McBurnie play for Hull. He leads the line, he sets the tone and he scores the odd goal. A throwback centre-forward. IAN LADYMAN

Hull City boss Sergej Jakirovic... given the Tigers a platform they can build on and avoid being drawn into a relegation battle. MATT BARLOW

Bournemouth, their manager Marco Rose and striker Evanilson. I saw them play earlier in the season during a six-match winless league start and, despite that, you knew they would come good. Like Brighton, they look well coached under Rose and, in Evanilson, they have a striker who has now scored in five straight league games. They could yet gatecrash the top five. CRAIG HOPE

James McAtee is beginning to show a real run of consistent form in Nottingham Forest’s midfield and if he continues with that, might well be knocking on Thomas Tuchel’s door come March. JACK GAUGHAN

Hull City. Widely panned as being the side that would break Derby County's points record en route to an immediate relegation back to the Championship but they've more than held their own so far. Going unbeaten at home to this point is a good sign for survival hopes. NATHAN SALT

Everton. The dismal and chaotic summer window under Friedkin Group, who now want out, left you thinking that it would be another season of struggle but David Moyes remains the most under-celebrated manager in the division. He’s even getting goals out of Thierno Barry. Sixth spot, two shy of Liverpool, is extraordinary. IAN HERBERT

Everton. When their £40million move for Folarin Balogun collapsed late on deadline day to leave them with only one striker, I thought they were done for. Underestimate David Moyes at your peril, I guess, because they’re now sixth in the Premier League. Kudos. KIERAN GILL

Nicolas Jackson. Found his home immediately at Villa, with nine goals already this season, and proving that Chelsea were too hasty to write him off. Looks so sharp in front of goal and a focal point Unai Emery can build his team around. JAMES SHARPE

Charalampos Kostoulas – the Greek teenager was mainly used off the bench last season, but has seized his chance following Danny Welbeck’s move to Chelsea with five goals and four assists in all competitions. CHRIS WHEELER

Biggest underachiever

Enzo Fernandez. Manchester City fans are starting to realise why some Chelsea supporters were glad to see the back of him, both on the field and off it. OLIVER HOLT

Manchester United. I didn’t expect them to be quite this bad. Michael Carrick and his team have taken incompetence to new levels. IAN LADYMAN

Take your pick at Old Trafford. Michael Carrick? Bruno Fernandes? Lisandro Martinez? His pal Jason Wilcox? Sir Jim & the Glazers? Maybe the roofers? Probably a good time for collective responsibility, an award for Man United. MATT BARLOW

Manchester United. Why complicate it? Even with a change of manager, which is necessary, there is close to no chance they'll recover to qualify again for the Champions League, and for a club of Man United's size there can be no greater underachievement. CRAIG HOPE

Even by their standards, Manchester United’s first three months – in the relegation zone after a round of matches for the first time in 40 years – has been beyond dismal. JACK GAUGHAN

Manchester United. They are absolutely shocking from the boardroom to the pitch. You've got unqualified and indecisive executives calling the shots and a bunch of players who need to wake up and realise they are in a relegation battle. Diogo Dalot almost took this award but United's problems are bigger than his own ineptitude. NATHAN SALT

Manchester United. Yes, they have been serially failed by owners and have incapable defenders but that league position is beyond all belief. Even this weekend, Bryan Mbeumo and Mason Mount have looked shadows of the players United signed. IAN HERBERT

Bruno Fernandes. Fabulous footballer, obviously, but he has been substandard in what he is providing on the pitch, both as a creator and in his approach to leadership and that is not helping Manchester United right now. KIERAN GILL

Newcastle. Yes, losing Eddie Howe was always going to take some getting used to and, yes, when you look down their team sheet you wonder where all the quality has gone but they shouldn’t be this bad. Opta has them bottom of their expected points table. JAMES SHARPE

Man Utd – from the boardroom to the dressing-room, they are in a mess. Expect United to find some degree of form and move up the table, but this season already feels like a write-off. CHRIS WHEELER

The team in most need of the January window opening

Manchester United. They blew all the momentum Michael Carrick built last season with a desperate summer transfer window. They need to try to remedy that in January. OLIVER HOLT

Tottenham. They need a centre-forward. The rest of the team is starting to look as though it has some balance. IAN LADYMAN

Richarlison's PR team, and Man United still so desperately short of the quality they need in so many key areas. MATT BARLOW

Newcastle. If they are to persist with a new formation of 4-2-3-1 which incorporates a No10 under Matthias Jaissle, they have to go out and sign a No10 rather than playing strikers or midfielders there. There is a danger they could be dragged into the bottom three before Christmas. CRAIG HOPE

Crystal Palace’s outgoing coach Pierre Sage has already mentioned the winter transfer window and they have holes to plug in that squad if they are to survive. JACK GAUGHAN

Sunderland. Injuries have started to pile up – they are up to nine right now – and they desperately need to freshen things up as they juggle European football and a relegation battle. They have good players but need to ruffle a few feathers with arrivals to improve results. NATHAN SALT

Manchester United. If Sir Jim Ratcliffe doesn’t know by now that a striker and functioning left back are direly needed, then he is even dimmer than we imagined him to be. The problem is that United, having thrown millions after players in the past decade or so, do not have much more. IAN HERBERT

Crystal Palace. Not only do they need a new manager, they have to help him by bringing in new bodies in January. Pierre Sage has even said so: ‘We have to adjust some positions during the winter transfer window to give more solutions.’ KIERAN GILL

Crystal Palace. They needed to do it in the summer and didn’t but the opening ten games of the season have made it abundantly clear that Palace have to replace Marc Guehi and Maxence Lacroix properly. Otherwise they are down. JAMES SHARPE

United still need the striker and left-back they should have signed in the summer to cover for Benjamin Sesko and Luke Shaw. It was an act of negligence not to do so. CHRIS WHEELER

Big prediction for the rest of the season

Manchester City to be hit with a points deduction that takes them out of the running for any position in the top five. And probably more. OLIVER HOLT

Manchester United will get a shift on up the league table – if and when they appoint a good manager. IAN LADYMAN

If Brighton qualifying for the Champions League for the first time isn't big enough... maybe Leeds can qualify for Europe. MATT BARLOW

Odegaard will be footballer of the year and Eddie Howe will lead Man United into the top half of the Premier League (and probably Europa League qualification). CRAIG HOPE

There could be fewer than five managerial changes through the season – bucking the trend of the last few years. Sage and Michael Carrick both look precarious but others down there seem more settled in their jobs. JACK GAUGHAN

Alexander Isak will dethrone Erling Haaland to win the Golden Boot as Liverpool go closest to Arsenal in the title race. Too much was made of his difficulties last season when injuries were so disrupting. The service he will get from Florian Wirtz, Rio Ngumoha, Victor Munoz, Cody Gakpo and Bradley Barcola will keep him well fed. NATHAN SALT

Manchester City are not included in these final table predictions because they ought to be relegated from the division for serial and institutional cheating and don't justify incorporation. But I suspect they will find a way of suspending the justice which ought to come their way. Somehow, I just don’t see them being relegated in the way they should. They're happy to extend this interminable legal process. IAN HERBERT

Manchester United, somehow, finish in the top half. KIERAN GILL

Nottingham Forest will push for Europe. That victory over Manchester City had been coming. They were in the bottom three before the weekend but so much of that has been down to them failing to take any of the many chances they create. If Liam Delap can get firing like this, they will make a charge up this very average Premier League table. JAMES SHARPE

Sometime between now and May, a semblance of normality will return to Manchester United and fans will be looking back on these weeks when their club was in the relegation zone like it was a bad dream. CHRIS WHEELER