Smaller Premiership teams are scenting blood among the big beasts these days. The established leaders of the league seem less safe than they used to be, home and away.

It makes a change from complaining about the gap between the rich and the poor, and about how predictable it all is.

Last weekend’s fixture list didn’t look all that promising on paper, with safe-looking home ties for several of the bigger sides. But the fireworks of the festive season and its series of upsets seem to have disturbed the normal balance.

After the mighty Blackburn ransacked Manchester United’s ”Theatre of Dreams” two weeks ago, even the visit of bottom-feeding Bolton was not being treated lightly. Following the return of Paul Scholes and dissent among the ranks of his inadequate replacements, the talk was of United’s bare cupboard and lack of options.

When United won 3-0 it was greeted not with the usual yawn by supporters, but with a sigh of relief.

High-flying, title-chasing Spurs were at home to relegation-threatened Wolves, who managed to secure a 1-1 draw, nearly as big a shock as Arsenal being sent packing by Swansea.

Liverpool once again dropped points at Anfield, this time against Stoke. And Chelsea labored against Sunderland at Stamford Bridge. The game was settled by a measly single goal for the home side, the ball bouncing in off Frank Lampard’s shin following a rebound off the bar from Fernando Torres.

Sunderland had a host of chances to equalize, probably the best of them coming in the 89th minute of normal time, but Irish winger James McClean made a terrible hash of it.

Chelsea and Liverpool have been struggling at home for some time, but a bigger surprise has been Manchester City’s sudden wobble. They’ve been uncertain away from home for several weeks, but the Etihad Stadium had been a fearsome destination until United’s victory there in the FA Cup, rapidly followed up by Liverpool winning 1-0 midweek in the Carling Cup.

As the big boys wobble, the have-nots seem to have realized that despite all the Premier League hype, the teams above them aren’t that great after all.

In the first half of the season, there was only one team in the league that was able to roll over all comers, no matter how negative the tactics they faced. But City haven’t had that indomitable swagger about them for some time and are suddenly looking vulnerable.

The teams below them are either ”in transition” or decline. Apart from Spurs. So, what’s on next weekend then? Hope it’s nothing big, given that it’s New Year’s Eve, with all that family commitment stuff getting in the way of watching soccer.

The author is an editor with the Global Times. tomspearman@globaltimes.com.cn