Bolton and Sunderland stand out as teams with the potential to last the course in the upper reaches of the English Premier League table and it will be interesting to see how they fare in their radically different tasks this weekend.
Just three points separate sixth-placed Bolton from Stoke in 16th, which suggest the league positions are far from set in stone after 12 matches and that there is likely to be a high degree of volatility up to Christmas at least.
Yet Bolton and Sunderland may be hard to displace from their early elevated positions. This weekend Bolton have by far the easiest match of the pair, with a visit to second-bottom Wolves, while Sunderland are away to leaders Chelsea. Sunderland lost 7-2 on their last visit to Stamford Bridge and their improvement will be confirmed if they give the champions a tougher match this time.
There is a reasonable chance that Steve Bruce's team will do so, despite the negative headlines surrounding their 5-1 derby defeat at Newcastle a fortnight ago. That was a blip because otherwise they have made quiet progress this season.
Sunderland were unbeaten in seven before the Newcastle game, a run that included a win over Manchester City and draws with Manchester United and Arsenal. Their only other defeat in the opening 12 games was 1-0 at West Brom - only undefeated United have lost fewer matches - and they have a solid record against the lower-ranking teams.
That makes them definitely a team to watch, especially now that Asamoah Gyan is fit and giving them an alternative to chief goalscorer Darren Bent.
