Three matchdays have been played. Here's a quick comment on each of the teams' performance so far. I'll sort them by the current table:
1. Benfica 9
(Supercup) Benfica 3-1 Vit. Guimaraes
Benfica 3-1 Braga
Chaves 0-1 Benfica
Benfica 5-0 Belenenses
Comment: They have, so far, dismissed concerns that they're weakened in defence. Their run wan't particularly difficult, but 3 wins in as many league games is always a great start for any team and they've won the first trophy of the season. So far so good. Next weekend they'll face the toughest test yet, they visit high-flying Rio Ave.
Impression: Positive.
2. FC Porto 9
FC Porto 4-0 Estoril Praia
Tondela 0-1 FC Porto
FC Porto 3-0 Moreirense
Comment: Could pretty much repeat Benfica's comment. Enthusiasm was high among fans after a promising pre-season, and this start is fueling this enthusiasm. All wins, no goals conceded and looking good despite Soares' absence due to injury, but no real test yet. Like Benfica, that'll come next weekend when Porto visit Braga.
Impression: Positive.
3. Sporting 9
Aves 0-2 Sporting
Sporting 1-0 Vit. Setubal
(CL) Sporting 0-0 FCSB
Vit. Guimaraes 0-5 Sporting
Comment: The Liga's official site puts Sporting 3rd, I'm assuming, due to alphabetical order, as they're absolutely tied with Porto. If we analyze further, though, we can say that relatively speaking Sporting is at an advantage over Porto and Benfica because, in theory, Sporting had a tougher start to deal with and didn't drop points. They played 2 away games versus Porto and Benfica's 1, including the toughest of the 4 (in theory), the trip to Guimaraes, where they came out with a big win. Now it'll be their time to see their rivals sweat while they have a home game, even if so far the home game was the toughest to win. The home draw against Steaua is a scar in an otherwise perfect start to the season. They may remedy it next Wednesday. Then an exodus is expected, we'll see what kind of Sporting we'll have then.
Impression: Very positive.
4. Rio Ave 9
Rio Ave 1-0 Belenenses
Boavista 1-2 Rio Ave
Rio Ave 2-0 Portimonense
Comment: 3 wins in 3 is great even for one of the big 3. If you're Rio Ave, it's fantastic! They lost the race for an EL spot against Maritimo last season and now, with one spot less up for grabs, they're presenting themselves as serious candidates. Next game they host Benfica in a very interesting battle of 100% victorious teams.
Impression: Very positive.
5. Braga 6
(EL) AIK 1-1 Braga
(EL) Braga 2-1 (aet) AIK
Benfica 3-1 Braga
Braga 2-1 Portimonense
(EL) FH 1-2 Braga
Aves 0-2 Braga
Comment: Generally positive start in the league: expected loss at the Luz followed by two wins against the two promoted teams. They deserve more praise for their EL campaign so far. People will mostly talk about how they just scrapped through against AIK, but it ain't easy playing a Swedish team in July. Braga know this well, they've been knocked out by Elfsborg in 2009/10 (and in the same season fought for the Portuguese title until the last match day and in the following year the same team and coach reached the EL final, so nothing to do with the quality of the team, it was just too early). Even if it took extra time, getting past that obstacle was a good result and in the PO they've pretty much done the job with a 2-1 win in Iceland. One of their main goals of the season is pretty much achieved, while making 6 points in 3 games and getting rid of one of the toughest games of the season in the league.
Impression: Very positive.
6. Maritimo 6
(EL) Botev Plovdiv 0-0 Maritimo
(EL) Maritimo 2-0 Botev Plovdiv
Maritimo 1-0 P. Ferreira
Belenenses 1-0 Maritimo
(EL) Maritimo 0-0 Dynamo Kyiv
Maritimo 1-0 Boavista
Comment: Decent start in the league with 2 homes wins and one away defeat. If they make it 2-0-2 in the 4th match day I'd call it somewhat disappointing, but so far so good. Good EL campaign so far as well. Did the job against Botev Plovdiv and kept things even against Dynamo against expectations. They'll probably be knocked out on Thursday, but nobody can say more was expected so far.
Impression: Positive.
7. Estoril Praia 6
FC Porto 4-0 Estoril Praia
Estoril Praia 3-0 Vit. Guimaraes
Tondela 2-3 Estoril Praia
Comment: It's already a surprise to see Estoril among the top 7, the biggest surprise in this pack, actually, pre-season expectations were for them to spend the year with some relegation concerns. To see how they gathered these 6 points is even more impressive: the game they lost was Porto away, where nothing was expected of them, and they they won the other 2 games, a shock 3-0 versus last season's 4th Vitoria Guimaraes and an away win against Tondela. Their 4th game will be a 3rd away game, and against Sporting no less. Even if they lose, 6 points in 4 games and 2 out of 3 visits to the giants out of the way is fantastic for Estoril.
Impression: Very positive.
8. Feirense 5
Feirense 1-1 Tondela
Moreirense 0-0 Feirense
Feirense 2-1 P. Ferreira
Comment: Pretty good start, grinding those points and still undefeated. Only the home draw against Tondela was disappointing, then drawing away and winning at home is a perfect recipe to avoid relegation without too much sweat. The win came in the form of a last minute penalty (which led P. Ferreira's coach criticize VAR heavily), though, the 5 points may be a bit flattering.
Impression: Positive.
9. Portimonense 3
Portimonense 2-1 Boavista
Braga 2-1 Portimonense
Rio Ave 2-0 Portimonense
Comment: Newly promoted and relegation candidate Portimonense had a pretty tough start with two visits to teams that fight for other goals. They lost those as expected, but won the game they had to, so not bad so far considering the always low expectations for a team coming from the league below.
Impression: Positive.
10. Belenenses 3
Rio Ave 1-0 Belenenses
Belenenses 1-0 Maritimo
Benfica 5-0 Belenenses
Comment: Did more or less what was expected. It was a pretty tough start against 3 teams that all finished in the top 7 last season, including the champions, and two of them away. So, all in all, getting a win out of the 3 was not really a bad start. They'll have easier fixtures.
Impression: Positive.
11. Vitoria SC (Guimaraes) 3
(Supercup) Benfica 3-1 Vit. Guimaraes
Vit. Guimaraes 3-2 Chaves
Estoril 3-0 Vit. Guimaraes
Vit. Guimaraes 0-5 Vit. Guimaraes
Comment: Didn't think I'd be writing this when Vitoria were easily beating Chaves 3-0, but since then they've conceded 10 goals without scoring any and are, imo, the biggest disappointment of the season so far. They've lost a lot of important players and we're all too used to see them follow great seasons with horrid ones, but, having kept coach Pedro Martins, I hadn't expected (and still am not expecting going forward) such a nightmare. I hope they pick themselves together so they have a decent EL campaign.
Impression: Very negative.
12. Vitoria FC (Setubal) 2
Vit. Setubal 1-1 Moreirense
Sporting 1-0 Vit. Setubal
Vit. Setubal 1-1 Chaves
Comment: No horrible results here, the only loss was Sporting away, but none are positive either. If you're not beating Chaves and Moreirense at home, you won't be too far from the relegation zone.
Impression: Negative.
13. Moreirense 2
Vit. Setubal 1-1 Moreirense
Moreirense 0-0 Feirense
FC Porto 3-0 Moreirense
Comment: Tempted to write "see above", but these results aren't as bad, mainly because Moreirense played away twice and so one of those draws was positive. Still, gotta be beating Feirense at home and, though they weren't expected to get points at the Dragao, they still impressed me with how bad they were. They were beaten so easily I almost wondered why they bothered showing up. They didn't try to create a tough midfield battle, they focus on being dangerous on the counter, they didn't even park the bus or, if they did try any of those things, they were so bad it didn't seem like it. Their coach Manuel Machado used to have a Midas touch, but lately it's been the other way around and both teams he coached last season ended up relegated (and none of them were expected to even be near that part of the table), so this isn't encouraging.
Impression: Negative.
14. Tondela 1
Feirense 1-1 Tondela
Tondela 0-1 FC Porto
Estoril Praia 3-2 Tondela
Comment: Bad winless start for Tondela, but there's nothing new there. If the last couple of seasons have taught us anything, it's that things will get much worse than this for Tondela before they get better. When it seems like they're doomed and salvation is impossible, they'll pull off another miracle.
Impression: Negative.
15. P. Ferreira 1
Maritimo 1-0 P. Ferreira
P. Ferreira 2-2 Aves
Feirense 2-1 P. Ferreira
Comment: I expected a better Pacos than last season and, so, this start is very underwhelming. One home draw against newly promoted Aves and two defeats. Worse teams with tougher starts have managed more points. Fixtures will only get harder.
Impression: Very negative.
16. Chaves 1
Vit. Guimaraes 3-2 Chaves
Chaves 0-1 Benfica
Vit. Setubal 1-1 Chaves
Comment: Chaves' squad actually looks pretty good, so 1 point is disappointing even with the tough start. The following game, Feirense at home, will be their chance to get things going. Things will suddenly look much better if they win, but pressure will mount up if they don't. You often see teams whose bad results are never too bad when you look at them individually, and there seams to be winnable games coming that'd make things alright, but somehow the team seems always stuck in an uncomfortable situation. It's far too early to be speaking like that, but Chaves results so far remind me of such teams.
Impression: Negative.
17. Aves 1
Aves 0-2 Sporting
P. Ferreira 2-2 Aves
Aves 0-2 Braga
Comment: Not that much was expected of Aves, and they were underdogs in all of these games. Can't say a draw away is a bad result for a newly promoted team, and the two home games were against top teams. Easier fixtures will come, but so far there's nothing to be excited about.
Impression: Negative.
18. Boavista 0
Portimonense 2-1 Boavista
Boavista 1-2 Rio Ave
Maritimo 1-0 Boavista
Comment: What can one say about 3 losses in 3 games? Especially when they haven't played any of the big 3. I've tipped them for relegation in another thread and they're starting to look like real candidates. They host Aves next, if they don't win things start to get pretty bleak very early.
Impression: Very negative.