Chelsea’s attack has been transformed by the signing of the bullish Costa, who has the hard-eyed demeanour of a man who looks like he would be as comfortable in a bar fight as he is grappling with Premier League defences. The former Atlético Madrid striker has taken no time to settle, scoring nine goals in his first nine matches, and has relished the battle with defenders. But those pesky hamstrings are a cause for concern. Chelsea are managing the situation carefully. They are not dependent on Costa but they could do without him getting injured.  There were a few misgivings about how the Italian would fare at Southampton given how strikers from the Eredivisie have struggled in the Premier League – by which we mean: how Afonso Alves and Mateja Kezman struggled in the Premier League after moving here from the Eredivisie. Southampton need not have worried. Pellè scored freely for Ronald Koeman at Feyenoord and has continued doing so at St Mary’s. He has six league goals already, including a stunner against QPR, and scored on his Italy debut last week.  With six goals in his first seven games for West Ham, Sakho has made it look easy since his £3.5m move from Metz in August. The Senegal striker is quick, powerful and a threat in the air, while he demonstrated his subtlety with that neat chip over Simon Mignolet in the 3-1 win over Liverpool last month. He has been quite the find for Sam Allardyce’s side.  The Uruguay forward may have been criticised by Palermo for leaving them to join Hull but that has not stopped him from becoming an instant hero at the KC Stadium. He scored on his debut against West Ham with a cracking header and also hit the bar, and there have been further efforts against Arsenal and Manchester City. It is hard to argue with three goals in his first five matches.  The Argentinian’s goals have helped Leicester beat Stoke City and Manchester United and draw with Arsenal and Everton since his £7m move from Brighton & Hove Albion. Nigel Pearson will be hoping Ulloa’s failure to score in his past three matches is nothing more than a blip, rather than it turning out his earlier finishing was the flash in the pan.  The striker’s performances for Ecuador at the World Cup convinced West Ham to sign him for £12m but he did not make a great impression, missing the decisive penalty in the shootout against Sheffield United in the first round of the Capital One Cup. Then came his 25-yard thunderbolt against Hull City, followed by Saturday’s bullet header against Burnley. Work those neck muscles!  It is not easy to judge Loïc Rémy’s start at Chelsea given that he arrived on the last day of the transfer window and has since had to play second fiddle to Costa. He scored on his debut after coming on as a substitute in the 4-2 win over Swansea City last month but he had to wait until Saturday’s 2-1 win at Crystal Palace for his first start. His performance was encouraging and Chelsea have no reason to think that Rémy will let them down.  Danny Welbeck has done his Danny Welbeck thing – score a few, miss a few, frustrate a bit, be likeable – and maybe he deserves 10 out of 10 simply because he is not Yaya Sanogo. But maybe everyone got a bit overexcited after the hat-trick against the travelling circus act who were masquerading as Galatasaray. Some people even compared him to Thierry Henry afterwards and, well.  The Senegal striker arrived on a free transfer from Hannover and started well for Stoke, scoring an eye-catching solo goal in their surprise 1-0 win at Manchester City in August and then finding the net in the 2-2 draw at QPR. He has gone off the boil a little but the signs are promising for Mark Hughes.  Lukaku has to deal with raised expectations at Everton now he is a £28m striker rather than a loan signing and, perhaps a little fatigued after his World Cup exertions, he has not quite hit the heights of last season. With three goals in 11 matches, he is not having the same sort of impact. Yet the price tag makes it easy to forget Lukaku is still a youngster who is learning his trade. He will get better as the season goes on.  The Cameroonian scored within six minutes of coming off the bench on his Everton debut but that was in the 6-3 defeat to his former club, Chelsea, and it remains his only league goal for Roberto Martínez’s side. He did rescue them a point in their Europa League match against FK Krasnodar, though.  There are not too many international strikers available for less than £1m so Palace’s purchase of Campbell in the summer from Cardiff looked a shrewd piece of business. Granted, the 27-year-old won his solitary England cap under Stuart Pearce in 2012 but a return of three Premier League goals from his eight appearances is a decent start. Now the test is whether Campbell can maintain that ratio and surpass last season’s tally of six.  Eyebrows were raised when Southampton signed him from Hull City for £12m – further evidence, it was said, that there was no value in the transfer market. Long has always been persistent and will get you a few goals but he has never been deadly. However he has buzzed around promisingly in a wide role for Southampton despite not scoring and appears to be a useful addition.  The Chilean impressed in the World Cup, so Queens Park Rangers were delighted to secure him on a season-long loan from Napoli and after a slow start, he exploded into life with that dramatic double against Liverpool on Sunday. It was just a shame his heroics turned out to be in vain.  Could be better, could be worse. The worry about Falcao is whether he has fully recovered from the knee injury he suffered in January. If he has, then Manchester United will have one of the world’s most fearsome strikers. And there have been little glimpses of his potential during his first few matches – an assist for Robin van Persie against Leicester and a poacher’s goal that helped United beat Everton. One feels that there is more to come.  The Argentinian has a reputation for causing trouble and no one was sure what to expect when West Ham signed him on a free transfer. He has actually slotted in quite nicely, his unpredictability evident when he scored a cracking volley in the 3-1 win at Crystal Palace in August. The test for Zárate is whether he can accept he is not part of West Ham’s strongest lineup.  It goes without saying Didier Drogba’s second spell at Chelsea is not going to be as spellbinding as the first and there is a suspicion they have brought him back as head cheerleader, someone who can use his experience and status as a club legend to gee up the team when they are swimming against the tide. Now 36, he is yet to score in seven appearances and has had a couple of niggling injuries. But plenty of time remains for Drogba to make an impact. You may recall he has done it in the past.  The Nigeria striker signed for West Brom for £10m from Dynamo Kiev but he has been troubled by a foot problem in recent weeks. However he did open his account for his new side in the Capital One Cup win over Hull.  The Greek striker is yet to score since signing on a free. The hope is he can recapture his Celtic and Greece form at The Hawthorns – but it may be a forlorn one.  Eight games, no goals, plenty of effort. Jutkiewicz has worked hard since his £1.5m move from Middlesbrough and has certainly put himself about but he is yet to prove he has the necessary quality to succeed in the Premier League. He is not a lost cause, though.  The French striker’s only goal came against Rotherham in the Capital One Cup. Clearly he has work to do if he is to provide proper competition for Wilfried Bony.  Oh yeah. Bojan. Remember him? Once played for Barcelona, now plays for Stoke. Sort of. Bojan. Does anyone know where he is?  Lambert was consistently excellent for Southampton and they did not begrudge him his move to his boyhood club. Yet, again, Brendan Rodgers does not seem keen. He has used Lambert sparingly and the striker has not been able to get into his stride during his limited appearances. But does he deserve more of a chance? He certainly knows how to play with Adam Lallana.  Raw and wayward on the basis of most of his early performances since his £5m move from Monaco but the 24-year-old did offer a hint of his potential by scoring twice against Palace in the Capital One Cup.  Doyle’s only goal so far came in the Republic of Ireland’s friendly victory over Oman last month. Palace have forwards in better form.  Unfortunately Sordell looks out of his depth in the Premier League and Burnley, forced to look for cheap bargains because of their lack of financial clout, would not have signed him in an ideal world. But that is the harsh reality for Sean Dyche’s side.  The former Ajax striker is a good player but he has been ruled out until at least Christmas with a thigh injury. It is the reason for his low rating. Are Newcastle ever going to have any luck?  Did Rodgers truly want him? Do Liverpool really know how to get the best out of him? Does Balotelli know how to succeed in this team? So far, Liverpool’s gamble has not paid off. Balotelli has scored once and while he is trying, his performances have been meek, lacking in edge and character; nothing has suggested he can win games for Liverpool on his own. He is a good player but is the focus there?
Jacob Steinberg: Diego Costa and Graziano Pellè have been hitting the high notes for Chelsea and Southampton respectively but Mario Balotelli is yet to find the net in the Premier League