Is the Hyundai A-League’s Top Four all but settled after just three rounds of the new season?

Although there are 18 rounds remaining, it is difficult to see how joint leaders Melbourne Victory, Sydney FC and Adelaide United will be dislodged from their current positions.

The trio have demonstrated emphatically they are clearly a cut above of the rest and the major interest will be to see which of the remaining five teams will join them in the Finals in six months.

Anything can happen of course, and Adelaide did lead the league last season before fading, but each has the pedigree, experience and fire power necessary to challenge for the premiership.

All of those qualities were on display last weekend. Victory crushed defending champion Newcastle Jets 5-0, Sydney FC ran over the top of 10-man Perth Glory 5-2 and Adelaide United toyed with Wellington Phoenix 3-0.

There is a lot to like about Victory, the 2007 champion which went into hibernation last year but which has roared out of the blocks this season.

Coach Ernie Merrick must accept the brunt of criticism for Victory’s failure to qualify for the Finals last season, but he has bought astutely in the off season and there is a hunger about Victory. The Telstra Dome is sure to rock as it did in Victory’s stellar 2006-07 season.

The clash with Adelaide United at the Dome when the A-League resumes on September 12 after a one-week's break should be a season defining match for both sides.

There is history between the two sides of course. United still bears the wounds of the Grand Final humiliation at Telstra Dome 18 months ago. On that day Archie Thompson was unstoppable, scoring a record five goals in that stunning 6-0 rout before an Australian domestic record attendance of 55,436 fans.

There will be no repeat. Adelaide United is unbeaten in 13 competitive matches since the end of last season and coach Aurelio Vidmar has built a formidable squad, hardened by two successive Asian Champions League campaigns.

The difficulty for United is that for a few weeks, the A-League becomes of secondary importance as it must also negotiate two Asian Champions League quarter finals against Japan's Kashima Antlers during a hectic five-match program in September.

Vidmar has come a long way since he took over from John Kosmina in the days after the Grand Final debacle. September will be an opportunity to enhance his reputation even further, along with those of his players.

Kosmina has barely put a foot wrong since he replaced Branko Culina at Sydney FC early last season. Kosmina not only stopped Sydney's free fall when he assumed control but got them into the Finals. While Sydney failed to reach last year’s Grand Final, Kosmina was basically coaching Culina's team.

He has remodelled Sydney in the off season and made the most significant signing of any club with the capture of World Cup hero John Aloisi.

So, which of the remaining five sides can join them in Finals? Wellington and Perth Glory appear to have made little progress since last season and defending champion Newcastle is far from the settled combination which rode every challenge and threat last year.

That leaves Central Coast and Queensland Roar. It is difficult to split them, at least after just three rounds, but the Roar's signing of Scot Charlie Miller could be the telling difference. Miller, though clearly not fit, has scored in each of the first three rounds and there is a touch of Dixie Deans about him.

The legendary Scot joined Adelaide City early in the inaugural 1977 NSL season and he remains one of the greatest imports Australia has seen.

If Miller has half the impact of Deans, Frank Farina's Queensland could yet roar all the way to the A League Grand Final.