The race for a second position will be among three clubs, not only two, and in my opinion these clubs are Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea. They are most promissing clubs to finish this season in top four, and only one of them can end this season beyond top four but I see it's very unlikely to happen. Manchester City and Arsenal can secure their positions in top four and Chelsea have good improvement in this season, and I really don't believe other clubs can beat Chelsea in this race to top four.
For the second position, it's too early and many things can change so I think it's very soon for a prediction on this position.
Yes, that's true, but for now Arsenal and Chelsea are the closest competitors who might try to maintain second place because Man City themselves only found their best form in the match against Nottingham Forest and now there is only a two-point gap with Arsenal and Chelsea. Of course they will be competitors for second or third place in the standings, but we need to see how Man City do in the next few games after having problems with consistency.
Even for the first position, it is still possible to change where when Liverpool does not perform consistently, it will make the distance with the challengers below it closer, as happened to Arsenal when Man City managed to catch up with their points in the previous season. The league is still quite long and maybe we will see the standings change over time.