Manchester United: £228.8million. Chelsea: £186m. Manchester City: £154.95m. At a combined cost of half a billion pounds, this trio had the most expensive starting XIs over the weekend's fixtures.

Yet Aston Villa downed Liverpool on Saturday with a starting side which was compiled spending an astonishingly low £13.6m, less than 10 times the amount of those Premier League superpowers (and less than Mario Balotelli).

Sat in second place behind leaders Chelsea, Villa are becoming the Robin Hood of the Premier League, stealing points from the rich clubs and keeping them for the poor.

Aston Villa are currently second in the table despite manager Paul Lambert's shoe-string budget

Liverpool paid £16m for Mario Balotelli, making him more expensive than Aston Villa's starting XI

ASTON VILLA STARTING XI AGAINST LIVERPOOL Brad Guzan, 30, £600,000 from Chivas The American stopper is finally making the No 1 spot his own after a loan spell at Hull and even ending his contract in 2012 before re-signing for the club. Alan Hutton, 29m £3m from Tottenham Ended a frustrating time at Spurs only to land himself in a completely new one, being part of Lambert's 'Bomb Squad' when he made a group of first-team players train with the reserves, but has now been brought back into the fold. Nathan Baker, 23, academy graduate Joined Aston Villa aged 13 and after going out on loan at Lincoln City and Millwall is not establishing himself in Villa's defence. Philippe Senderos, 29, free from Valencia The Swiss failed to make an impression in Premier League at Arsenal, Everton and Fulham but Paul Lambert has seen enough in the player to bring him back. Aly Cissokho, 26, £2million from Valencia The left-back did not do enough on loan at Liverpool last season to earn a permanent switch, but Lambert moved for him instead. Tom Cleverley, 25, loan from Manchester United Made the latest of deadline day moves away from Manchester United after being vilified by their fans. He has been handed a fresh start in the Midlands. Ashley Westwood, 24, £2m from Crewe One of the many players to come from Crewe's prolific production line of young talent, he signed a four-year deal in 2012 and has flourished under Lambert. Fabian Delph, 24, £6m from Leeds Was the surprise name in England's starting line-up against Switzerland and his reputation is soaring. Started his career at Leeds but Villa beat a host of top-flight clubs to his signature in 2009. Kieran Richardson, 29, free from Fulham The controversial left-sided player jumped ship from Fulham when they sunk back into the Championship last season. He has plenty of Premier League pedigree, playing at Manchester United, West Brom and Sunderland as well. Andreas Weimann, 23, academy graduate The sharp-shooting striker started his footballing education at Austrian sides Stadlau and Rapid Wien, but Villa poached him in 2007 when he was just 16. Gabriel Agbonlahor 27, academy graduate Villa through-and-through, having been at the club since 1994 and working his way through the academy. The rapid forward has won three England caps. Total: £13.6m Advertisement

The Aston Villa starting XI that beat Liverpool cost just £13.6m, and included three academy graduates

LIVERPOOL'S STARTING XI Simon Mignolet, £9m from Sunderland Javier Manquillo, loan from Atletico Madrid Dejan Lovren, £20m from Southampton Mamadou Sakho, £18m from PSG Javier Moreno, £12m from Sevilla Steven Gerrard, academy graduate Adam Lallana, £25m from Southampton Jordan Henderson, £16m from Sunderland Philippe Coutinho, £8.5m from Inter Milan Lazar Markovic, £20m from Benfica Mario Balotelli, £16m from AC Milan Total: £144.5m Advertisement

They are joined by the Merry Men of Swansea, whose starting XI this weekend cost just £24.18m, and Southampton, at £45.3m, in third and fourth, keeping ahead of the big-spending clubs with their early-season form. How long can they keep it up?

Swansea's entire 25-man Premier League squad was built by spending just £52.73m, Southampton only £89.2m and Villa £139.5m.

It means that so far this season Swansea have spent just £5.9m per point they've won so far, Southampton £12.7m and Villa £13.9m.

While the richest clubs in the league shower money on world stars, these three are managing to muscle their way at the top end of the table on a comparatively frugal budget.

Manchester United have now become the most expensively-assembled squad in the league after splashing huge sums on the likes of Angel Di Maria, Juan Mata, Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera, overtaking rivals City and Chelsea.

Liverpool have over-taken Arsenal and Tottenham after their summer splurge and have gone over the £200m mark.

But it is Villa, Swansea and Southampton who are keeping up with Chelsea and setting the early pace.

Arsenal spent big for the second time in two summers by bringing in Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona

ARSENAL STARTING XI Wojciech Szczesny, academy graduate Per Mertesacker, £8m from Werder Bremen Mathieu Debuchy, £12m from Newcastle Nacho Monreal, £8.5m from Malaga Laurent Koscielny, £9.7m from Lorient Mathieu Flamini, free from AC Milan Alexis Sanchez, £30m from Barcelona Mesut Ozil, £42.5m from Real Madrid Aaron Ramsey, £5m from Cardiff Jack Wilshere, academy graduate Danny Welbeck, £16m from Man United Total cost: £131.7m Advertisement

MANCHESTER CITY STARTING XI Joe Hart, £600,000 from Shrewsbury Gael Clichy, £7m from Arsenal Vincent Kompany, £6m from Hamburg Pablo Zabaleta, £6.45 from Espanyol Martin Demichelis, free from Atletico Madrid Jesús Navas, £14.9m from Sevilla David Silva, £26m from Valencia Fernandinho, £30m from Shakhtar Frank Lampard, on loan from New York City James Milner, £26m from Aston Villa Sergio Agüero, £38m from Atletico Madrid Total cost: £154.95m Advertisement

Gary Monk's cheaply acquired Swansea side have been hugely impressive in the league so far this season

CHELSEA STARTING XI Thibaut Courtois, £5m from Genk Gary Cahill, £7m from Bolton Branislav Ivanovic, £9m from Lokomotiv Cesar Azpilicueta, £6.5m from Marseille John Terry, academy graduate Eden Hazard, £32.5m from Lille Oscar, £25m from Internacional Nemanja Matic, £21m from Benfica Andre Schürrle, £18m from Bayer Lverkusen Cesc Fabregas, £30m from Barcelona Diego Costa, £32m from Atletico Madrid Total cost: £186m Advertisement

SWANSEA STARTING XI Lukasz Fabianski, free from Arsenal Neil Taylor, free from Wrexham Ashley Williams, £400,000 from Stockport Angel Rangel, £80,000 from Tewrrassa Jordi Amat, £2.5m from Rayo Vallecano Nathan Dyer, £400,000 from Southampton Wayne Routledge, £2.8m from Newcastle Jonjo Shelvey, £5m from liverpool Gylfi Sigurdsson, £7m from Tottenham Ki Sung-yueng, £6m from Sunderland Bafetimbi Gomis, free from Lyon Total cost: £24.18m Advertisement

Chelsea continue to bring in big name players with the addition of Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas

MANCHESTER UNITED STARTING XI David de Gea, £18.9 from Atletico Madrid Rafael, free from Fluminese Tyler Blackett, academy graduate Jonny Evans, academy graduate Marcos Rojo, £16m from Sporting Lisbon Juan Mata, £37.1m from Chelsea Angel di Maria, £60m from Real Madrid Daley Blind, £13.8m from Ajax Ander Herrera, £29m from Athletic Bilbao Robin van Persie, £24m from Arsenal Wayne Rooney, £30m from Everton Total cost: £228.8m Advertisement

EVERTON STARTING XI Tim Howard, £3m from Manchester United Seamus Coleman, £60,000 from Sligo John Stones, academy graduate Phil Jagielka, £4m from Sheffield United Leighton Baines, £6m from Wigan Gareth Barry, free from Manchester City Aiden McGeady, £6m from Spartak Moscow Steven Naismith, free from Rangers Kevin Mirallas, £6m from olympiacos James McCarthy, £13m from Wigan Romelu Lukaku, £28m from Chelsea Total cost: £66.06m Advertisement

SOUTHAMPTON STARTING XI Fraser Forster, £10m from Celtic Nathaniel Clyne, £1.7m from Crystal Palace Jose Fonte, £800,000 from Crystal Palace Toby Alderweireld, on loan from Atletico Madrid Ryan Bertrand, on loan from Chelsea Jack Cork, £700,000 from Chelsea Morgan Schneiderlin, £1.2m from Strasbourg Steven Davis, free from Rangers Dusan Tadic, £10.9m from FC Twente Grazziano Pelle, £8m from Feyenoord Shane Long, £12m from Hull City Total cost: £45.3m Advertisement

TOTTENHAM STARTING XI Hugo Lloris, £8m from Tottenham Vlad Chiriches, £8.5 from Steaua Bucharest Eric Dier, £4m from Sporting Lisbon Younes Kaboul, £5m from Portsmouth Danny Rose, £100,000 from Leeds Etienne Capoue, £9m from Toulouse Mousa Dembele, £15m from Fulham Nacer Chadli, £7m from FC Twente Erik Lamela, £25.7m from Roma Christian Eriksen, £11.5m from Ajax Emmanuel Adebayor, £5m from Manchester City Total cost: £98.8m Advertisement

Manchester United have spent heavily this summer, breaking the British transfer record in the process

Almost half of the value of Everton's last starting XI came from Romelu Lukaku, who cost £28m from Chelsea