By Andreas Gkoumplias,
After what has proven to be a challenging first round for many teams, we are officially halfway through the football season. Premier League was still active during the holidays, due to the existence of Boxing Day, but regardless, those few days away from football action surely were indispensable for the teams to rest, regroup and refocus on the rest of the season. In this article, we are going to be taking a quick look at the current state of the English Premier League.
An interesting and bizarre first round has unfolded so far in the Premier League this year. Surprisingly, at the top of the table we find Arsenal, leading with a difference of 5 points from Manchester City and 11 points from Newcastle and Manchester United. ‘’The Gunners’’ under the leadership of Mikel Arteta have had some astonishing performances so far, having lost just once against Manchester United this first round, performing solidly both in defense and in the attack. In the second place, as mentioned above, we have Manchester City who recently have lost momentum in the league and are trying to catch up after a draw (1–1) with Everton and a loss in the derby of Manchester (2–1). Having acquired —what has proved to be— a key player in their attack, Erling Haaland, it is to be expected that the ‘’Citizens’’ will definitely bounce back and fight for that trophy.
What is interesting this year is that teams like Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham seem to be struggling a lot, despite having plenty of quality in their roster. The ‘’reds’’, the ‘’blues’’ and the ‘’spurs’’ seem to be facing a lot of difficulties both converting their opportunities, as well as not conceding goals. To everyone’s surprise, so far, the ‘’Spurs’’ are 6th right now, whilst Liverpool and Chelsea are 9th and 10th respectively (!). And that’s surely a rare sight to see, regarding how consistent these teams were in the last years.
On the opposing side, Man. United is enjoying the 4th position with 39 points so far. The ‘’Red Devils’’ have been pretty stable and consistent this year under the orders of Erik ten Hag who has managed to inspire his players despite the early doubts that were had by everyone.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the league is by far Newcastle. The ‘’magpies’’ are making an amazing year, under Edie Howe’s management, they are united, they are not conceding easily (less than 1 goal per game) and their attack is on fire. To understand how far they have come, we need to take a look at just a year back. Right now, Newcastle is enjoying a well–deserved 3rd place with 39 points but at the beginning of the 2021–22 season, at this time of the year, the ‘’magpies’’ were just starting to get out of the relegation zone, salvaging their year in the end. Without a doubt, an amazing achievement so far.
Taking things to the opposite side of the table, an epic battle is going to unfold for yet another year. And why is that? Because between the 14th and the 20th of the board, the difference is just 3 points. At the time of writing this article, 14th place is claimed by Leicester with 18 points so far, with the ‘’foxes’’ struggling to find some defensive stability to improve their ranking, and the 20th place is claimed by Southampton, where the ‘’Saints’’ have struggled a lot versus every team they have played so far, not managing to make a difference.
An honorable mention that we should not omit is West Ham. The ‘’hammers’’ were quite disappointing in the first round, having created and wasted a whole bunch of chances each game, managing to score just 17 goals in 20 games which puts them at 18 points, just 3 away from the relegation zone. Expected to climb the board by its fans, West Ham does not resemble in the least last year’s amazing team that managed to qualify for the Europa Conference League.
To summarize, it is certain that once more Premier League promises great content to watch and great stories to unfold this year as well. After an intense last year, where the title holder was crowned on the last matchday, anyone would be right to expect drama until the very last minute. So with that in mind, let us sit back and enjoy the ride alongside some of the very best clubs on the planet.
References
- Premier League: rest of season predictions. theanalyst.com. Available here
