English Football Premiership: The Race In

What a strange season we have had so far in English Premiership football. At the beginning of the season, teams were taking points away from each other and there was no team claiming to establish themselves at the top and it was becoming almost impossible to predict how the season would unfold.

Even at the top of the table, we had Hull (in their first season as premiership) in fourth place and the best team in the world, Man Utd, in the bottom half. It was really weird.

It really wasn’t until December that things started to settle down and we started to get an idea of ​​how the top section of the table would work. Aston Villa were doing brilliantly, even if they were extremely lucky. Liverpool were fighting for the title along with Chelsea and Manchester Utd finally got into great form and joined them. Everton started a great run which saw them move up the table to sixth, but the rest of the league continued to drop points, meaning relegation was a threat to seventh place. Unheard.

So over the Christmas and New Year period, Utd’s top six Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Villa and Everton began to drift away from the rest. The bottom three continually changed, until West Brom decided they would like to stay bottom. Villa looked strong in fourth place as Arsenal had a major injury crisis. Everton had their own injury crisis, playing several games without a recognized striker. It did not hinder them as they went unbeaten in 18 games, losing just once on penalties to new world club champions Man Utd.

In that period, it seemed that Liverpool had missed their chance to seize the division as it was costing them too many draws. Utd looked supreme, several points clear with games in hand over their nearest rivals.

However, all that was to change when a humiliating 4-1 loss to second-placed Liverpool at Old Trafford was followed by a 2-0 loss against Fulham. Liverpool then cruised to a last minute win against Fulham themselves and were two points clear at the top, although Utd had two games in hand. But it still looked like Liverpool would hold on to first place as the following day in Utd’s game against Villa, they were losing 2-1 at home with just eleven minutes remaining. But the Utd class managed to overcome that and win 3-2 thanks to a last minute goal from a seventeen-year-old Italian, to return to the top. Something exciting.

As the season approaches its climax, we finally get a glimpse of where many teams will end up. The current top four of Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal will probably stay that way. Neither Villa (5th) nor Everton (6th) have the resources to mount a serious challenge to break up that elite group, although both will of course try. The battle for fifth will go all the way, and I think Villa could sneak in. The game at Villa Park in mid-April may be the decider.

As for relegation, West Brom seemed doomed. The other two clubs currently in the bottom three, Newcastle and Middlesboro, appear to have the strength to stay top, but of course there are still plenty of top clubs that could yet be absorbed. Although Newcastle legend Alan Shearer has taken the reins at St James’ Park as manager, I don’t think this latest Messiah has what it takes to rescue this poor Newcastle team.

The mid table will be dominated by underperforming players like Spurs and Man City. Both have spent a lot, but neither has a strong team spirit. You only have to look at people like Jo to realize this. Bought by Man City for £19m last summer, he has struggled and has therefore gone on loan to Everton for the rest of the season. He now wants to stay at Everton instead of going back to the cold Man City team spirit. Whether Everton can afford it is another matter. But he just goes to show that money can’t buy everything.

Of course, the more successful Wigan and West Ham look set to finish strong, but even they must be careful to get back into the relegation battle. A couple of casualties there could see them in dangerous territory.

Many Premiership marketers claim that the Premiership is the best league in the world. Based on this season, they may be right, but in my opinion, there are only seven or eight good teams in it, the rest is a lot. The rest of the season will be interesting to watch, and we finally get to see a great season finale.