Football, as you are no doubt aware, isn’t rocket science. Prior to the current Premier League season kicking off, any knowledgeable fan worth his salt will have isolated Chelsea, Manchester City, and Liverpool as being some way ahead of their rivals, and so it has proven.
The reason those three teams are not only the best in England but Bayern Munich aside, the best in world football, is because of a number of factors. Each team has a solid hand at the tiler, managers with proven ability who know how to handle their large, unwieldy squads as well as the big names that fill them.
Each of these teams have spent massive sums to get their squads where they want them, but it’s worth noting that others (outside this top three bubble) have also spent heavily; it just so happens that the signings brought in by Messrs Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel appear to have been made as part of an overall squad building plan, as opposed to just a case of throwing money and hoping that it lands on a half-decent player.
Where We Stand
You can almost bank on the current three being in situ come the end of May, and we’d expect that there’ll be something akin to musical chairs occurring between now and then, with each having a stint leading the pack.
Table as of December 17th
P Pts GD
Manchester City 17 41 +31
Liverpool 17 40 +35
Chelsea 17 37 +27
So if you are a betting enthusiast considering your options ahead of the busy Christmas schedule and looking to back any of these frontrunners with new bookmaker Kwiff, then you will have to take a closer look at the upcoming games that will be coming thick and fast between now and early 2022. So let’s take a closer look at those fixtures.
Manchester City
Guardiola’s side has won seven on the bounce in all competitions, and the Etihad Stadium boss has once again opted to play without a recognized striker in recent games, allowing his front players to move around at will, picking off opponents with a brand of delicious fast-paced football that is frankly so addictive to watch that it should come with a governmental warning.
Bernardo Silva has greatly benefitted from the way Guardiola’s set up his side in recent weeks, in much the same way as Ilkay Gundogan suddenly found himself City’s main goalscoring threat this time last year.
Christmas Fixtures
December 26th – Leicester City (H)
December 29th – Brentford (A)
January 1st – Arsenal (A)
None of these fixtures will hold any fear for City. The Foxes are having a real stop-start season, and that may be down to the uncertain future of boss Brendan Rodgers. Brentford are manfully looking to stay in the top-flight (which they will), but Man City won’t struggle in that fixture.
Had City faced Arsenal during their excellent unbeaten run, then perhaps they’d drop points, but things have once again gone sour at the Emirates, so frankly, you can almost bank on Man City getting nine points from nine here.
Liverpool
You get the sense that Jurgen Klopp gave it to his players with both guns after they lost at West Ham in early November; they’ve not looked back since. Six wins on the row have steadied the ship, and the last gasp win at Wolves, courtesy of a Divock Origi goal, will have done a great deal of good at Anfield.
Like City, Liverpool have completed their Champions League work early and can rest in their final group stage match and have a squad full of players who know their place in the bigger jigsaw. Perhaps most importantly, they all love Klopp and will always give the German their all.
Christmas Fixtures
December 26th – Leeds United (H)
December 28th – Leicester City (A)
January 2nd – Chelsea (A)
Klopp shouldn’t be all that fearful of the matches with Leeds and Leicester City; both teams are playing well below their capabilities. The match that will have a massive significance is the trip to Stamford Bridge.
The two sides played out an engrossing 1-1 draw on Merseyside back in August, and frankly, there is not much separating the two teams in terms of what they have to offer. You get the sense that if both teams are playing at 100%, then Liverpool would edge it, but it’s at Stamford Bridge, and a draw is likely, which will, of course, leave Pep smiling like the proverbial Cheshire Cat.
Chelsea
Thomas Tuchel was drafted in by Roman Abramovich in January, and he’s been an absolutely massive success over the course of his first year in charge. He led the West London side to Champions League glory and brought a sense of purpose back to Stamford Bridge.
In all honesty, Frank Lampard was never up for the job, and without his obvious links to the club, he wouldn’t have even been offered the job (echoes of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer here), and now under Tuchel, things are looking very rosy indeed.
Christmas Fixtures
December 26th – Aston Villa (A)
December 29th – Brighton (H)
January 2nd – Liverpool (H)
Of the three sides, Chelsea has by far the toughest time of it this festive season. Steven Gerrard’s arrival at Villa Park has proven even more effective than they could have hoped, and the Blues will have a tough task on Boxing Day. Three points from the visit of Brighton should be easy enough, and then it’s the enormous clash with Liverpool on the 2nd of January.
Pep Guardiola’s side could find themselves carving out a decent lead by the time the New Year has been ushered in, but it looks like this year’s Premier League title race will nonetheless go down to the wire.
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