By the time Premier League’s festive fixtures ended with Brighton overtaking Manchester United, Juergen Klopp’s wedding ring had been lost and found and Mo Salah, to the absolute surprise of no one, had put Liverpool in pole position. With most teams having played over half their matches, the league, paused till the second weekend of January, is tantalisingly poised with six points separating the top six.
Indications, therefore, of a fight to the finish between more than two teams in the way the league hasn’t seen since 2008-09 when champions Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea raced each other. Even that wasn’t as riveting as the season prior when Manchester United (champions again), Chelsea and Arsenal took it down to the wire with four points separating the top three in the end.
Everton’s 10-point deduction has added intensity to the relegation battle with Burnley and Luton Town but what’s not to like Liverpool, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur pushing defending champions Manchester City? City had won one of their last six league games before heading to Jeddah for the Club World Cup. They duly won that and ended the year with league victories against Everton and Sheffield United.
The Club World Cup, Pep Guardiola has said, has helped them refocus. With Kevin de Bruyne set for return along with Jeremy Doku and Erling Haaland, City will push for an unprecedented fourth successive title. They have not been at their best and not playing a top-six side till March is exactly what such a team would need. Less than a year ago, City were eight points behind leaders Arsenal. This time, the defending champions are five adrift off Liverpool with a game in hand.
Liverpool too have not been at their best and with Joel Matip out for the season, they have injuries in defence to deal. Salah too will be away on national duty and Liverpool won’t need reminding that decision-making in the front third against an effete Manchester United at home was poor. They should have won against Arsenal as well.
Losses to West Ham and Fulham mean Arsenal have not been able to take advantage of the festive period. They need a scorer and, if they can sort their books, could bid for Ivan Toney. Declan Rice has added defensive solidity but with Martin Odegaard losing form and Kai Havertz flickering, Arsenal seem dependent on wide players for attacking nous. Again, an unsettled Arsenal is not something City would mind.
Like VAR controversies, City hitting title-mode could feel same-old, same-old. But Aston Villa in second place could add to top five’s underdogs story along with Girona in La Liga, Bundesliga toppers Bayer Leverkusen and Nice in Ligue 1.
A good second half for Villa could be the biggest Premier League story since Leicester City won it. Leicester’s title came in the season Villa went down and it wasn’t till 2019-20 that they returned. Since then, Villa have finished only once in the top 10 and that was last term after Emery joined in October 2022.
To say the reunion of Monchi and Unai Emery, president of football operations and manager respectively, have done wonders would be an understatement. Together, they won three successive Europa League titles at Sevilla and with signings such as Pau Torres, Moussa Diaby and Youri Tielemans and a solid core in Emiliano Martinez, John McGinn, Ollie Watkins, Boubacar Kamara and Leon Bailey, Villa have beaten Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur.
But will they have the legs? Losing to Manchester United blowing a 2-0 lead, the draw at home to bottom-ranked Sheffield United and the win against Burnley point to a team that is tired. Sean Dyche wants the winter break scrapped and games more spread out to level the playing field for clubs that don’t have deep squads but Villa may not agree with the Everton manager.
Maybe Newcastle and Tottenham Hotspur as well. “The way we play takes a fairly hefty toll, more than the way other clubs play,” manager Ange Postecoglu has said. “For us to sustain that and be a team, it’s no secret that we need a strong squad. We are nowhere near that at the moment.”
Rodrigo Bentancur is back but James Maddison, who began the season in red hot form, Cristian Romero, Ivan Perisic, Ryan Sessegnon and Manor Solomon are not. In a season they have beaten Liverpool and had high-scoring draws with City and Arsenal, Spurs travel to Old Trafford on resumption. Doing the double on Manchester United could be one way to bin thoughts of injury and weariness.
Manchester United have lost 14 times in all competitions this season, the most since 1930-31. Unlike Villa and West Ham, who have got off to their best Premier League start in 28 attempts and that too after losing skipper Rice, Manchester United have slipped with most of Erik Ten Hag’s big-ticket signings (Rasmus Hojlund, Antony, Tyrell Malacia, Mason Mount, Christian Eriksen, Andre Onana) failing to lift the team. Add to that injuries, Marcus Rashford playing like he did in 2021-22, Jadon Sancho frozen out, Antony Martial reportedly not keen on staying and it adds up to a full-blown crisis that might need more than half-a-season to solve.
Like it is with Chelsea. They have spent over £1 billion on new players in three transfer windows, changed four managers since new owners took over but have been consistently inconsistent with the lack of firepower in front being one of their myriad problems.
