Runaway leaders Liverpool are surging toward the Premier League title as the season reached the half-way point on Friday, but Leicester City are a surprise package, outdoing the rest of the traditional “big six” teams.
Juergen Klopp fulfilled Liverpool dreams during an incredible first half, but the best looks set to come in May as the leaders, winners of 17 of their 18 league games, power toward a long-awaited English title.
LIVERPOOL
Photo: AFP
In May, Liverpool painted Madrid red as they beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in the Champions League final to secure a sixth European Cup.
That continental conquest eased the pain of being pipped to the Premier League by Manchester City and Klopp’s troops have been on a mission to recapture domestic bliss ever since.
After winning their first Club World Cup this month, Liverpool returned from Qatar to deliver a chilling statement of intent as they demolished Leicester on Thursday and moved a step closer to being crowned English champions for the first time since 1990.
Photo: AFP
MANCHESTER CITY
Given the sky-high standards set by Manchester City over the previous two seasons, their failure to keep pace with Liverpool ranks as a disappointment for Pep Guardiola’s men.
A third successive title has all but perished on the rocks of questionable close-season recruitment and a possible dip in desire after City’s treble-winning glory last term.
Photo: Reuters
Stripped of Vincent Kompany’s invaluable leadership and old-school defensive qualities after the Belgian moved to Anderlecht, City have been further hamstrung by injuries to Aymeric Laporte, Leroy Sane, Rodri and Sergio Aguero.
Kevin de Bruyne has been excellent and inspiration could come in the Champions League, a competition City have never won and Guardiola has not conquered since 2011 with Barcelona.
CHELSEA
Expectations were low when Chelsea legend Frank Lampard returned to Stamford Bridge in the close-season, but the Blues have enjoyed an encouraging start thanks to their manager’s youth revolution.
Lampard’s lack of experience in the dugout — he was hired after just one season in charge of second-tier Derby County — has not stopped him reviving stale Chelsea with an infusion of young blood headlined by Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori.
While Chelsea have been too leaky at the back and lack a cutting edge against defensive opponents, Lampard’s team have largely held their own and look far more vibrant than the dour unit assembled by his predecessor Maurizio Sarri.
Sitting fourth in the Premier League, through to the Champions League last 16 and with their transfer ban ending in time for the January window, Chelsea have reasons for optimism heading into the new year.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Unable to build on their stunning run to last season’s Champions League final, Tottenham stagnated so badly that Mauricio Pochettino’s five-year reign ended with the sack last month.
Knocked out of the League Cup by fourth tier Colchester United, hammered by Bayern Munich in the Champions League and unable to put together a winning run in the league, Pochettino was not helped by chairman Daniel Levy’s failure to off-load several unwanted players, leaving a distracted squad too reliant on Harry Kane and Son Heung-min.
Jose Mourinho’s appointment to replace Pochettino has sparked an upturn in results, but whether that is enough to finally win Tottenham’s first trophy since 2008 remains to be seen.
MANCHESTER UNITED
Halting Manchester United’s six-year decline has proved a mammoth task for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and the United manager heads into the new year with his position under scrutiny.
Eye-catching wins over Manchester City and Tottenham, as well as an impressive draw against Liverpool, have been offset by dismal losses to Crystal Palace, AFC Bournemouth, Newcastle United, West Ham United and Watford.
Solskjaer has overseen the encouraging development of teenager striker Mason Greenwood and young midfielder Scott McTominay, but Paul Pogba’s apparent desire to force a move away from Old Trafford remains a damaging distraction for a squad short on mature veterans and lacking quality in several areas.
In seventh place after their worst start to a season since 1989, Manchester United must improve fast to keep Ole at the wheel.
ARSENAL
It says everything about Arsenal’s wretched season that the highlights for Gunners fans so far came when their own team were not even playing.
The sacking of unlamented boss Unai Emery was a ray of sunshine in an otherwise relentlessly gloomy campaign, in which Arsenal endured their worst run since 1977 as they went nine games without a win in all competitions.
Languishing in 11th, a top-four place looks a pipe dream unless new manager Mikel Arteta can make a remarkably quick impact on a squad lacking direction since the final days of Arsene Wenger’s reign.
With Champions League soccer out of reach, Arsenal’s supporters took solace in the sight of their rivals Tottenham suffering a 7-2 home defeat against a Bayern Munich side inspired by former Gunner Serge Gnabry.
LEICESTER CITY
Although heavy losses to Liverpool and Manchester City have taken some of the gloss off Leicester’s sparkling start, Brendan Rodgers’ side deserve immense credit for confounding the pundits with their unlikely surge into the title race.
Rodgers has fashioned a cohesive unit around ageless striker Jamie Vardy and a solid defense thriving despite the close-season sale of Harry Maguire.
Emerging playmaker James Maddison and Ricardo Pereira, among the best rightbacks in the Premier League, also deserve praise, but it is Vardy’s goals — 17 ahead of their game against West Ham yesterday — that have been key and will remain so if Leicester are to cap their memorable season by finishing in the top four.
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