PL Title Race

adexkola

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30% of the season (11/38 games) has elapsed. And as predicted, we have 4 teams in the title hunt. Chelsea lead the table, Liverpool only 4 points behind. City have gotten the toughest games out of the way. West Ham have that man Moyes.

Lots of twists and turns, but who's best placed to win it come May?
 
Chelsea will win it, City 2nd, Liverpool 3rd

All within 6-7 points of one another
 
adexkola said:
30% of the season (11/38 games) has elapsed. And as predicted, we have 4 teams in the title hunt. Chelsea lead the table, Liverpool only 4 points behind. City have gotten the toughest games out of the way. West Ham have that man Moyes.

Lots of twists and turns, but who's best placed to win it come May?
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And United are out of the title race already. To not be challenging come the end of the season should be considered not good enough and yet here we are a third of the way through and our title hopes are gone
 
If we only had a competent manager we could take it ourselves
 
Any reasonably solid manager would have this team right in the mix. We've dropped 5 home points to villa and Everton!
 
Another season of wanting City to win every game again. At least this time we have Chelsea too.
 
I think AFCON makes it hard for Liverpool. They're quite reliant on Salah

If Chelsea can get Lukaku firing they should win it. City will run them close though
 
SER19 said:
Any reasonably solid manager would have this team right in the mix. We've dropped 5 home points to villa and Everton!
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We shouldn't be losing at home to anyone. You take draws against the big teams, but with our squad we should be competitive in every game under a decent manager.
 
Skills said:
I think AFCON makes it hard for Liverpool. They're quite reliant on Salah

If Chelsea can get Lukaku firing they should win it. City will run them close though
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Don't they only miss him for 2 easy games? It's nowhere near as big a deal as is made out
 
Chelsea by the end of the year could expand the gap even more and enter new year with game vs Liverpool in truly comfortable position.

The only tricky one they have in December is West Ham. It's looking great for them and they don't seem to crawl under bigger trouble.
 
Based on points gathered, only Chelsea are showing title-winning form.

11 games is not a lot of data, though. This can turn very quickly.
 
2 man midfield said:
If we only had a competent manager we could take it ourselves
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With our early season fixture list we really shouldn’t have lost like any of our first 8 or 9 games. Really frustrating.
 
Chelsea will win it. They've got a fairly favorable run up to the new year with West Ham and and Spurs depending on how Conte has Spurs playing in a few weeks.
Their January PL fixtures are Liverpool (H), City (A), Spurs (H). If they manage to to drop no more than 4-6 pts between now and the end of January, it's a done deal.
 
Still think Klopp can squeeze one more title out of this Liverpool side.

City would walk it if they had Salah or a natural goalscorer. Their midfield creates so many chances.
 
City have gone to Liverpool,Spurs,United,Chelsea and Leciester.

If they beat these teams at home they will walk it.
 
City.
All the tough away games out the way and will feast on the rest.(Like they did to us yesterday...)
 
thegregster said:
City have gone to Liverpool,Spurs,United,Chelsea and Leciester.

If they beat these teams at home they will walk it.
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Problem with City though is they've drawn a blank twice at home already this season against Southampton (0-0) and Palace (0-2)

It's not like they won all the games you mentioned either, they lost to Nuno's Spurs (again without scoring)
 
I never fancied Liverpool this season. They've not refreshed their team enough from when they hit their peak in 18/19, you generally don't get 4 or 5 years of top quality from what is essentially the same team, you need to keep the squad fresh with new additions and I feel they've underinvested in the team in Klopp's time there. For them to have such a drop off last season and then bounce back to title winners this season never seemed likely, and they seem to lack a bit of depth compared to City/Chelsea.

The team that wins the league is usually the one who is able to rack up the most "routine" wins, and win when not playing well. I'd give Chelsea the edge ahead of City as they barely ever concede a goal and they seem to be more reliable in getting these routine wins thus far. City's peak performances might be higher but they look like they'll have games where they just can't score despite their dominance.
 
All teams are dropping points and look beatable - it changes week to week and any of the top teams that can go on a 7-8 game winning run now could get it sewn up.
As rubbish as we’ve been recently, all it would take is a win at Chelsea (and Watford) to put us back in the mix.
Hard to see that after Saturdays defensive debacle but things change quickly.
Before the season started i had a small bet on the first 4 being Chelsea City United then Liverpool and im not ripping it up just yet
 
City have the best league manager in the world, they are the best bet.
 
Focusmate said:
All teams are dropping points and look beatable - it changes week to week and any of the top teams that can go on a 7-8 game winning run now could get it sewn up.
As rubbish as we’ve been recently, all it would take is a win at Chelsea (and Watford) to put us back in the mix.
Hard to see that after Saturdays defensive debacle but things change quickly.
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Not the thread for this comment but your point is exactly why we need to change now, as mental as it may sound the gap isn't big enough and there's still more than enough points still to play for to salvage this season
 
Chelsea: my personal opinion is that they have been prematurely crowned as title favorites. Obviously clear contenders. Negatives: they have had a relatively easy fixture list so far. Lukaku and Werner are injured, Pulisic is AWOL and Havertz isn't up to speed yet. They also seem to be over performing relative to their xG/xGA stats (Burnley was the first time they over performed relative to said stats). Losing Mendy for a few games for AFCON may hurt them (have you seen Kepa??) Positives: mean defense, insane squad depth. Reece James has been fantastic this season (except for the SNAFU at Anfield).

Liverpool: Case can be made for them being title favorites. Negatives: squad depth and injuries especially in their midfield. They seem to be more porous at the back compared to recent seasons (they have conceded 11 goals to date). The few games they miss Salah and Mane and Keita and Matip for AFCON will be key (Egypt vs Senegal final anyone? :D) Positives: potent attack capable of putting goals past anyone. Salah... what else to say? Looks like there's a player in Curtis Jones too.

City: Case can be made for them being title favorites. Negatives: they are shit finishers relative to their chance creation rate. They may have a few games here or there where they cannot hit the barn door. De Bruyne and Sterling (their most direct attacker right now) are not in form at all. They don't have a striker (this is the lazy line being trotted out). Positives: squad depth. They also have a mean defense. And their possession play has gone up a level as demonstrated against other title caliber teams and United. Best player so far has been either Cancelo (best playmaker from full back this season with stiff competitors in TAA and James), B. Silva, and Rodri. They have played the toughest fixture list this season among the 3 teams listed so far.

West Ham: They will do well to finish top 4, anything above this would instantly earn Moyes a MOTS award. Negatives: they don't dominate teams the way the other teams mentioned do, leading to periods in games where they can concede from a great position. Moyes for all his great work is not as good as any of Klopp, Pep or Tuchel. Positives: they make teams work to score. So far they've proven the ability to consistently win against the best of the rest in the team. Declan Rice has been excellent for them but in Soucek, Antonio, Fabianski, Fornals... They have a great spine.

The Rest:

United: going nowhere until a new manager is hired. Nothing else to be said
Leicester: in danger of regressing after a few solid seasons. Kasper hasn't had a great season so far.
Spurs: if Conte has them hitting the ground running a team with an on form Kane and Son will be in the running for top 4
Arsenal: easy fixture list so far flatters them. They'll have to do more in terms of performances and results in order to challenge for a spot in Europe.
Everton: nah
 
Liverpool will win it - unbeatable at home, and they’ll be favourites in the head-to-heads with the other contenders.

I don’t think Chelsea and City will be as consistent.
 
The team that can make a huge winning run (10-15 games in a row) will win the title. Of all the contenders Man City are the most capable of doing it so my prediction is another title for Pep Guardiola's team.
 
Antisocial said:
Liverpool will win it - unbeatable at home, and they’ll be favourites in the head-to-heads with the other contenders.

I don’t think Chelsea and City will be as consistent.
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We won’t have Salah or Mane for the game at Stamford Bridge.
 
City will win it I reckon, they’re the side that can put a run of wins together and the side that can go to anyone and beat them. Even when they are beaten the other side have to hang on for dear life.
 
Antisocial said:
Liverpool will win it - unbeatable at home, and they’ll be favourites in the head-to-heads with the other contenders.

I don’t think Chelsea and City will be as consistent.
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Liverpool have been inconsistent themselves as well and their squad depth is left to be desired. Also not as solid in the back as they were in their title winning season before covid hit.

If everything goes right for them they could find themselves around the top for the business end of the season, but IMO they have an uphill battle in the title race.

If right now, someone asked me who's winning the title, I'd flip a coin for Chelsea or City.
 
For some reason Chelsea never really thrill or inspire me, but they are effective and get over the line more often than not. Liverpool are the best team going forward, but seem to give too many chances away. City are the best team in the country generally and really should win it, but they are the most prone to a shock/sloppy defeat. This is just my own 'weird feelings' and thoughts on the three teams in question. Three teams with different flaws, as well as strengths.
 
City are a little light on goals compared to Pool and Chelsea, that can change but I can see them bossing games and not scoring sometimes, maybe even losing 1-0. Another season without a striker could be tricky.

Tough to pick one of Pool or Chelsea, I'm sure both will have their ups and downs. I suppose depth wise Chelsea have the squad and manager to keep the standards high.
 
adexkola said:
Chelsea: my personal opinion is that they have been prematurely crowned as title favorites. Obviously clear contenders. Negatives: they have had a relatively easy fixture list so far. Lukaku and Werner are injured, Pulisic is AWOL and Havertz isn't up to speed yet. They also seem to be over performing relative to their xG/xGA stats (Burnley was the first time they over performed relative to said stats). Losing Mendy for a few games for AFCON may hurt them (have you seen Kepa??) Positives: mean defense, insane squad depth. Reece James has been fantastic this season (except for the SNAFU at Anfield).

Liverpool: Case can be made for them being title favorites. Negatives: squad depth and injuries especially in their midfield. They seem to be more porous at the back compared to recent seasons (they have conceded 11 goals to date). The few games they miss Salah and Mane and Keita and Matip for AFCON will be key (Egypt vs Senegal final anyone? :D) Positives: potent attack capable of putting goals past anyone. Salah... what else to say? Looks like there's a player in Curtis Jones too.

City: Case can be made for them being title favorites. Negatives: they are shit finishers relative to their chance creation rate. They may have a few games here or there where they cannot hit the barn door. De Bruyne and Sterling (their most direct attacker right now) are not in form at all. They don't have a striker (this is the lazy line being trotted out). Positives: squad depth. They also have a mean defense. And their possession play has gone up a level as demonstrated against other title caliber teams and United. Best player so far has been either Cancelo (best playmaker from full back this season with stiff competitors in TAA and James), B. Silva, and Rodri. They have played the toughest fixture list this season among the 3 teams listed so far.

West Ham: They will do well to finish top 4, anything above this would instantly earn Moyes a MOTS award. Negatives: they don't dominate teams the way the other teams mentioned do, leading to periods in games where they can concede from a great position. Moyes for all his great work is not as good as any of Klopp, Pep or Tuchel. Positives: they make teams work to score. So far they've proven the ability to consistently win against the best of the rest in the team. Declan Rice has been excellent for them but in Soucek, Antonio, Fabianski, Fornals... They have a great spine.

The Rest:

United: going nowhere until a new manager is hired. Nothing else to be said
Leicester: in danger of regressing after a few solid seasons. Kasper hasn't had a great season so far.
Spurs: if Conte has them hitting the ground running a team with an on form Kane and Son will be in the running for top 4
Arsenal: easy fixture list so far flatters them. They'll have to do more in terms of performances and results in order to challenge for a spot in Europe.
Everton: nah
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We had toughest start this season. Recently only fixtures were bit kind. We played sixth game against city before that liverpool arsenal Spurs away were finished. Going into international break with three points advantage with best goal difference.
 
Rajiztar said:
We had toughest start this season. Recently only fixtures were bit kind. We played sixth game against city before that liverpool arsenal Spurs away were finished. Going into international break with three points advantage with best goal difference.
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I’d say we’ve had a tougher first 11 games. Spurs, Leicester, Chelsea, Liverpool and United all played away from home and you’ve played four of the current bottom five while we’ve only played two. But yes your first six games were very tough.
 
Chelsea have had a good start, but I think City will edge them over the course of the season.

I still think Liverpool's squad is a little thin/top heavy, so one or two key injuries combined with the AFCON absences will see them come up short.
 
I'd go with Chelsea aswell. Play least eye catching football of the three but think they can stick around while Man. City and Liverpool may concentrate more on winning CL as the season goes on.
 
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