This season is probably the most hotly contested battle and to predict the top four contenders right at this very moment is surely a tough task. The 2015/16 Premier League started amidst the same hype but it failed to live up to expectations with both the Manchester United clubs failing.
Before the season started you had no less than 7 teams touted to be challenging. Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Leicester. However, the start to the season has made things a little clearer and we look at who we think will grab those top 4 places.
Manchester City – 1st
Started the season in amazing form under Pep Guardiola. They won their first 10 fixtures in all competitions and Guardiola was clearly getting the best out of their attacking players. Raheem Sterling, in particular, was playing in complete contrast to the previous season, looking like a real threat from the wide positions. Aguero looked sharp once more, hitting the back of the net with regularity. Whilst Kevin De Bruyne really made the team tick, cementing his place as one of the best players in the Premier League.
But as soon as De Bryune was sidelined, the team fell out of order, but even after that, their stature is intact in the league table. The Belgian will be back soon and the firing might get started yet again.
Also, it was in defence that they started to stutter, the 3-3 draw in the Champions League really gave other teams an idea on how they can beat them. They are on a run of 5 games without a win in all competitions. Although their defence has shown some fragility, captain Vincent Kompany has returned from injury and City fans will be hoping he can stay fit. Not forgetting, they have the man who is considered to be the best manager in the world who has the ability to turn this poor run of form into another long stretch of victories. It’s simple – fix the defence and they will be the clear favourites.
Tottenham Hotspur – 2nd
It has been an impressive start for Tottenham and whilst the bigger clubs gain all the attention, they have to be the dark horses in this title race. The start to the season hasn’t been a great one for them in terms of attacking, but they have picked up results and delivered one really impressive performance to show what they’re capable of – the 2-0 win at home to Manchester City.
There is an old adage in football that attacks win games and defences win Championships. Tottenham had the best defence last season, but too many early draws held them back, but once again this season, the defence is incredibly impressive. In 9 Premier League games they have conceded just 4 goals – 5 fewer than the next best. Perhaps even more remarkable is that they are yet to concede a goal from open play this season. All 4 of them goals were conceded from set pieces.
Tottenham have also had to manage the start of the season without two very important players – Harry Kane and Moussa Dembele. Both of them will add some attacking impetus to the Tottenham attack and Mauricio Pochettino will hope they can help Tottenham turn some of them draws into wins.