Fantasy goes real in EPL shakeup
Print Edition
WITH two months of a gripping English Premier League season left Leicester City is closing in on the title and it is not fanciful to suggest that Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Southampton could complete the top four.
The idea of Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool, or even just two of them, finishing fifth or lower, would have been laughed off as absurd before a ball was kicked in August. But fantasy has become the new reality in the world’s richest league.
Leicester, a 5000-1 shot to win the title at the start of the season, needs six wins from its last seven matches to guarantee becoming champion of England for the first time.
Tottenham, without a title since 1961, is its nearest challenger and West Ham, in fifth place level on points with sixth-placed Manchester United, is sniffing a first-ever qualification for the UEFA Champions League.
Southampton, which came from two goals down to beat Liverpool on Sunday, is just four points behind fourth-placed Manchester City which is caught in a downward spiral.
Jose Mourinho knows only too well that reputations no longer count for anything in the EPL. The man who led Chelsea to the title last season was sacked in December after losing nine of its first 16 games.
“Every club has very good players so I think it’s difficult for the top teams in England because of the competitive nature,” he had predicted in August after watching the likes of Crystal Palace, Stoke City and West Ham sign world class players.
One statistic sums the shift in power this season.
Chelsea, Arsenal, City, United, and Liverpool have a lower combined points total so far than Leicester, West Ham, Southampton, Stoke and West Bromwich Albion (241 to 248).
Many expect normal service to resume next season when City will be buoyed by the arrival of Pep Guardiola, Chelsea re-group under a new manager and United could possibly have Mourinho at the helm.
But according to Stoke boss Mark Hughes, the days when the establishment dominated the top five or six places is over. “This year isn’t a one-off, it will be more prevalent in years to come and I think maybe there’s been a changing of the guard somewhat,” Hughes, whose side is on course for its highest Premier League finish, was quoted as saying in The Telegraph.
“The middle group have got stronger, there are only so many players that top clubs can really bring into their squad to make them better. You can only fill so many places. There is a lot of talent out there that will want to come to the Premier League.”
With a new eye-watering domestic TV contract kicking in next season, a three-year deal with Sky and BT worth 5.13 billion pounds (US$7.38 billion), 71 percent higher than the current one, the quality gap is likely to shrink again next season.
Fans around Europe where title races rarely feature more than two clubs, or in France’s case these days one, can only watch in envy at the unpredictability of the EPL.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
