Premier League Check-In: Is West Ham a legitimate threat?
(Photo by Andrew Couldridge/Action Images/Reuters via theguardian)
Being that European football is on an international break, now is as good a time as any to step back and analyze how the Premier League has panned out this season.
As things stand, Manchester City is first in the table with 57 points through 23 of the available 38 games while Tottenham Hotspur rounds out the “big 6” clubs in 7th with 36 points through only 20 matches played. The rest of the pack reads as follows:
Manchester City (57)
Liverpool (48)
Chelsea (47)
Manchester United (38)
West Ham (37)
Arsenal (36)
Tottenham (36)
Nothing out of the ordinary, although the battle for the top four has heated up quite a bit since we last spoke. Chelsea has backed off from their absurd form at the start of the season and since then, Arsenal has blossomed into the high-caliber team they SHOULD HAVE been capable of for years. Don’t even get me started on wildcard West Ham jumping into the mix.
Rather than diving into some predictions as to how this table will play out over the course of the season, let’s go through the big clubs one-by-one with a bonus team covered at the end. First up. Let’s see how the table-leading Citizens have fared the last couple of months.
Manchester City
(Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images via bloomberg)
Man City does an excellent job of making it impossible for me to say anything negative about them. Believe me, I wish I could, but Pep’s squad has been playing out of their mind. Their 12-game premier league win streak was recently just brought to an end by Southampton of all teams, but that doesn’t make the streak any less impressive.
At this point in the season, I’d say City are the heavy favorites to lift the premier league trophy and to possibly pull off a double by winning the FA Cup as well.
You can hate the citizens all you want for their “plastic money” and questionable ownership decisions, but the fact of the matter is everyone seems to be jealous of what they have been able to accomplish. Every club is owned by wealthy billionaires, but no one puts more personal funding into the wellbeing of their club than the City Football Group (investment group that owns the club). As an Arsenal fan, I can confidently say I wish Stan Kroenke’s cheap ass would cough up some coin the way Man City has over the last decade.
Pep’s group is on the brink of a premier league dynasty.
Liverpool
(Photo courtesy of thisisanfield.com)
I know I’m not the only one that misses the Liverpool from 2010 to 2016. The same Liverpool team that would finish anywhere from 6th to 8th on the table, not really competing for any major trophies. Where has the time gone? I and countless other premier league fans want it back, cause seeing Liverpool succeed is bullshit.
The Reds are the Yankees of premier league football. You’re either with them or, well, you hate them. This season Liverpool hasn’t made as big of a splash with any absurd win-streak records or clean sheet stats, but they have been the definition of consistent. Liverpool has only dropped points three times this season against non-top-6 clubs and came away with a point in two of those rough games.
Even though they are eight points behind Man City, the Reds are dominating statistically. Salah is running away with the golden boot at 16 goals compared to teammate Diogo Jota in second with 10 goals. Trent Alexander-Arnold is creating chances left and right in that illustrious wingback position, topping the leaderboards with 10 assists thus far. Liverpool also claims second and third place for most assists this season, with Salah at 9 and Andrew Robertson at 8. Allison is holding it down in goal as per usual and sits at second place with 10 clean sheets behind City’s Ederson (12).
We all know Liverpool is a good team, one of the best teams in Europe even. The real question is: Can they do enough to catch City on points, or should they focus on a Champions League push? Frankly, the only way Liverpool catches City is if the Citizens go on an insane run of bad form and drop points to low-tier teams. I don’t see that happening. The Reds are looking at second place at best, but seem to have a top four finish on lock. With that being said, focusing their efforts on the UCL might be their best bet in terms of going for glory in 2022.
Chelsea
(Photo by James Williamson - AMA/Getty Images via 90min)
Last time we talked, I was head over heels for the Blues this season. Don’t get me wrong, I hate everything about Chelsea Football Club and everything they stand for, but their team is mighty attractive on paper. After bringing in Thomas Tuchel from PSG along with a few key signings, the Blues have played their best football since Antonio Conte was at the helm in 2017-2018. At least that was the case until about a month ago.
10 games into the season I would have told you Chelsea were locked in to hoist the trophy come the end of the year. Granted, anything can happen and there is plenty of football left to be played, but boy was I wrong. Despite having success against other “big 6” clubs, Chelsea has begun dropping points in what should be freebie games.
It’s not so much that they are losing these games, rather settling for one point when they should be bagging all three. A tie with Wolves, a tie with Brighton (twice), a tie with Burnley; the list goes on.
The only positive to come from Chelseas’s drop-off in form is that they managed to reach the FA cup final after beating Tottenham in the semis. I would rather not deal with Chelsea fans spouting out left and right about the fact that Tuchel ALREADY has a trophy in such a short amount of time (if they win), but lord help us if the Reds come away as champions in that one.
Manchester United
(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images via unitedinfocus)
Despite the fact that Man U is sitting pretty at 4th in the table, this season has been somewhat of a letdown. Aside from the early season drama of sacking their manager, the Red Devils were expected to compete for the league title this season.
They’ve managed to hold on to all of their youngsters, keep Paul Pogba on a not-too-pricey contract, and make key signings like Bruno Fernandes. Of course, they also added the illustrious Cristiano Ronaldo this offseason. In the eyes of the media, this would be a solid recipe for a championship-caliber squad.
Even with one of the best on-paper rosters in all of Europe, things aren’t clicking over at Old Trafford. Ronaldo is doing Ronaldo things, but only against the low-end competition. Half of his eight goals this season game against Norwich City. That’s only four goals in 16 starts against teams not currently in 17th place.
I think it’s safe to say the Red Devils won’t be competing for the top spot in the table, but they’ll sure make the race for fourth place interesting considering West Ham, Arsenal, and Tottenham are all within two points as things stand. I can’t knock ‘em too hard, Manchester United is in the Champions League, and they are still alive in the FA Cup after all. Maybe not a league trophy, but a trophy-winning season isn’t out of the picture quite yet for Man U.
Arsenal
(Photo by Clive Rose - Getty Images via thetopflight)
The Gunners have been a roller coaster this season. After the first month of games, people were seriously discussing the idea of Arsenal being relegated. This has been a running meme for quite some time now in the soccer Twittersphere but never had it seemed like an actual possibility until this season.
Fast forward a few months later, and Arsenal is contending for a spot in the Champions League next season and looking like a new football club entirely. There is no superstar power on the Gunners roster in comparison to the clubs above, but manager Mikel Arteta has done a fantastic job of getting the youngsters involved, and it’s paid off in a big way.
21-year-old Emile Smith Rowe is currently tied for the 4th most goals in league competition with eight while 23-year-old and new goalkeeping signee Aaron Ramsdale is 2nd in the league with 10 clean sheets. Not to mention the rising star that is Bukayo Saka. The 20-year-old England national stud has 6 goals and 4 assists in 21 appearances this season and is involved in just about every scoring build-up for the Gunners.
Although I am a die-hard Arsenal fan and may have some underlying bias, they seem to have the best young core in all of England. The future is looking bright.
While the youngsters are thriving, the few “stars” Arsenal claim have been struggling. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been non-existent for the Gunners this season after having disputes with Mikel Arteta. Most of the issues derived from Aubameyang regularly arriving late to practice and team meetings, and after he was stripped of his captaincy, he hasn’t started a game.
With or without Auba, things seem to be going A-okay for Arsenal after a dogshit start to the season. They were knocked out of the FA Cup in embarrassing fashion and fell to Liverpool in the semifinal of the Carabao Cup, which can be looked at in two ways. On one end, this gives the Gunners a chance to solely focus on league play considering that’s literally all they have now, likely giving them a better chance to secure a spot in the UCL next year. On the other end, they have zero chances of winning any kind of trophy this season. For a club with Arsenals standards, to be eliminated from trophy contention at this stage? Yikes.
Tottenham
(Photo by Matt Dunham / AP Photo via masslive)
Ah yes, the ugly step-brother of the premier league: Tottenham Hotspur. This season, the Spurs have been the definition of the Spurs. I know that sounds a bit redundant, but their antics this season have been classic Tottenham.
Rather than an up-and-down roller coaster season like Arsenal, the Spurs seem to have gone through the motions this season at a steady pace. Not winning any major crazy games, but also winning enough to stay in the conversation with the rest of the “big six.”
Son Heung-Min has been the highlight of their season thus far as the South Korean international is tied for 4th in the premier league with 8 goals this year. Meanwhile, their superstar caliber striker Harry Kane has been a dark shadow looming over the club since the summer transfer window. Kane wanted out, and everyone knew it. Now, he has to act like he still has navy and white running through his blood while he dreams of scoring bangers under the lights of Camp Nou.
The new headline surrounding Tottenham is all about new manager Antonio Conte. Can he restore the premier league magic he carried with Chelsea just a few years back? Will the Spurs give him time to turn things around before sacking him like they did Nuno? Only time will tell, but for now, the Spurs are sitting right in the middle of good and average.
Still alive in the FA Cup, their trophy hopes aren’t dead yet but come on guys, it’s Tottenham. Hell will freeze over before this lot lifts a trophy.
Bonus: West Ham
(Photo by Andrew Couldridge/Action Images/Reuters via theguardian)
Here I like to highlight the non-big six club that’s been making a splash in league play, and right now that team is by far West Ham. The Irons have been playing out of their minds lately and have a legitimate shot of finishing in the top four for the first time since 1986.
They’ve beaten Liverpool, Man City, Tottenham, and Chelsea this season and have done so in impressive fashion. West Ham is typically a part of the highest-scoring affair week in and week out, and that’s largely thanks to Michail Antonio. The Jamaica national has made a name for himself in recent years but has truly blossomed this season. Antonio is tied for 4th in the league with 8 goals and also ranks 7th with 6 assists this season.
Although their attack is fun to watch, their defense is going to cost them in the long run. They’ve given up 31 goals in 23 games this season, 12 more than any of the current top three clubs.
Is it fun to see a smaller club shake things up and potentially run the table? Absolutely. Do I think they will maintain this run of form through May? Definitely not. The Big six is the big six for a reason, and they’ll come through to swoop up that 4th spot when it matters most.
Sometimes it’s nice to step back and assess where things stand, but at the same time what am I supposed to do for the next week or so until club football returns. I guess watch the national teams play, but it’s simply not the same.
Until next time, COYG.