Winning the 2022-23 English League is now common knowledge among enthusiasts of the English Premier League that starting each football season in blistering form or still going guns blazing midway into it might not guarantee ultimate success come the month of May when a real champion gets crowned.
To win the English Premier League nowadays, one needs to come to the fore with much grit, a persistent character, sheer determination, and a winners mentality, and most importantly, do so with a strong team with depth that has everything it takes to go through the entire stretch of the campaign which a somewhat valley of death.
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Somewhere along the line, upon its outset, the 2022-23 English Premier League season witnessed a new twist to its usual script that we all get used to for about a decade or there over. Two of the league’s top giants- Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC– began to see their forms dwindle and plunge into a freefall. Depleted teams, non-cohesive players, and coaching instability crept in. They made a massive impact in seriously eroding their chances of any significant success, a reality that is in total contrast to the success that played out the previous season, where both teams were in pole position to cart away double trophies, at least for themselves.
But like the common saying that goes, “one man’s loss is another man’s gain”, Chelsea and Liverpool have been subjected to licking their wounds, having crashed like a pack of cards and now affording a window of opportunity to top 4 and title contender returnees- Arsenal FC for both the title and top 4 challenge.
As Liverpool, the Anfield giants from Merseyside, and Chelsea, the Stamford Bridge lions of London, were nowhere near the top four positions for most of this season, Manchurian giant title holders and Premier League winning regulars Manchester City have been rubbing their palms in excitement contending against its new type of opposition from North London.
Fixtures with varying degrees of difficulty have come upon these new sets of title rivals. Arsenal, this season’s top contender against Manchester City, has tried so hard to end their 19-year drought. The lads from London have sailed through varying tides and storms and, in most of it, succeeded in swashbuckling style- massive wins with goals and points aggregates to build their victory stash have been a reward for their takeoff.
Manchester City, on their part and in the usual manner, has thoroughly dominated their opponents so far, with the world expecting them to win the Premier League at a canter. For the last four seasons, The Manchurians have experienced heated competition from Liverpool in back-to-back seasons where both teams go toe-to-toe against each other, bagging a century of points but still looking over their shoulders due to uncertainty of one leapfrogging the other.
This current season’s title challenge might look different from the usual rumble in the jungle we know and love watching between Liverpool and City due to Liverpool’s absence from the fray. To win the coveted Premier League title at the end of every season, it goes beyond the striking, pacy style of play and starts a season in grand style. The journey to victory here is purely a marathon and not a race. For example, in the last three seasons, Liverpool and Manchester City couldn’t confidently say either of them had become victorious over the other, having crossed the expectant point margin for victory and dragging it to over 100 points.
Arsenal is one of the few teams looking to halt the treble ambitions of Manchester City. Still, Arsenal’s recent slight form dip has swung the pendulum heavily back in City’s favor and tempted City to take their eyes a bit away from the domestic prize and focus more on their pursuit of a maiden European triumph, giving a glimmer of hope to Arsenal to leapfrog the league leaders between now and the end of the season but, realistically a flash is likely the most it could be.
Suppose you’d ask realists like us the possible outcome in the end. In that case, our response is simple- it is challenging to see treble-chasing Manchester City dropping any further points this season, although Arsenal supporters will be hoping that happens, and if City were to drop any additional points in the following weeks and Arsenal’s saw victory, the Gunners can miraculously win the trophy which is an enviable task, that even Liverpool and it is faithful based on recent trends and experience will call such occurrence an impossibility and tipping current champions- Manchester City as overwhelming favorites.
For now, all eyes are still on the next few fixtures between Manchester City and Arsenal, and results over the next few days will go a long way in determining where the Premier League trophy will be headed on May 28.
