Winners & Losers of the Premier League season (so far)
One-third of the Premier League season is already done so far with more twist and turns to come. With what we have seen so far this season, here are the winners and losers of the Premier League. So far.
Winners: Chelsea
Many thought Chelsea will experience a tough transition period under Maurizio Sarri adapting to a new style. So far, they are third in the table playing some of the best football this season. Eden Hazard looks revamped under the Italian scoring 7 and making 4 assists including shooting more with a shooting accuracy of 76%. Another contributor is Ross Barkley. The Englishman is looking to be Chelsea's answer to Marek Hamšík making 6 goals contributions in just 5 starts and looks fitter since arriving at Stamford Bridge in January. Sarri now has become the first manager to go unbeaten in his first 12 PL games and despite questions about their over-reliance on Hazard, Chelsea look new and refreshing.
Losers: Burnley
Burnley were the biggest overachievers last season finishing 7th and qualified for Europe for the first time in over 5 decades thanks to a strong defence that kept 12 clean sheets. This season, the Clarets have struggled this season keeping just three clean sheets and are 15th in the table. This is from the lack of points away from home this season. 28 of their 54 points from last season were away from home including getting results at Liverpool, Chelsea, Everton and Manchester United. This season, they've gotten only 5 points away from home this season, better than only six teams. With their defence not what it was last season, Burnley are potential relegation candidates this season.
Winners: Arsenal
There was some justified excitement at the Emirates Stadium when Arsenal appointed Unai Emery to replace Arsene Wenger last season after years of stagnation. This season, the Gunners have gone unbeaten since August and are fifth in the table, only three points behind 4th placed Spurs. This improvement has been with the form of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette. They've scored 12 goals between them this season with the creativity of Mesut Özil behind them. Another is the signing of Lucas Torreira. The little Uruguayan has added some much needed steel in Arsenal's midfield making 1.8 tackles and 1.7 interceptions allowing Granit Xhaka to dictate more. Despite their defensive problems, Emery has so far brought some optimism back in North London.
Losers: Southampton
The Saints narrowly avoided relegation last season thanks to the other teams being poorer than they in the previous campaign. While a good chunk of that was the sale of Virgil van Dijk, it's largely due to the lack of chances they create. Southampton, last season, scored 37 goals with six teams scoring fewer goals, half of those teams got relegated. Having sold Dušan Tadić in the summer, they've lost their prime creator and have this season, scoring just eight goals with two players scoring twice or more. With a possibility of Mark Hughes getting sack, he has to get the Saints in good form not only to save their season but also his job.
Winners: Bournemouth
Bournemouth have been the biggest overachievers so far this season with some believing they'll be involved in the relegation dogfight. They're currently sixth with 20 points, almost half of their total points from last season. Much of it is down to manager Eddie Howe whose clearly getting the best from his player particularly his attack. The cherries have scored 21 goals from their 12 games. More than Manchester United and Tottenham with with Ryan Fraser the top assist provider in the league with six and Callum Wilson, who recently got an international call-up for England, scoring six goals. While it's likely their form will likely flatten, they could get a high mid-table finish.
Losers: Fulham
Fulham spent over £100 million on the likes of Jean Michaël Seri, André Schürrle, Sergio Rico, Aleksander Mitrović, etc and English prodigy Ryan Sessegnon, who wowed many in the Championship last season. So there was a lot of hype around and they have flattered to deceive. Fulham are rock bottom in the Premier League table with only 5 points and have conceded 31 goals. The most in Europe's top 5 leagues. This has been a consequence of their attempt to be more possession-based which helped them get promoted but the Premier League is a bigger fish. Having not put out a consistent backline, it costed Slaviša Jokanović his job with Claudio Ranieri recently appointed to keep the Cottagers up. Fulham have good players but yet to keep a clean sheet, that defence needs to be sorted out.
Winners: Manchester City
It wouldn't surprise many if Manchester City go on to win the title as they are the team to beat this season. However, some believed that they would drop off this season like we've seen from past defending champions. The defending champions are top of the Premier League with 32 points having improved so much this season thanks to their improved defence with the centre-back pairing of Aymeric Laporte and John Stones, and the form of Bernardo Silva, who has stepped up in Kevin De Bruyne's absence with injury. The Portuguese had doubled his goal contributions from last season with 3 goals and assists as well as improving in his defensive play making 1.3 tackles per game this season. With no sign of slowing down, Pep's side are showing no slack this season.
Losers: Manchester United
While City have been dominating this season, United have been experiencing some woes. The Red Devils are eighth in the table with 20 points, 12 points behind their rivals and 7 points behind 4th placed Spurs. Of course United is disjointed but the highlight of their problems has been the form of David de Gea and Nemanja Matić. De Gea has struggled, keeping just one clean sheet this season with a save rate of 66.67% while Matić is making less tackles and interceptions from 2.7 tackles and 1.8 interceptions last season to 1.3 tackles and 0.8 interceptions this season plus being dribbled past 0.8 times per game exposing an already brittle backline. With four defeats already this season, United better pick up form this season to reach the top four with hopes of challenging City for the title already gone.
Winners: Chelsea
Many thought Chelsea will experience a tough transition period under Maurizio Sarri adapting to a new style. So far, they are third in the table playing some of the best football this season. Eden Hazard looks revamped under the Italian scoring 7 and making 4 assists including shooting more with a shooting accuracy of 76%. Another contributor is Ross Barkley. The Englishman is looking to be Chelsea's answer to Marek Hamšík making 6 goals contributions in just 5 starts and looks fitter since arriving at Stamford Bridge in January. Sarri now has become the first manager to go unbeaten in his first 12 PL games and despite questions about their over-reliance on Hazard, Chelsea look new and refreshing.
Losers: Burnley
Burnley were the biggest overachievers last season finishing 7th and qualified for Europe for the first time in over 5 decades thanks to a strong defence that kept 12 clean sheets. This season, the Clarets have struggled this season keeping just three clean sheets and are 15th in the table. This is from the lack of points away from home this season. 28 of their 54 points from last season were away from home including getting results at Liverpool, Chelsea, Everton and Manchester United. This season, they've gotten only 5 points away from home this season, better than only six teams. With their defence not what it was last season, Burnley are potential relegation candidates this season.
Winners: Arsenal
There was some justified excitement at the Emirates Stadium when Arsenal appointed Unai Emery to replace Arsene Wenger last season after years of stagnation. This season, the Gunners have gone unbeaten since August and are fifth in the table, only three points behind 4th placed Spurs. This improvement has been with the form of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette. They've scored 12 goals between them this season with the creativity of Mesut Özil behind them. Another is the signing of Lucas Torreira. The little Uruguayan has added some much needed steel in Arsenal's midfield making 1.8 tackles and 1.7 interceptions allowing Granit Xhaka to dictate more. Despite their defensive problems, Emery has so far brought some optimism back in North London.
Losers: Southampton
The Saints narrowly avoided relegation last season thanks to the other teams being poorer than they in the previous campaign. While a good chunk of that was the sale of Virgil van Dijk, it's largely due to the lack of chances they create. Southampton, last season, scored 37 goals with six teams scoring fewer goals, half of those teams got relegated. Having sold Dušan Tadić in the summer, they've lost their prime creator and have this season, scoring just eight goals with two players scoring twice or more. With a possibility of Mark Hughes getting sack, he has to get the Saints in good form not only to save their season but also his job.
Winners: Bournemouth
Bournemouth have been the biggest overachievers so far this season with some believing they'll be involved in the relegation dogfight. They're currently sixth with 20 points, almost half of their total points from last season. Much of it is down to manager Eddie Howe whose clearly getting the best from his player particularly his attack. The cherries have scored 21 goals from their 12 games. More than Manchester United and Tottenham with with Ryan Fraser the top assist provider in the league with six and Callum Wilson, who recently got an international call-up for England, scoring six goals. While it's likely their form will likely flatten, they could get a high mid-table finish.
Losers: Fulham
Fulham spent over £100 million on the likes of Jean Michaël Seri, André Schürrle, Sergio Rico, Aleksander Mitrović, etc and English prodigy Ryan Sessegnon, who wowed many in the Championship last season. So there was a lot of hype around and they have flattered to deceive. Fulham are rock bottom in the Premier League table with only 5 points and have conceded 31 goals. The most in Europe's top 5 leagues. This has been a consequence of their attempt to be more possession-based which helped them get promoted but the Premier League is a bigger fish. Having not put out a consistent backline, it costed Slaviša Jokanović his job with Claudio Ranieri recently appointed to keep the Cottagers up. Fulham have good players but yet to keep a clean sheet, that defence needs to be sorted out.
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