The Joy of a Close Premier League Title Race

By: Mr. Richardson

Finally, the Premier League(PL) title race is more than a one- or two-team affair. The PL has always been competitive, but this year it's showing. So far, five of the league's 20 teams are contenders for the top spot--Liverpool (48), Manchester City (43), Arsenal (43), Aston Villa (43), and Tottenham (40). If you haven't watched any PL yet, now might be a good time to tune in.

Just to prove how exciting this year's title race is compared to other seasons, let's examine how the last five years ended, points-wise.

2022-23: Man. City (89); Arsenal (84). These were the only two real contenders. The next closest team was Man. United with 75 points.

2021-22: Man. City (93); Liverpool (92). Same thing. The next closest team, Chelsea, finished with 74 points.

2020-21: Man. City (86). This year Man. City had no real contender. Man. United came in second place with 74 points. Yuck.

2019-20: Liverpool (91). This year was also a bust as far as competition goes. At least Man. City didn't win. They finished second place with 81 points.

2018-2019: Man. City (98); Liverpool (97). And we're back. The next closest team was Chelsea with 72.

Are you sick of Man. City and Liverpool yet?

Okay, so Liverpool and Man. City are still the top two favorites to win the title this year. No surprise. They have loads of money, some of the best players and talent depth, and two legendary coaches. But somehow, Aston Villa and Arsenal (teams that have substantially less talent depth) are hanging in there right alongside Man. City. What!? How??

The beauty of a multi-team competition in the EPL is that even if Liverpool wins the title, another giant like Man. City can be defeated by underdog teams which are zealously chasing the title and have nothing to lose. Imagine how sweet that'd be if after five years of dominating the title race, Man. City was toppled! Or, even if this is unlikely, imagine if both Liverpool and Man. City were defeated and an underdog team won the throne!

Every game matters. Nothing is for granted. And you can bet, with the title race so close, not one of these top five teams will give anything less than 100% effort in every game they play.

Tune in, because this is one of the best PL title races we've had in years.