Liverpool currently leads the table, a single point over City, who teeter over Arsenal similarly.
It isn’t only the neck-and-neck competition between 3 of England’s biggest (at least since 2008) clubs that makes this season an unmissable one. It’s the high stakes, the records begging to be broken, and the matter of legacy that all hinges on the outcome of this season.
Arsenal looks to finally win the title after spending a whopping 248 days leading last season, the longest time leading without cinching the title. They bottled it towards the tail-end of the season as chasers Man City rocked up to win their 7th title, culminating in a historic European treble. City is looking to become the first team to win 4 Premier League titles in a row.
Liverpool may have the highest stakes yet. As we enter the last phase of Jurgen Klopp’s incredibly memorable run as Liverpool’s manager, the Reds seek to give him a farewell befitting one of the greatest managers in the club’s history. Having already lifted the Carabao Cup, their fantastical dream of the quadruple lives on.
We’re on track for a memorable Premier League season, as we have been multiple times in recent years, so as we wait and watch, some reminiscing is only right.
On the topic of quadruples, it was only 2 years ago Liverpool, having won both the Carabao and FA Cup, challenged for the quadruple. They enjoyed a nearly seamless run in the UCL, only losing 1-0 to Real Madrid in the final. Their Premier League run was much more of a rollercoaster, boasting grand wins like the 5-0 battering of Watford and Manchester United, and the 4-0 victories over Arsenal and Southampton. But defeats to West Ham (3-2), a crucial 1-0 loss to Brendan Rodger’s Leicester, a fired-up Manchester City scoring 22 goals and racking up an 8-point lead in December switched up the race. By March, Liverpool, with gritted teeth, closed the gap to 1 point, as it remained until the very end of the season. Liverpool beat Wolves but City came back from 2-0 against Aston Villa and cinched the title with a 3-2 win.
Lately, it’s all been the same few teams contending at the top. But run it back a few years and the title race was between teams we’d laugh at today if they said they’re going for the title. Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspurs, 2015-16. That is how it started though – Leicester began with 5000/1 odds to win the league but the arrivals of manager Claudio Ranieri, N’Golo Kante, and Christian Fuchs, alongside key players Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez put them in relentless winning form, defeating a struggling Chelsea, a title-challenging Spurs, Liverpool, and 3-1 triumph over City. A handful of defeats, including to Arsenal, and Tottenham’s six-match winning streak gave Leicester a thrilling chase, but multiple defeats for Arsenal and draws for Spurs, especially against Chelsea (2-2) allowed Leicester to grab the trophy despite a 1-1 draw with United.
