Madness. Utter, improbable madness. There’s really no other way to describe what’s happening in the Premier League this season. The halfway stage has come and gone and the table makes for incredible reading. Arsenal, long-suffering Arsenal are on top, but with only a slim two point cushion. And second? Believe it or not, lowly Leicester City who started 2015 at the bottom of the table and have undergone a barely-believable metamorphosis to actually put themselves in with a shot at winning the Premier League title.
But that’s just where it starts. Manchester City strolled through the first few months but have stuttered and are now at third, three points short of the top. The bigger story though is that their fierce rivals from across town are nowhere close to them right now – before Saturday's matches, number four and number five positions had been taken up by Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace respectively. United did manage to defeat Swansea City on Saturday and move upto fifth while Liverpool lost to West Ham and slid further to eighth but they will still be grateful that they haven't done a Chelsea – short for winning one season and then barely managing to stay above the relegation zone in the next.
It would be interesting to look back at the half-way stage and try make an attempt to understand what just happened but let’s go one step further – in an unpredictable, fiercely oscillating season, let’s make a brave (but probably fool-hearted) attempt to predict what will happen next. To start off:
Arsenal will be Premier League champions – Simply put, the Gunners have never had a better chance of winning a long-awaited Premier League title after the Invincibles triumph of 2004. United are off the pace, Chelsea have dropped into oblivion and Leicester City, for all their heroics are bound to stumble sooner or later. Derby rivals Tottenham Hotspur may pose a challenge but it is Manchester City who will be their biggest rivals. In many ways, it is City’s title to lose and don’t expect them to give up too easily. However, Arsene Wenger’s hunger and the fact that Arsenal play a lot of their next few tough games at home might just clinch it for them. The title-decider could be on May 7 next year when Arsenal take on City at the Etihad Stadium.
Leicester City will finish in the top four – January and February will be tough months for the Foxes who have scripted the kind of fairytale that makes football special. They will have a row of away games in January while in February, they play Liverpool at home, Manchester City and then Arsenal away. Ranieri however is a shrewd manager and he will be aware that these fixtures will not be easy. Leicester City might not be able to maintain the momentum and finish in the top two but it would be dangerous to write them off for a top four finish.
Manchester United will NOT finish in the top four – And this is a prediction not based on who they’re playing, but how they are playing. Despite some signs of resurgence, they still finished with a 0-0 draw against Chelsea. Their best players simply don’t look exciting enough and at the very best, they might be able to eke out 1-0 draws. In fact, it really wouldn’t be too much of a surprise if teams like Southampton, Stoke City and Watford actually spring a surprise over them. A fifth-place finish seems to be on the cards.
Chelsea will finish in the second half of the table – Chelsea fans may still be recovering from the loss of their beloved Jose Mourinho, but new manager Guus Hiddink will have a difficult job on his hands. They may have had a couple of decent games but the New Year is not going to be easy. Apart from the games against the big four, there are potential banana peels as Crystal Palace, Everton, Watford and Southampton all wait in anticipation in the first two months. And you can be sure that the Kop is waiting to welcome Hiddink’s men to Anfield on March 12. Sure, the second half of the season might not be as disastrous as the first half, but it is difficult to see Chelsea breaking into the top half of the table.
Liverpool are the dark horses – Let’s be clear on one thing – Jurgen Klopp is one of the most charismatic managers in the world right now and Liverpool are lucky to have him. In the brief time he has arrived, he has already proven that he doesn’t mind thinking differently – evidenced by his heart-warming decision to salute the Kop after a hard-fought 2-2 draw against West Brom.
And under his tutelage, Liverpool are the dark horses. They’re the one team that are difficult to predict because they could go anywhere. Klopp’s incredible enthusiasm could rub off on their players who could on a season-changing run and change all equations. Conversely, they may yet again threaten to explode only to fizzle out, as many long-suffering Liverpool fans will know. Big home games against Arsenal and Manchester United in the middle of January beckon. The fate of their season might just hinge on these two results.
