Get the sky-blue ribbon prepared. Plan the trophy parade. Fire up the flame cannons. Manchester City are this season’s Premier League champions!
Well, not entirely, but the start of the campaign has gone about as well as City could have reasonably hoped for. Pep Guardiola’s side have sauntered to back-to-back victories to breeze into pole position while others around them have dropped crucial points.
City were regarded as the bookmakers’ title favourites before a ball had been kicked following their summer acquisition of European football’s golden boy Erling Haaland, and then Liverpool slipped up in their first two games. Their odds have shortened considerably since.
Liverpool were well short of their best during their opening-day draw with Fulham and while much-improved against Crystal Palace in their second fixture, the outcome was the same.
More from Football
As Liverpool found to their cost last season, ceding the early initiative to City leaves a mountain to climb. From 2 January to the final day, Liverpool won all but three of their 19 league games, claiming 51 points from a possible 57. Historically, such consistent form would be the mark of champions; instead Liverpool finished second, a point behind their rivals.
“It’s been a terrible start points-wise, but I thought they were outstanding tonight with the way they reacted with 10 men,” said Jamie Carragher on Sky Sports, referring to Darwin Nunez’s self-destructive red card. “Draws are defeats now as Manchester City set the bar so high.
“To give City a four-point head start, yes there is a long way to go, it’s a tough act to catch one of the greatest teams in the Premier League.”
The problem Liverpool have is that they, along with City, have been responsible for raising standards over the past half a decade.
Between them, City and Liverpool account for the four highest points tallies in Premier League history, all of which have come in the previous four seasons. In addition, only Chelsea (with 95 in 2004-05) bettered either of their totals from last season. Winning the title is harder than ever before.
Highest points tallies in Premier League history
- 1. Manchester City: 100 (2017-2018)
- 2. Liverpool: 99 (2019-2020)
- 3. Manchester City: 98 (2018-2019)
- 4. Liverpool: 97 (2018-2019)
- 5. Chelsea: 95 (2004-2005)
- 6. Man City: 93 (2021-22) and Chelsea (2016-17)
- 7. Liverpool: 92 (2021-22) and Man Utd 92 (1993-94)
The records posted by the champions between 2017-18 and 2019-20, show how little margin for error there now is. In each of those seasons, the eventual champions – City in 2017-18 and 2018-19 and Liverpool in 2019-20 – failed to win only six of their 38 Premier League matches. The average number of points dropped by the league winners during that three-year period was 15.
It should be noted that it has taken fewer points to win the league in the past two years. City won the league with 93 points in 2021-22 and managed it with a relatively low 86 in 2020-21. The average number of points dropped during that spell was naturally higher at 24.5 points.
There were extenuating circumstances in 2020-21, however, as virtually the entire season was played behind closed doors due to the pandemic, while the lack of competition ensured City wrapped up the title much earlier than in other years.
If we interpret the 2020-21 season as an anomaly given it was a (hopefully) unique situation, it looks as though the days of winning the Premier League title with anything fewer than 90 points might be gone. At least for the foreseeable future.
It seems remarkable to consider now that in the late 90s, Manchester United (twice) and Arsenal were able to hold off the rest with points totals in the mid to high 70s. In 1996-97, United won the league with an eventual points tally of 75 after winning only 21 of their 38 games. Such a prospect now seems unthinkable.
Only once in the past decade has a team won the title with fewer than 86 points: Leicester with 81 in the 2015-16 season. That success was considered a miraculous achievement for a club that had never before won a top-flight title. Liverpool may have to do something similarly spectacular if they are to recover from their sticky start.
from Football | News and analysis from the Premier League and beyond | iNews https://ift.tt/2b9nKk0
Post a Comment