Death, Taxes & Soccer: Premier League Entertains Yet Again
Ever since the hire of Pep Guardiola in 2016, Manchester City has won the Premier League four times over a six year span. His tenure has been filled with close finishes, record breaking team and individual performances and numerous domestic cups that have been added to his own personal trophy cabinet. However, this year appears to be different. Manchester City’s main title challenger this year, Arsenal, is coached by one of Guardiola’s former assistants. Hired by the Gunners in 2019, Mikel Arteta has shown steady improvement each season and seems destined to close the league out.
Along with shadowing Guardiola, Arteta got to learn from another one of the world’s best coaches while he was a player at Arsenal under Arsèéne Wenger for five years starting in 2011. Although Wenger’s tenure was legendary, fans are beginning to feel restless as they have not won the league since the 2003-04 season. Additionally, they have not won a League Cup or Community Shield since 2020. Now that Arteta has been there for three seasons, the pressure is definitely on. With six match days left, Arsenal lead second place Manchester City by four points, however Guardiola’s side have a game in hand. The title race will likely be decided when the two clubs meet April 26. While Manchester City is one of the hottest teams in Europe, Arsenal appear to be stumbling at the finish line, finding difficulty with closing out games after dropping points to out of form teams like Liverpool and West Ham United.
Meanwhile, Manchester City are currently enjoying an unbeaten streak of 15 games (12 wins and 3 ties), outscoring opponents 45 to 9 over that span. The club is playing their best soccer of the season right when it matters most. They are showing no signs of slowing down after defeating reigning German champions FC Bayern Munchen 4-1 on aggregate in the UEFA Champions League, going through to the semi-finals where they face Real Madrid. It is clear that the players want to avenge their painful Champions League Final loss against Chelsea in 2021 and are bulldozing everyone that stands in their way. During this period, Norwegian striker Erling Haaland has tied Mo Salah’s Premier League record with more than half a dozen games to go.
In terms of the remaining two Champions League spots that are allotted to the top English clubs, the race is wide open and fans may be seeing some faces they haven’t seen in a while in the tournament. The following teams are all within a few games of securing qualification: Manchester United, Newcastle United F.C., Tottenham Hotspur F.C. and Aston Villa F.C.
Teams that have been staples to finish within the top four in past years have been absent. After finishing in second and third place last year, Liverpool and Chelsea have regressed to eighth and eleventh place, respectively. Chelsea crashed out of the Champions League after suffering a 4-0 defeat on aggregate to Real Madrid, were eliminated from the FA Cup by Manchester City and fired their coach midway through the season only to bring back Frank Lampard in the interim who was previously fired by the club. Liverpool was dealt an unfortunate hand having the same title window as Manchester City. Fans are currently rebelling against ownership by chanting “FSG out” during games because they are unhappy with the club’s support and performance as of late.
As shocking as the top of the table is, the drama continues in the relegation zone. In their ninth season since being promoted to the Premier League, Leicester City F.C. find themselves in grave danger of being sent back down to the EFL Championship. Just seven years after they shocked the world and won the league in convincing fashion, it appears as if they have returned to their original form. Jamie Vardy is the only player left from that squad who beat the 5000-1 odds to become the English champions. It is even more surprising given the fact that they finished in eighth place just one year prior.
As the squads play down the final stretch, it will be crucial to maintain fitness of their best players. Especially for those still playing in multiple competitions. Will Haaland finish with more goals than clubs like Southampton, Nottingham Forest, Everton, West Ham, Wolverhampton and Chelsea? Given the fact that Manchester City is still challenging for the treble, which is causing him to have limited minutes, it is unlikely. There is significant ground for some of these teams to make up if they are to catch him before the end of the season.
Jackson Wedin is a senior writing about some of the larger soccer events globally in his column, “Death, Taxes and Soccer,” which runs every other Thursday.
