Premier League. Liverpool is not alone in the English league

The 2023/24 season is coming to an end and, contrary to what was expected, the excitement is being lost, as most of the championships on the Old Continent are practically resolved. In Germany, Bayer Leverkusen can be champions in the next round, as they have a 16 point advantage over Bayer Munich and have six games left and, in Italy, Inter Milan can celebrate the Scudetto within three rounds, the same happens in France with PSG, who are ten points ahead and have six games left to go. The Portuguese championship was balanced until the last round. However, the defeats of Benfica in Alvalade and FC Porto against Guimarães, in Dragão, left Sporting with a considerable advantage of four points, which could increase to seven if they win in Famalicão (the 16th), with six matches remaining. the end of the championship. The story is very different in England, to the satisfaction of fans of good football. With seven rounds to go, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City are separated by one point, meaning a draw changes everything. Throughout the championship, the three teams took turns in the lead, it remains to be seen who will win the title. As the championship progresses and the fight becomes more intense, expectations increase.

Fight to the point

On the 31st round, Arsenal and Liverpool have 71 points and current champion Manchester City appears in third place with 70 points. Arsenal have the advantage in the direct confrontation with Liverpool; won at home (3-1) and drew away (1-1) and by a better goal difference (51 against 42). In fact, the Gunners have shown great firepower, they have already reached the opposing goal 75 times and have a defense made of concrete, having conceded just 24 goals, in both areas Arsenal are better than their rivals.

In the tight game of points worth victories, Arsenal is the team with the most victories (22) in the Premier League, followed by Liverpool and City (21). Among the teams fighting for the title, Liverpool has the fewest defeats (2), followed by City (3) and Arsenal (4). At the end of the first round (19th round) the top three classified were separated by three points and the order was also different. Liverpool led with 42 points, followed by Arsenal with 40 points, Aston Villa with 39 points and Manchester City appeared in fourth place, five points behind the leader. Halfway through the season, the English champions had the best attack (43 goals scored) and the Reds had the best defense (16 goals conceded). Since then, a lot has changed and, at the moment, it is Mikel Arteta’s team that has the best numbers: 75 goals scored (2.42 goals scored per game) and 24 conceded. City has the best scorer in the championship, Erling Haaland, with 19 goals in 25 games, but of the three teams fighting for the title, City is the least successful, with 71 goals, Liverpool has 72 goals.

On the other hand, the current champion has an incredible streak of 13 games without losing (nine wins and four draws), Arsenal has gone 12 games without being defeated (11 wins and one draw) and Liverpool has the worst streak of results, with nine games without losing (seven wins and two draws), the last defeat was precisely against the other title candidate, Arsenal.

The Gunners are having a very regular season and are taking advantage of their rivals’ small stumbles, as happened at the weekend with the Reds who drew at old rival Manchester United’s ground. Arsenal is out of the FA Cup, but remains in the Champions League. Jurgen Klopp’s team is having a very consistent season on all fronts. In addition to leading the championship, ex aequo with Arsenal, he won the English League Cup and is the main favorite in the Europa League. Klopp wants to leave a winning Liverpool to his successor, a successor who could be Rúben Amorim, as the Reds are interested in the Sporting coach. Manchester City continues on the three fronts: championship, FA Cup and Champions League, but Pep Guardiola’s team is not as dominant as last season.

Looking at the calendar, Arsenal have some advantage because they play four times at home and three away. But football works in mysterious ways and the situation may not be as comfortable as it seems, as they have more difficult opponents (Tottenham, Manchester United and Chelsea) outside their environment. Arteta knows this better than anyone, last year he lost the title to Guardiola in the last two rounds. In theory, City have the nicer calendar and Liverpool have the tougher challenge because they play four times away and three at home. Interestingly, the three teams will face Tottenham and Wolverhampton until the end of the season.