It's Christmas time and of all the major leagues only the Premier League will continue throughout the festive season. It's tradition of course and while some have embraced it in the form of Pep Guardiola, Arsene Wenger used to moan about it and Jurgen Klopp has voiced his opposition too. Of course in 2021 the schedule has been made harder with a new variant of Covid-19 affecting players and fans but the majority of clubs have voted to continue and continue we will.
As we approach the half way stage the champions Manchester City are in 1st place and they are playing like champions too. One is reminded of their epic battle for the 2019 title with Liverpool and this season looks like it will come down to those two teams again. It is going to be about consistency of course but when City and Liverpool are involved even a draw on any given weekend for them can be such a huge factor. Don't forget Chelsea too, who have dropped some points in recent weeks but we all know the threat the European champions have and under Thomas Tuchel they can put a run together.
Premier League title winners: Manchester City 1.33, Liverpool 4.00, Chelsea 12.00, Manchester United 151.00, Tottenham 201.00
The chase is also on for a Champions League place and let's be fair the top 3 is probably locked in now with Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea taking those positions- what order we don't know but we are playing for one more place in theory. That will make it very exciting and it is unfortunate that UEFA will take that away in a few seasons time when they come up with another new rule on qualifying for Europe's elite competition, and no it won't help out the fringe teams who may have a chance once in a while of reaching the competition. The top four battle looks like it will be between Manchester United, Tottenham Arsenal and West Ham. Though don't fully discount Wolves, Leicester and Aston Villa.
There is pressure on United with a new manager in charge in Ralf Rangnick and of course the lore of Cristiano Ronaldo, there is almost an expectancy that the Red Devils will get that 4th place but as the Premier League has proved time and again you get nothing on sheer name and hype alone. Arsenal have bounced back well and Tottenham under Antonio Conte look refreshed again. As for West Ham they have really improved over the past 18 months but perhaps a lack of consistency will be their undoing.
To finish in the top four: (excluding Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea): Manchester United 1.72, Arsenal 3.75, Tottenham 5.00, West Ham 8.00, Leicester 51.00
Watford are currently stopping quite a gap opening up as far as relegation is concerned. The Hornets are in 17th place with 13 points and the bottom three have 11 in Burnley and 10 each for Newcastle and Norwich. So the relegation battle is really open and even Leeds and Southampton could get drawn into that one. Unless you're a Newcastle fan of course there will be fans finding it rather funny how the Magpies have struggled so far given that a new manager in Eddie Howe has stepped in and that the club have finally been taken over, and yet nothing has changed. However with the transfer window opening up next month we should expect a lot of activity at St James' Park. Of all the bottom three clubs Norwich look like the favourites to go down. Despite changing manager and bringing in Dean Smith who himself had just been sacked as manager of Aston Villa the club, after a bright start under him, seem to have fallen back down again and the season could be a long one for them.
To be relegated: Norwich 1.10, Newcastle 1.57, Watford 1.80, Burnley 1.83, Leeds 4.00
Team of the season so far: Mendy, Alexander-Arnold, James, Cancelo, T.Silva, Mahrez, Mount, B.Silva, Smith-Rowe, Salah, Ronaldo
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