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The English Premier League is the most popular football league in the world. It is also a very competitive league initially with up to 4 clubs competing for the league title. The original teams were Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United. With the rise of Manchester City and Tottenham, there are now 6 teams competing for the title. Of course in a league, all the teams are theoretically competing for the league. But in reality, most leagues have just a few teams with a realistic chance of winning the league. In Italy, the Serie A has been won by Juventus 5 times in a row. Bayern Munich dominates the German league, the Bundesliga. There are other strong teams in those leagues, however. In the Italian Serie A Napoli, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Roma and OGC Nice are building are looking to challenge next season. RB Leipzig mounted a title run in the German Bundesliga last season eventually finishing 2nd. Borussia Dortmund is also building a strong team and are the only team that has broken the Bayern Munich stronghold in recent years; they won the league in 2012. Spain has Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid. Monaco surprised everyone last season, winning the French Ligue 1. They will provide competition for PSG next season.
All the other leagues have one or two teams competing for the league. What makes the English Premier League special is its unpredictability. The 2015-16 season saw Leicester City win the league, overcoming 5000/1 odds in the process. The Premier League has however been in a bit of a lull recently with the big teams not really performing up to par. Manchester United has struggled with its identity since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson. Chelsea had a terrible 2015-16 season, almost getting relegated but eventually rallying and managing to finish 10th. Manchester City has won just one title since 2014, the 2016 League Cup. Liverpool and Tottenham have also not really performed well. And Arsenal, despite winning 3 FA Cup titles in the last 4 years also haven’t won the league since 2004. All this coupled with the poor performance of English teams in the UEFA Champions League has put a big question mark on the status of the Premier League.
The League is attempting to correct this decline. Clubs have brought in world class personnel, trainers, and players alike. Manchester United and Manchester City have brought in Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola, both two-time Champions League winners and they have been able to pull big stars with United signing Paul Pogba for a world record fee and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Pep has brought his famous tiki taka playing style to the Premier League. Jurgen Klopp, the man who last won the Bundesliga with a team that is not called Bayern Munich, is now coach of Liverpool and he guided them to two finals in his first season. Mauricio Pochettino had Tottenham Hotspurs playing an attractive style of football and helped them to a 2nd place finish last season. Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal is spending money in the Transfer Market; they just shelled out a club record fee for striker Alexandre Lacazette. Chelsea’s Antio Conte, the man who revived the fortunes of Juventus in 2011, led Chelsea to a League title in his first season in charge of the club.
Even the small teams have shelled out a lot. Everton has spent over 100 million pounds this window, West Ham has signed Mexican National team top scorer Javier Hernandez, Leicester City has bought Vincent Iborra from Sevilla and is close to signing Kelechi Iheanacho from Manchester City. Swansea signed midfielder Roque Mesa from Las Palmas. The small teams have bought wisely, and the big teams have spared no expense. The Premier League is now the hub of quality with top coaches, top players and some of the finest young players in world football today.
With the new acquisitions and even more on their way, it’s safe to say the 2017-18 premier league will be as unpredictable as ever. And who knows, with the success of Manchester United in the Europa League, maybe one of 5 Premier league teams in the Champions League can go all the way in the Champions League.