We are just three games away from the halfway point of 2023/24 and as Christmas approaches only four points separate first from fourth.
By any metric then, and minus any exaggeration, this season’s Premier League is shaping up to be one of the most competitive in living memory.
It is certainly, at this juncture, tighter at the top than last season, that saw Arsenal hot favourites in the Premier League odds outright market to win their first title for two decades.
Going into the festive period, the Gunners were seven points ahead of chasing Manchester City, and a full 11 points beyond Manchester United who resided in fourth spot.
The year before that, after 16 games apiece, the gap between first and fourth was 10. In 2019/20, it was a lengthy 17 as Liverpool ran away with it. The campaign before that it was 12. Before that, 16.
To repeat, presently only four meagre points separate Liverpool in top spot and Manchester City loitering with serious intent in fourth.
Each and every matchweek can completely alter the narrative for the seven days that follow. It can dramatically change a team’s Premier League odds too.
The extremely eagle-eyed among you will have spotted there is a season missing in the examples given above, the 2020/21 campaign to be precise.
That’s because that year also saw just four points between first and fourth after 16 matchweeks – and incidentally a cluster of other teams still in touching distance too – but such was the uniqueness of that season it comes attached with significant caveats.
Due to the global pandemic it meant that grounds were closed to the public and in empty stadia, away teams took full advantage of no longer being at a disadvantage.
This weird shift resulted in teams finding themselves perched high in the table who everyone knew lacked the staying power, teams such as Leicester in third and Everton in fourth. Southampton were in the mix as well.
Even deep into the season it was painfully obvious to one and all that come May it would either be Manchester City or Liverpool lifting the trophy. In the event it was City, winning the title by a very comfortable 12 points.
We were so sure because back then those two extraordinary teams had the highest echelons of the Premier League in a stranglehold, a duopoly that made the destination of the title each year a coin-flip.
But is that still the case today, with Arsenal having entered the fray? And what about Aston Villa, threatening to have a Leicester of a season? Currently Unai Emery’s side sit proudly in third after beating City and the Gunners in recent weeks.
There doesn’t seem to be any stopping them.
And lastly, there is Spurs ‘languishing’ in fifth. Once they have ridden out their injury crisis, and perhaps added to their stock in the January transfer window, might they again embark on a winning spree, as they did from the off?
Ultimately, what matters most, more than points or comparisons made with previous campaigns, is that we are close to the mid-point of the 2023/24 and nobody has a clue as to who will eventually be having a trophy parade next Spring.
There is suspense, drama and welcomed uncertainty as we enjoy the most competitive Premier League season in living memory.
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to Alamy*
