What Is The English Premier League?

Many consider the Premier League to be the strongest and hardest league in the globe. The 2021-22 season is expected to continue as it is, with spots hotly contested across the table.

Even though the race is marred by COVID-19 disruptions it is still exciting. Man City is now leading, but Liverpool (and possibly Chelsea?) are still in the running for the title in the second part of the season. 

Pep Guardiola’s fourth championship in five seasons seems most likely to be contested by the Reds.

Other spots in the table are also important. Teams are competing for Champions League and European places while others are trying to avoid relegation. Below is a snapshot from each race.

Premier League title race

Manchester City has an 9-point lead at top of the Premier League table. According to SportingNews, Citizens have a 94% to win Premier League title (down from 88% after 1-1 draw at Southampton Jan. 22).

Liverpool and Chelsea can keep things interesting if City continues to fall apart. Chelsea, on the other hand, is 12 points behind Liverpool with two games remaining. 

The Blues, who have only one win in their six last six, are in a tough spot. They currently trail 13 points behind. It seems that the title race may be almost over for the Blues.

There is no other team with a realistic chance of winning Premier League. This would be possible only if there was a massive collapse by several top teams.

PTS = points, GP = games played, GD = goal difference (goals conceded less)

PlaceTeamPTSGPGDNext Match
1*Manchester City5723+41vs. BRE, Feb. 9
2Liverpool4822+39vs. LEI, Feb. 10
3Chelsea4724+30@ CRY, Feb. 19

Champions League Places: Top 4 chase

The Champions League race — four spots available, and they go to four teams at the table — is most intriguing. A number of teams are involved in this race and only four are able to make it through.

Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Liverpool seem to be heading in the right direction to comfortably finish in the top 4. FiveThirtyEight has each of them at above 90 percent to win a spot next season in Champions League.

Everyone’s eyes are on the final Champions League spot. Manchester United sits at fourth place, following a dramatic win against the Hammers.

Still, Arsenal and Spurs stand in the position to challenge the Red Devils. West Ham is certain to remain in this mix, but David Moyes’s team has played at most one more game than others.

Predictions now show Tottenham is the most likely contender to take that spot.

They are up to 47 per cent after beating Leicester City in mid January. Arsenal is also falling at 33 per cent. Man United is currently at 16%, while West Ham’s chance of winning that spot dropped from 11 to 6 percent after their loss to the Red Devils.

PlaceTeamPTSGPGDNext Match
3*Chelsea4724+30@ CRY, Feb. 19
4*Man United3822+6@ BUR, Feb. 8
5West Ham3723+10vs. WAT, Feb. 8
6Arsenal3621+8@ WOL, Feb. 10
7Tottenham3620+2vs. SOU, Feb. 9
8Wolves3421+3vs. ARS, Feb. 10

Premier League Race For European Positions

The Champions League is not the only prize. Two Europa League berths will be up for grabs. One goes to fifth-place Premier League teams and the other to the FA Cup winners. A Europa Conference League spot is also available, which goes to a League Cup winner.

If League Cup or FA Cup winners have already qualified for the Champions League and Europa League by other means, then the berth that was automatically assigned to the cup winning team is transferred to another Premier League standings team that hasn’t qualified for European competition. 

This scenario could mean that finishing sixth or seventh in the Premier League standings could result in a spot for Europe.