The third of the Premier League is about to pass and the situation at the moment on the rankings is really exciting. Man City leads after 12 rounds with 28 points. The two teams behind them are Liverpool and Arsenal, with the same 27 points. 4th place belongs to Tottenham with 26 points. 5th place is Aston Villa with 25 points. 5th place is only 1 win away from the top team, which is the excitement of the championship race at the moment.
The last time such an intense season after 12 rounds was in 2008. In the 2007-08 season, Manchester United won the championship but it was not as simple as the way Manchester City did last season. That year, Man United finished with only 2 points more than Chelsea and 4 points more than Arsenal.
Another figure shows that this year's season is the best in history when after 12 rounds, the top 5 teams have accumulated 133 points. The 2007 - 2008 season was good, but after 12 rounds, the top 5 teams only got 127 points. One of the reasons for this is that the rookie teams in the 2022 - 2023 season seem to be much weaker than the rookies last season. All three newcomers this season, Sheffield, Luton and Bunrley, are in the red light group. Therefore, when the top teams play against them, the opportunity to get 3 points is also easier.
Will the current competition make the Premier League better and better? The answer is uncertain. Serie A has had 4 champions in the last 4 seasons, but their achievements in the Champions League and Europa League are not very promising. Man City is still very strong, their big opponents are trying very hard, but apart from The Citizens, the remaining teams are unlikely to have great competition in the European arena.
In the period of 2007 - 2009, English teams were truly typical of domestic competition that affected their ability to compete internationally. In the 2007 - 2008 Champions League semi-finals, there were 3 English teams participating: Man United, Chelsea and Liverpool. In the 2008-09 season, Man United, Chelsea and Arsenal were in the group of 4 strongest teams.
Man City are leading but have conceded more goals than themselves in previous seasons before the end of round 12 (12 goals). In the 2020 - 2021 season, after 12 rounds, Man City even ranked 7th but still won the championship.
Two years ago, not many strong teams competed with Man City to the final round. This time, everything seems different. The old forces in the past few years are regaining their form. Newcomers who want to block the road are also constantly racing in the transfer market.
Man City need to clearly define the goals of this season. If they continue to want to defend their treble, the journey will be much more difficult as key players may feel overloaded by having to work hard from last season until now.
