It’s an exciting Premier League season with five teams still harbouring realistic aspirations to lift the trophy in August. For Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal, it’s a familiar feeling to be in the mix around the halfway point of the season. For Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur title challenges are sporadic and end in disappointment but with talented players and engaging managers, surely they can’t always be the bridesmaid!
For fans of these teams, it’s time to dream of glory. The latest Voucherbox research on ticket pricing will encourage them to watch their team both home and away for fear they might miss something in what could be a pinnacle season. Those unable to watch their team live will be sitting in front of the TV or radio with fingers crossed and nails bitten as each game week becomes more and more vital. With the halfway point approaching it’s time to probe what is actually required to be victorious in this league.
Points
Looking at the stats from 1996, when the Premier League become a 38 match per season race, Chelsea hold the record for the most points in their first Premier League winning season with 95 points in season 2004/5.
Manchester United hold the record for winning the title with the fewest points in a season with Eric Cantona and Sir Alex Ferguson gaining the sufficient 75 points to take the title in 1996/7. For an expert opinion of how many points it will take this season, we all should be happy to take the word of the Premier Leagues’ most experienced manager, Le Professeur. Arsene Wenger stated earlier in the season that scoring between 82 and 86 points will be enough to take it this year – and the stats to some extent agree with him, as 6 of the previous 24 champions have fallen into this point bracket.
Be Top at Christmas
A good start is generally always a healthy idea for building momentum and confidence before the final push towards the title. Jose Mourinho was always a master at this, as even in his first season his team accrued a 7 point lead on Manchester United after only 8 games. His Chelsea team went on to win that season and they have repeated the feat by being top at Christmas in all 4 of their title-winning seasons. Indeed, since Chelsea won the title in 2010, every team that has been top at Christmas has gone on to win the title, except Liverpool, who were in the Christmas spirit in 2013 but missed out that season due to a Gerrard slip.
Beat the Best or Beat the Rest
The term “flat-track bully” has been coined to describe those teams that are accomplished in dispatching with the lesser opposition but can’t defeat their top-level opponents. Obviously, far from the flat-track bully are those teams that raise themselves to overcome teams near the summit of the league, but drop points against the lesser teams.
Both types of team are capable of winning a title, and Manchester United were possibly the best example of a flat-track bully, as they always seemed to find something during ‘Fergie time’ to ensure that they took all 3 points from those in the bottom 2/3rds of the table. Mourinho has a similar philosophy, as his approach to games against title rivals is to shut-up shop and take a point or possibly nick a win, while dominating other less significant teams.
Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea provide a good example of the benefits of beating your closest rivals to win a title as they beat Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United home and away to win the title by 1 point in 2009/10.
Another tactic is to absolutely decimate your closest rival as Manchester City did in their 6-1 thrashing of Manchester United in the 2011/12 season. The result was hugely significant as the title was decided on goal-difference after what must surely be the Premier Leagues’ finest moment.
There’s still a lot of football to be played, but the main contenders are now known to us and we know only one of them can be triumphant. A hugely competitive league and last seasons’ surprise winners mean all we can really predict is that whichever team does win it has the right to call themselves the best in the land.
