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The most open Premier League title race in recent years took another shocking turn on Thursday night when Liverpool were beaten by Burnley at Anfield, ending a 68-game unbeaten streak at home for the reigning champions.
At an unprecedented moment, we now have an unprecedented fight for the right to become champions of England.
The top six teams in the table are tightly packed with just eight points separating the top from the sixth. And for the first time in a couple of years, Liverpool find themselves struggling to stay in the top four after a losing streak that started just after Christmas.
The title race is really open and the top spot is up for grabs, but it remains to be seen who has the gall to hold on to it when it matters.
So who are the contenders and what are the arguments for and against each team to win the title?
Here Sportsmail breaks down the top six teams and addresses just how strong their bid for the title is after having entered the second half of the season.
United manchester
Somehow, somehow, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has completely transformed this United team and made them title contenders. It’s only been a couple of months since fans asked for his head after a losing streak that knocked them out of the Champions League.
United are credited with having turned things around, in large part thanks to the impact of Bruno Fernandes, who has won four Player of the Month awards since arriving a year ago. The Portuguese star has been crucial in taking United to the top of the table, while Paul Pogba, Fred and Scott McTominay have stepped up in recent months.
The Red Devils also have to lose on the road this season, having accumulated 26 points in 10 road games so far.
They also have a proven scorer in Edinson Cavani to help ease the burden on Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, which could prove vital in the second half of the season.
While United have the best away record in the division, they have yet to be tested by any of the traditional Big Six except Liverpool. They got a good point at Anfield, but their title credentials will really be examined when they face City, Spurs and Chelsea away from Old Trafford later in the season.
There are also concerns that Solskjaer may be overly reliant on Fernandes as the season progresses, while fear of exhaustion from Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Rashford could be the Norwegian boss’s undoing if he refuses to rotate in the next few weeks. .
United are currently at the top of the table as of this writing, but it remains to be seen if they can continue in good shape and hold off the other five title contenders as we come to the end of the season.
The arrival of Cavani has addressed Solskjaer’s need for an all-time goalscorer, but what the Norwegian manager will be looking for is another defensive midfielder. Nemanja Matic is 32 years old and his long-term successor will be a priority for the club.
2/11 with Bet365
Manchester city
Pep Guardiola may have thought a new signing had arrived, but Manchester City have certainly got their mojo back and managed to deliver results despite the club’s ongoing injury crisis.
They have been excellent at the rear with the acquisition of Ruben Dias last summer, while the resurrection of John Stones has come at the perfect time for Manchester’s blue side.
Former champions still have the ability to crush teams and have the numerical strength to carry them through the summer.
After a packed campaign last season that saw them win only the Carabao Cup, City entered this season without a preseason, resulting in a slow start and continued bad luck with injuries.
Sergio Agüero announced earlier this week that he tested positive for Covid, which will put him out of action for at least another few weeks, adding to his ongoing injury problems that have kept him out for much of the season.
Gabriel Jesus has also failed to fill the void left by Agüero with his own injuries and illness issues, leaving Guardiola to play Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne as false nines.
And speaking of De Bruyne, he’s set for a long stint on the sidelines with a hamstring problem and will likely miss City’s season-defining matchups with Liverpool and Spurs next month.
They need a striker. Desperately. Aguero cannot be trusted while Jesus is proving unpredictable. A long-term replacement for the Argentine talisman is a must.
2/5 with Bet365
Leicester city
Brendan Rodgers has done a wonderful job since taking over the reins at Leicester City and has transformed the Foxes into title contenders again after years of cutting and changing managers since their 2015-16 title win.
Rodgers is really making the most of his young team, with players like James Justin, Wesley Fofana and Harvey Barnes shining in what has been a solid first half of the season for the Foxes.
Unlike last season, Leicester has the squad to tackle what lies ahead, while evergreen Jamie Vardy has kept pace with the other top scorers in the league in the race for the Golden Boot.
Leicester has often taken off against teams that invite pressure, and the Foxes are most effective when countering teams.
Their 5-2 win against City earlier in the season was the perfect example of how they can dominate the games when they don’t have the ball, but they have slipped against teams like Everton, Fulham and West Ham when they do.
Their collapse at the end of the season after Project Restart could also come back to haunt them, given that they started very well last season.
Rodgers will be eager to bring another center to the club given the sheer number of midfielder pairings he has had this season. Wilfried Ndidi has even played on the baseline, while Wes Morgan doesn’t have many more years at the top level at him.
14/1 with Bet365
Liverpool
They are the reigning champions for a reason. While they are suffering from their first problem in what seems like forever, Jurgen Klopp’s men are ‘mind monsters’ and it surely is a matter of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’ they return to top form.
While their injury woes are well documented, the Reds have coped well with the absences of center-back pair Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez so far and remain in the title hunt with several key men lost.
His three forwards are unmatched, and while Sadio Mane is the only player to score in the Premier League since Christmas, it would be foolish to rule out Liverpool at this stage. Expect them to recover very soon.
Their surprising loss to Burnley last Thursday was their second loss in three games and now they don’t have a win in five.
They have only scored one goal in that streak and desperately need a confidence boost. Trent Alexander-Arnold has come completely out of the boil in recent weeks, while Mohamed Salah has been criticized for his ‘selfish’ game and one-way approach.
Klopp’s generally ruthless men need to regain that killer instinct, and fast, if they are to keep in touch with both sides of Manchester.
The Reds desperately need a central defender and a concrete return for Van Dijk and Gomez is yet to be seen. Klopp’s cannot rely on Jordan Henderson and Fabinho to continue to occupy positions if they want to defend their title.
1/8 with Bet365
Tottenham
It was just a few weeks ago that Spurs and Liverpool had their clash at the top of the table at Anfield, in which the Reds prevailed thanks to a header from Roberto Firmino in the final seconds.
While it was a disappointing result, the disappointment of not leaving with any points showed how far Tottenham have come since José Mourinho replaced Mauricio Pochettino in November 2019.
The Special One has transformed the Spurs into a team fighting for top honors again and has the league’s deadliest finalists in Harry Kane and Son Heung-min leading the line for it.
Tanguy Ndombele is also a transformed man this season and Mourinho now has all the ingredients to put his invaluable experience to good use and finally end the Spurs’ trophy drought.
While there has been a change of mind in North London, the Spurs still have work to do when it comes to watching games.
The Spurs have lost a staggering 10 points from winning positions this season, with eight of the 17 goals they conceded in the final 15 minutes of play.
Kane has even admitted that it is a mentality problem in the team and if they don’t correct it, they will find that the gap with the leaders of the league will only get bigger and bigger.
Tottenham are the weirdest here because, if anything, they need to get rid of the players rather than bring in reinforcements. Mourinho has a large squad and is doing his best to rotate, but players like Dele Alli have been left out. . The Spurs don’t have a lot of notable injury problems either and they have a lot of depth across the field, so it would be wise to let some players go.
20/1 with Bet365
Everton
Everton are currently eight points behind leaders Manchester United in sixth place, but have two games in hand. If they win both games, they’ll be back in the mix.
The Toffees are in good shape as well lately, having won four of their last five Premier League games.
The arrival of Carlo Ancelotti and James Rodriguez has made Everton real contenders and they now have a good mix of youth and experience to help them push for silverware.
Having made Dominic Calvert-Lewin one of the best poachers in the league, Ancelotti is proving his mettle and can also adapt given the number of injury problems the team currently has.
Calvert-Lewin is on fire this season with 11 Premier League goals and keeps pace with Vardy, Kane and Salah in the race for the Golden Boot.
However, one of the main disadvantages of the Toffees is their lack of depth up front with Cenk Tosun the only other recognized center forward in the club.
And those two aforementioned games they have in hand could go against them, with both games postponed due to Covid outbreaks at other clubs.
With an already packed schedule and now having two more games to drop somewhere, Everton will have to be in their prime to keep up or face career defection like the Spurs.
The Toffees need a new forward who is happy to play a backup for Calvert-Lewin. If something happens to the Englishman, Ancelotti will need another forward to trust and Tosun does not appear to be that man.
125/1 with Bet365
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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